December E Newsletter 2019
the power of PLACE
Partnerships to Scholarships
Philanthropy makes it possible for us to reach undergraduates who otherwise would never make it to Gothic. In 2019 we provided approximately $150,000 in financial awards to students, equivalent to full rides for 20 students, or half of the 40 students we host. For a society in which children have fewer opportunities to grow up outdoors, giving the gift of a Gothic summer is magical.
Ian Billick | PhD
Executive Director, RMBL
sciencestories
Gavin Belfry, RMBL Student
What he did last summer
For University of Tennessee undergraduate Gavin Belfry, the summer of 2019 was particularly seedy. He spent the summer assisting with Dr. Benjamin Blonder’s seed distribution research at RMBL. For six years, Dr. Blonder’s team has been looking at where plants are showing up at a series of plots on Mount Baldy. The point is to see not only what the local plant community looks like but also why the plants are there.
