Leaping lizards: Science grant for Elon Academy
Researchers from Elon University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke were given $2.7 million from the National Science Foundation to fund a statewide project called Herpetology Education in Rural Places and Spaces (HERPS). Elon is using the grant to fund a class in herpetology, or the study of amphibians and reptiles, taught at Elon Academy. Deborah Long, director of the academy, said the money from the grant is going toward a variety of field trips, materials, salary for instructors and other costs needed for the class. "The target population for the grant is the rural, typically marginalized people in the area of science," said Terry Tomasek, who teaches herpetology at the Academy. The grant targets demographics such as citizens with lower socioeconomic standing and ethnic minorities. "These are the people that we don't typically find in science type activities," Tomasek said.









