John Bender making a difference in human and ecological communities

2015 Mar 9

Lombard, Ill., resident John Bender, a graduate student in the Global Field Program (GFP) from Miami University's Project Dragonfly, has been awarded a Community Engagement badge from the university for making a difference in human and ecological communities. As part of the GFP, students like Bender apply the tools of conservation science and advance the tenets central to the master's degree: inquiry, community and voice.

Through his Conservation Science & Community course project entitled "Increasing Individual Awareness by Mapping Important Bird Areas of the Northern Chicago Region," Bender created and provided an openly accessible map that outlines the important bird areas of the northern Chicago region for the user. Bender is an aviculturist at Lincoln Park Zoo.

As part of his master's program coursework, Bender studied desert and marine ecosystems on the Baja peninsula. Study sites include 13 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas.

The GFP master's degree is designed for educators and other professionals from all disciplines and settings who are interested in working collaboratively to bring about change in local and global contexts. Applicants can be from anywhere in the United States or abroad. To learn more about the GFP, visit http://gfp.miamioh.edu/.

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