Delaware State University Society-Ready Graduates - Knocking down NIMBY: Trap Pond Program trains students.
Abstract
Parks, reserves, and similar protected areas in Delaware and the nation continue to provide significant recreational and scientific benefit, but high visitation and use combined with the impacts of increasing populations in surrounding areas can threaten the very resources to be protected and enjoyed. At a time when budgets for protected areas are undergoing contraction, a way is needed to collect the impact data necessary to make informed resource management decisions that can cover the increasing need for data without large increases in park budgets.At the same time, many state and national scientific agencies (such as environmental protection and resource management organizations, both public and private) are expecting to lose 30% or more of their workforce in the next ten years or so due to retirements and attrition. This is happening at a time when graduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology disciplines are on the decline. There is a need to provide opportunities that will attract and train the next generation of resource managers.
