Hendrix Students To Get Research Opportunities

Hendrix College students will soon have unique hands-on field research opportunities with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

Randy Wilbourn, a 1968 Hendrix graduate and board of trustees member, made a gift to Game & Fish to establish the Henderson Research Fellows in honor of Scott Henderson, former director at Game & Fish.

The Henderson Fellows initiative is an extension of Wilbourn’s interest in Arkansas’ natural resources and engaged learning at Hendrix. A founding partner of the Little Rock marketing firm, Martin-Wilbourn Partners, Wilbourn previously established the Odyssey Professorship at Hendrix to support the work of Hendrix faculty who create or expand hand-on learning opportunities for students. He also made a gift to The Nature Conservancy that will give students access to Nature Conservancy properties for research projects.

Two Henderson Research Fellows will be awarded each year for projects that focus on biology or environment.

Hendrix biology and environmental studies professor Joyce Hardin and Game & Fish officials are working on logistics and identifying potential projects that students can tackle.

“From the Odyssey program’s standpoint, this initiative should be a huge resource,” Hardin said. She expects to be able to offer opportunities this fall for projects to be done in 2014.

The experience students receive will make them better decision makers and professionals of tomorrow, said Steve Smith, president of the Game & Fish foundation.

Henderson deserves to be the namesake of the initiative, said Mike Knoedl, Game & Fish director. Henderson provided a wealth of conservation leadership during his career, Knoedl said.

Outdoor, Pages 8 on 06/13/2013

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