NSF awards $3 million for Environmental Legacy Project

The National Science Foundation has awarded $2 million to Sacramento State and $1 million to Humboldt State for their partnership in the California Environmental Legacy Project.

The project, which began several years ago, is a statewide initiative among scientists, educators and media professionals to enhance public understanding of California’s rapidly changing environment.

NSF funding will support three major components of the Legacy Project. Foremost is a two-hour television documentary called “Reinventing California” scheduled to air on PBS stations across California in fall 2012. The documentary will journey across two billion years of California’s history and explore the nature of our relationship to a changing environment.

Funding also supports The Changing Places Initiative which will use “place-based” programs such as short films, video podcasts and print media to reach park, museum, science center and school audiences at regional sites, including Lassen Volcano, Redwood Forest, Point Reyes, Los Angeles Basin/Baldwin Hills and Anza Borrego Desert.

 The final component will be an online educational portal that will give users access to multimedia content, searchable databases, lesson plans, interactive maps and online learning communities.

The California Legacy Project is co-directed by Jim Baxter, a Sacramento State biology professor; and Jeffrey White, a Humboldt State biology professor.

More information is available on the Legacy Project website: www.csus.edu/celp.