Special Features
Undergraduate research is a departmental strength.  Agencies with which we do research include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Forest Service (FS), National Park Service (NPS), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and various state agencies.  Current topics include land snail ecology and distributions both U. S. and neotropical, radio-telemetry of tree squirrel movements and a lake studies program.  The Cumberland Mountain Research Center is curently developing an International Undergraduate Research Program with Belize Foundation for Research and Education (see BFREE website).  This research will be in the Rain Forest (jungle) of Belize.

Cumberland Mountain Research Center
Mathematics and Natural Sciences has the Cumberland Mountain Research Center, a free-standing building dedicated to development and pursuit of undergraduate research.  Founded in 1990, CMRC recently opened the Powell River Aquatic Research Station.  This station is dedicated to developing and instilling research on this valuable natural resource.  Another goal is the education of local communities about this natural resource that is a part of their heritage.

Lake Studies Program
CMRC has an undergraduate research Lake Studies program and operates a pontoon boat out of Norris Dam State Park. The Director of this program is Dr. Aggy Vanderpool, who is also our Dean of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Vanderpool directs several undergraduate research projects on Lake Norris. The purpose of the Lake Studies Program is to provide water quality data to TVA so informed management decisions can be made. For further information contact Dr. Vanderpool at  aggy.vanderpool@lmunet.edu.   Photo:  Dr. Vanderpool (backround) with one of her undergraduate researchers.

Course Information
Two 10-day field courses are offered in the ENVS curriculum - Desert Ecology and Coastal Ecology.  The former is taught mostly in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and old Mexico.  The latter goes from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Florida where we snorkel with manatees, trawl in the Gulf of Mexico and dive in the Keys.
 

Admissions inquiries
Office of Admissions 423.869.6467
Email: admissions@lmunet.edu




Photos from Desert Ecology