Natural science professors receive $20,000 Disney research grant
Ronald L. Carter, PhD, professor and chair of natural sciences, and William K. Hayes, PhD, associate professor of natural sciences, Graduate School, were recently notified by officials of The Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund that they would receive a $20,000 grant to continue research of the endangered Bahamian rock iguana populations on the outlying islands of the Bahamas.
"The grant will help fund our next step in the study of reproductive ecology and rehabilitation of the nesting habitat on Green Cay, San Salvador Island, Bahamas," explains Dr. Carter.
Drs. Carter and Hayes have been conducting research in the Bahamas for seven years and are working closely with the Bahamian government and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in developing conservation management plans for the few remaining islands with iguanas. Drs. Carter and Hayes, together with two other scientists, are editing and writing chapters for an upcoming volume on iguanas. They will share in this book many of their latest findings.
The Disney fund and the Bahamian Ministries of Agriculture and Education are counting on the research-based recommendations and educational modules being produced by the Loma Linda scientists to make a difference in the survival of the Bahamian rock iguana, as well as other endangered species.