Dartmouth SRP’s Dragonfly Mercury Project (DMP) recently received funding to continue and expand the project. The Dartmouth DMP utilizes dragonfly larvae to engage students in research, increase scientific and data literacy, and inform about regionally relevant mercury and environmental risks. The DMP is a collaboration with Upper Valley schools in NH and VT communities including Claremont  and Orford NH and Woodstock and Hartford VT. This project provides equal opportunity for experiential education, utilizing mercury science as a tool. The project is being done in collaboration with Dr. Sarah Nelson of the Appalachian Mountain Club.

The grants include:

FEMC (Forest Ecosystem Management Consortium), received June 2021. This funding will expand current Dartmouth-led community science collections of dragonfly larvae for mercury biomonitoring into the White and Green Mountain National Forests. The biomonitoring will also provide baseline and temporal data to enhance understanding of mercury fate in NH and VT forested ecosystems.

Lawrence/Lowell Parker Foundation, received April 2021. This grant allows Dartmouth’s Mercury Project to expand and evolve the current high school program to focus on under-resourced communities and at-risk students in Lowell, Massachusetts, a region that is impacted by legacy industrial pollutants including mercury.

Wellborn, received June 2021 . This grant will enable the Dartmouth DMP to continue providing environmental education to Upper Valley schools, including under-resourced districts, thereby supporting educators in implementing meaningful and authentic research experiences in the classroom.