Spring to Action: Support EEB GSO's LaunchKU Fundraiser

EEB's GSO Spring LaunchKU Fundraiser is officially underway. Continuing until May 5, this fundraiser aims to attain funds to support graduate student travel scholarships and outreach work.

How Can I Donate? KU Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student Fundraiser

Additionally, the GSO will have a GroupRaise event April 21 from 4-9 p.m. at Jefferson's on Mass Street to raise awareness for the fundraising campaign. They need at least 20 RSVPs to make the event happen officially! Please RSVP using the following link. 
 

Sign Up for GroupRaise Event: Commit to Eat at KU Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student Organization's GroupRaise Meal at Jefferson's. 

Additional Information:  
LaunchKU is an online donation based campaign that we will be using to raise money for our graduate student organization.   
The funds raised through LaunchKU will be allocated to two of the EEB GSO’s major efforts: supporting professional development opportunities for graduate students and supporting the science-based community outreach endeavors of the EEB GSO Outreach Committee. Annually, the EEB GSO awards 2–4 scholarships of $250–$1000 each to support graduate student travel for professional development. In the past, these funds have supported travel to conferences, field work, summer courses, and collaborating institutions. Funds are awarded following a proposal-based competition. These awards provide invaluable support for graduate student travel, as well as allow graduate student members of the Awards Committee to gain hands-on experience evaluating and ranking submitted proposals. A portion of proceeds from the Launch KU campaign would be dedicated to fund the 2022 travel awards, which are typically awarded at the end of the spring semester. Funds will also support outreach work.  
Since its formation in 2014, the EEB GSO Outreach Committee has been dedicated to involving the public in science through scientific demonstrations, hands-on activities, and formal and informal presentations, and through involvement in both long-term projects and one-day events. Not only do these efforts promote scientific research in the public sphere, they increase the broader impact of the work of participating graduate students, which makes students more competitive when applying for outside research funding. Our group is recognized as a Community Partner of the Girl Scouts of Northwest Kansas and Northwest Missouri, and the Committee’s exceptional efforts were recognized with the Girl Scouts of America Community Collaborator Award in 2018. A variety of consumables are required for these community-based outreach projects, including materials for a DNA extraction activity, crafting supplies for exploring fish diversity, and invertebrate specimens for teaching Kansas students about marine biology, to name but a few. These materials are typically paid for out of pocket by graduate students involved in each activity. We also do our best to travel to students and Girl Scout Troops that are not able to come to Lawrence, which can be anywhere between 20–50 minutes of travel that is also paid for out of pocket by students. To show the EEB GSO’s support for the Committee’s award-winning outreach efforts, a portion of the funds raised through the Launch KU campaign would be dedicated to purchasing the consumables needed for the Committee’s various outreach endeavors and compensation for travel by students engaged in outreach outside of Lawrence.