University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Dr. Lynn Carpenter, lecturer and advisor, received a $4,000 grant to attend the Sweetland Fellows Seminar, which emphasizes the importance of writing in undergraduate curriculum. Carpenter used the experience and time to revamp the General Ecology Lab from Biology 282 to what is now EEB 372 and meets the upper level writing requirement. 

“We added several writing assignments, including a grant proposal (which can potentially be submitted to Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society), a review paper, field notebook entries, and a large research paper at the end.  We even were fortunate enough to receive funding from Sweetland for one graduate student instructor (GSI) position whose task will be to help develop the new writing component of the course. Carpenter is a lecturer and advisor in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and an advisor for the Program in Biology.