2008 Woodie Awards
Acting locally
Teaching award given to Kirsch for ecological corridor project
Delphine Maugars
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: News
Jim Vanides, HP program manager for higher education, invited Pat Cornely and students of the Kirsch Center to the worldwide ceremony of the HP Technology for Teaching Award in San Diego last week for their achievement on the Coyote Valley project.
The grant package offered by HP in May 2007 consists of 21 tablet PCs and software, worth more than $69,000.
For the De Anza College students, studying wildlife in the Coyote Valley proved to be of crucial importance on the environmental review for the San Jose City development plan to build 26,000 new homes and an industrial center in this area.
The De Anza study blantly contradicted the developer-hired experts' report, and showed that the city development plan would stop animals' migration patterns through the valley.
"What our wonderful Wildlife Corridor Stewardship Team has uncovered is amazing. From eagles, falcons, short-eared owls to bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, moving east-west through that valley," said Julie Phillips, environmental instructor at De Anza's Kirsch Center. "Amazing for a valley that the city consultants said there was no wildlife movement."
The Metro Silicon Valley reports that the Sierra Club group accused the city-hired consultants of "drive-by observations from inside their vehicles." In contrast, the De Anza team walked the area weekly, collecting animals tracks.
City officials have retracted the development plan to rewrite it by 2009.
"This program is an excellent training ground for years to come," said Pat Cornely, the Kirsch Center's Executive Director.
The students working on the project are invited to the San Jose City Council meetings and have their voices heard on policies.
Science can be powerful in society, and the students learn how to play a role as citizens in their community, how to have a huge political voice with a scientific approach.
"City planners listen, you can't get more authentic than that," Vanides said.
The grant package offered by HP in May 2007 consists of 21 tablet PCs and software, worth more than $69,000.
For the De Anza College students, studying wildlife in the Coyote Valley proved to be of crucial importance on the environmental review for the San Jose City development plan to build 26,000 new homes and an industrial center in this area.
The De Anza study blantly contradicted the developer-hired experts' report, and showed that the city development plan would stop animals' migration patterns through the valley.
"What our wonderful Wildlife Corridor Stewardship Team has uncovered is amazing. From eagles, falcons, short-eared owls to bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, moving east-west through that valley," said Julie Phillips, environmental instructor at De Anza's Kirsch Center. "Amazing for a valley that the city consultants said there was no wildlife movement."
The Metro Silicon Valley reports that the Sierra Club group accused the city-hired consultants of "drive-by observations from inside their vehicles." In contrast, the De Anza team walked the area weekly, collecting animals tracks.
City officials have retracted the development plan to rewrite it by 2009.
"This program is an excellent training ground for years to come," said Pat Cornely, the Kirsch Center's Executive Director.
The students working on the project are invited to the San Jose City Council meetings and have their voices heard on policies.
Science can be powerful in society, and the students learn how to play a role as citizens in their community, how to have a huge political voice with a scientific approach.
"City planners listen, you can't get more authentic than that," Vanides said.
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