Get Involved

Project Opportunities

There are numerous opportunities for graduate students and community members to become involved with the MERE project. Below are work-study jobs and research ideas that could be developed.

MERE Staff/Workstudy Jobs

Project Coordinator: Each year, the Monadnock Ecological Research and Education (MERE) Project will seek an energetic student who can coordinate activities and write grants to raise money for the project. The student will maintain the MERE web page and work with project partners, including local high schools and Monadnock State Park personnel.

Summit Stewards: The goal of this program to educate park users on the proper use of recreational trails in mountain ecosystems. Two trail stewards per year would be positioned on the mountain in locations determined by park staff. These stewards would engage users in a friendly manner to educate them about proper use of trails, safety, and mountain ecology. The stewards would be graduate students from Antioch University New England conducting the work as part of their graduate degree practicum requirements. 300 hours of work would be required for each position on an annual basis. Students would be required to work weekends and holidays.

Potential jobs/project development/research ideas

AACC Coordinator/Education Steward
Each year, the Monadnock Ecological Research and Education (MERE) Project will seek an energetic student who is interested in working with area high school students on the Adopt-A-Crevice-Community project, long term research studying the crevice communities on Mount Monadnock.

Nature Interpretation/Trail Steward
The trail steward would maintain and enhance any interpretative nature trails that exist on Monadnock.  Stewards engage visitors in friendly conversation to educate them about proper use of trails, and mountain ecology and safety. The trail stewards will be present on the mountain at peak user times (weekends and holidays) with a focus on the summit area where plant communities are most endangered.

Research Ideas

Ecological research ideas

  • Dynamics of forest communities
  • Dynamics of Crevice communities on Mount Monadnock
  • Distribution and diversity of lichen species on Mount Monadnock
  • Distribution and development of mountain soils of Mount Monadnock
  • Impact of hikers attitudes toward mountain and each other
  • Effect of kiosks and signage on hiker behavior

Ways to Help

  • Volunteer to work with students collecting data on the mountain.
  • Make a monetary contribution to support graduate students and high school students who are interested in mountain ecology and a desire to share that knowledge with the public.

 

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