Tuesday, April 23, 2013

National Geographic Explorer to visit KCK schools

Human activity is threatening tropical rainforest ecosystems in southeastern Mexico.

National Geographic Explorer Katherine Amato has been studying this, and has many messages to share about improved conservation strategies.

She will be talking with students in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) on Thursday, April 25. Presentation times and schools/buildings are as follows:
  • 9:50 to 10:50 a.m. – Grant Elementary, 1510 N. 4th St.
  • 1 to 2 p.m. – T.A. Edison Elementary, 1000 Locust St.
  • 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. – W.A. White Elementary, 2600 N. 43rd St.
  • 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. – Central Office and Training Center, 2010 N. 59th St.
Amato has a biology degree from Dartmouth College. During the summers she studied abroad in Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica and volunteered at the Regenstein Center for African Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago.

After graduating, she spent a year in Mexico comparing seed dispersal between two species of howler monkeys. Based on their foraging behavior, she is able to describe the impacts of forest degradation on monkey populations and the consequences for tropical forest dynamics.

Her research could allow for the development of improved conservation strategies. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in ecology, evolution and conservation biology.

Amato’s visit to KCKPS is part of the district’s National Geographic science curriculum for elementary students.