'Herp Center' one of three Centers for Excellence at IPFW

By Rebecca Gallagher

Kingsbury is working to promote understanding for the need to conserve reptile and amphibian habitats while forming collaborations within the community and other academic institutions.

Bruce Kingsbury, professor of biology at IPFW, hopes the Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management, or “Herp Center” as it is often called, will be a conduit for making things happen. As director of the center, he is making things happen by developing collaborations within the community and other academic institutions to provide research and educational opportunities for students, business owners, landowners and the community-at-large. He is also working to promote understanding for the need to conserve reptile and amphibian habitats, and reaching out as a resource to the community by speaking to area children and governmental agencies like the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

“We are very excited at the work Dr. Kingsbury has been able to do with the Center,” said Susan Hannah, vice chancellor for academic affairs at IPFW. “These Centers for Excellence will be a valuable resource to our community through training and workshops, research services, and even consulting services for area businesses and local government.”

Hannah, who developed the five criteria for the centers, said most universities have these types of centers that focus on a particular area of interest.

“They aren’t buildings, but a group of individuals who share an interest to provide services and instructional opportunities for students and others,” she said. “The Herp Center will be an excellent resource for our community.”

In the coming months, Kingsbury hopes to interest other faculty members in a number of projects for the center, including hydrology and water quality studies, the development of Web sites to display scientific data and projects involving the center's new geographic information systems (GIS) software. This tool is used to visualize spatial data for scientific investigations, resource management, and development planning. For example, a GIS might be used to find wetlands that need protection from pollution. The computer system is capable of capturing, storing, manipulating and displaying geographically referenced data.

Two additional IPFW Centers for Excellence in operation are: the Community Data Resource Center, directed by Kathy Trier, assistant professor of sociology, and the Center for the Built Environment, directed by C. Wayne Unsell, associate dean, chairman and associate professor of civil engineering technology. A number of other centers are in the stages of planning and development, including a science education center, a data visualization center, and the Center for Instructional Technology, which will be operated entirely by IPFW staff to coordinate and advance the use of technology in the classroom.