Give biology undergraduate researchers the real-world perspective scientists need in today's discovery marketplace.

The Department of Biology turns to the Gilbert S. Trelawny Undergraduate Research Endowment to ensure undergraduates not only know how to apply scientific investigative skills on real-world projects, but also are able to propose, initiate and seek funding for solid hypotheses in the marketplace of scientific discovery.

As engaged and professional scientists who apply for and receive major grant funding for their own scholarly research, the Madison biology faculty knows these skills constitute a key catalyst of a robust culture of innovation and discovery. That culture is what it will take to address and solve the problems society faces today and tomorrow.

Gil Trelawny, head of the biology department for 22 years of his 28 year tenure, knew that. Now retired, he was an active researcher and was admired for building the biology program. The Trelawny Undergraduate Research Endowment honors his special focus on developing undergraduate research at JMU.

To qualify for Trelawny funding today, biology undergraduates must initiate the process, write grant proposals and defend them to a committee of students and faculty in the department. Rather than funding isolated in-depth research experiences, the grant proposal exercise enriches the culture of the Department of Biology as a whole. Engaged professors mentor students who compete for research funding on the strength of their scientific hypotheses and their ability to persuade a granting committee of critical and analytical thinkers. That makes undergraduates better thinkers and better scientists. In some cases, the students are also able to use their Trelawny awards to defray costs of supplies, equipment and field travel associated with the research projects and presentations at national conferences.

Your gift to the Trelawny fund will help transform biology majors into skilled scientists by providing faculty oversight, research supplies, lab equipment and field travel.

Together, by combining our talents and vision through the Gilbert S. Trelawny Undergraduate Research Endowment, we can give JMU students the early research start Madison is known for. They will be ready ahead of the curve to enter graduate school, research labs, the teaching profession, the workforce or anywhere else they seek to go to boost America's culture of innovation and discovery and solve the world’s problems.

That’s how the national model of the Engaged University operates. Please give.