Below are some examples of recent projects supported by 3M’s U.S. operations and/or, the U.S. based, 3M Foundation.
Audubon Society Program Engages Arkansas Students in Community Stewardship
In 2007, 3M donated $10,000 to the Arkansas Audubon Society through its 'Common Ground' program. The program works with teachers and students in selected public schools in Pulaski County to engage the students in self-directed projects that link science, technology and positive community stewardship. The programs goals include:
- engaging teachers and students in hands-on field science and technology;
- enabling environmental science, service learning and youth leadership;
- integrating state school standards into project efforts.
Back to Top
School District of Menomonie Earth Day Challenge
The School District of the Menomonie Area in Wisconsin has placed emphasis on service learning projects that involve K-12 students and environmental education. These projects allow students to learn about environmental issues and participate in meaningful activities, which improve the natural environment, both locally and globally. After choosing a project of interest, elementary, middle and high school students learned about their project through hands-on classroom activities. On Earth Day, students spent the afternoon working on their projects throughout the community. Projects included: lakeshore clean-ups, school yard clean-ups, city parks clean-ups, wildlife shrub/tree planting, wetland restoration projects, oak regeneration plantings, and wildlife nesting boxes.
Back to Top
Friends of the Mississippi River Grant
A grant to the Washington County Landowner Outreach and Education Program in Minnesota will enable landowners to take tangible steps toward protecting and restoring their land. The Friends of the Mississippi River work to foster a broader and more inclusive discussion of land use and planning issues and the reasons for land protection.
Back to Top
A Grant to The Nature Conservancy Preserves Land in Alabama
A $1.5 million grant over 3 years (2007-2009) will allow for land acquisition in the Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve as part of the Paint Rock River Watershed in Northeast Alabama. The land acquisition along with public lands and partnerships with local farmers will protect the waters of the Paint Rock River. Restoration of these lands will help improve water quality, buffer the river from run-off and increase habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife
Back to Top
Restoring Threatened Forests in China
The Mountains of Southwest China are home to rare giant pandas, red pandas, golden monkeys, elusive snow leopards, more than 685 bird species, as well as 12,000 species of trees and plants. Many of these species are unique to this area that has become one of the world’s most critically threatened biodiversity hotspots. A multi-year 3M Foundation commitment will donate $3 million to Conservation International to protect endangered wildlife and restore the threatened forests. Reforestation will help address greenhouse gas and climate change issues.
Back to Top
Environmental Lessons for Teachers
Teachers from 3M communities across the country attend the Keystone Science Institute in Colorado. There they expand their understanding of environmental sciences and bring this information back into their schools and classrooms. Through hands-on laboratory and field activities, educators learn how to best explore current environmental issues for their own classroom setting and student interests. Last summer, 3l grade 7 - 8 teachers participated in this program that has received 3M and 3M Foundation support for almost ten years.
Back to Top
3M Foundation Grant Promotes Engineering Student Retention at the University of Minnesota
A $193,690 grant to the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology will help support the Institute's Center for Educational Programs in the Institute of Technology which encourage women and other minorities to pursue careers in engineering. The grant will fund a number of new initiatives including a 10-week summer program for incoming Information Technology freshmen; a summer career exploration program for high school girls; the development of a new introductory engineering course directed at freshmen seeking degrees in Information Technology; and enhancing Project Lead the Way, an engineering curriculum directed at middle and high school students.
Back to Top
3M Foundation Grant promotes Science Education and Community Empowerment at Alma College in Michigan
The college received a $48,000 multiyear 3M Foundation grant for The Linking Science Education and Community Empowerment Through a River Monitoring Project in Mid-Michigan initiative. The project centers around the Pine River and will immerse college and high school students into the interdisciplinary nature of science, policy and education.
The grant provides the start-up funds to create a long-term, sustainable river monitoring project that will link college science, policy and education students with the local public schools and broader community. The goal for this collaboration is to define local environmental problems and to seek solutions to these problems.
High school students will work with Alma College faculty, science and education students to conduct regular, on-going field and lab analyses on different parameters indicative of health of the Pine River and its tributaries. These results will be processed, evaluated and presented to the community-at-large in various formats. Students and faculty will be involved at all stages of the project - from data collection and analyses to evaluation of the project itself. The process will build on itself in providing years of data that will be important in making long-term assessments of the river's health.
Back to Top
3M Foundation Grant supports Southwestern University’s Student-Community Collaborative Research and Creative Works for the San Gabriel River Trail Project
The University's Student-Community Collaborative Research and Creative Works for the San Gabriel River Trail Project received a $50,000 multiyear grant from the 3M Foundation. The initiative focuses on the San Gabriel River Trail, a newly-developed 8.2 mile hike and bike trail that connects downtown parks and trails with Lake Georgetown in Georgetown, Texas.
Students will work individually and in groups to develop a model program of interdisciplinary, student-led, community-based research and creative projects on topics that might include
- water quality assessment of the North San Gabriel River
- curricular materials utilizing the resources of the trail corridor for public school science teachers
- local history of early settlers along the San Gabriel River
- demographic information about trail users
- economic impact of the trail
- music, dance, theater, and other creative performances associated with the trail
- works of art that are esthetic expressions of the trail and trail corridor exercise programs utilizing the trail
- Students involved in this project will learn leadership skills through specially designed coursework and interaction with the community.
Back to Top
Supporting Project HOPE
For almost 50 years, Project HOPE has rushed medical aid to disaster victims, such as the survivors of the December 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. For over 35 of those years, 3M has been at its side, donating cash, medical supplies and other products. Since 1970, 3M has donated more than $10 million, including almost $2.5 million in cash and $7.6 million in products, to the organization. Project HOPE answered the call for help at home when Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita devastated the Central Gulf Coast.
Back to Top
