Three Berea College faculty members have received Appalachian College Association (ACA) Faculty-Student Research grants for summer research. Sean Clark, assistant professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources, received a grant for $3,650 to assess the roles of earthworms and effective microorganisms in small-scale composting systems. Working with him will be Agriculture and Natural Resources juniors Chloe Tewksbury of Edmonton and Derek Law of Berea.

James Lynch and Jan Pearce, both assistant professors in the mathematics department, received a $2,100 grant. Assisted by junior mathematics major Sarah Douthitt of Cecilia, they will mathematically model community growth trends in Berea in order to predict certain environmental implications.

In 1998 the ACA provided grants totaling $54,300 for 10 summer research projects involving 12 faculty and 22 students. In 1999, the ACA supported two projects, involving two faculty and three students with grants totaling $7,100.

Major funding for the grants comes from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The ACA is a consortium of 33 private colleges in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.