4 August 2006
Nick
Rasmussen
Oklahoma
State University
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Dear Bill and Jean Lane,
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to you for the generous endowment
you created several years ago, which now yields annual payouts to fully
support a position in the Research Training Program (RTP) each summer.
I am the grateful recipient of this years award thereby providing the
financial support that allowed my participation in the 2006 Research
Training Program (RTP) at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
It is a rare opportunity, indeed, to have the privilege of spending
ten weeks at one of the world's premier natural history institutions
and working with some of the most outstanding professionals in their
respective fields. Participating in the Research Training Program (RTP)
is truly a once in a lifetime experience, and I greatly appreciate your
financial gift that made my internship possible.
There are many internship programs available through the NMNH, but
the RTP is unique. Through this particular program, I not only completed
my own original research project but I also had the chance to tour many
of the impressive collections outside of my area of study. These collections
are world-renowned, and some represent the largest of their kind. On
our many tours, we saw rare gems, mummies, fossils, meteorites, deep
sea fishes, giant frogs, and a great deal more.
For my project, I studied flying squirrels of the genus Hylopetes
in an effort to gain a better understanding of how many distinct species
are found in an area of Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, and
Java primarily) and determine where these species are distributed. To
do this, I studied skulls and skins of squirrels and made comparisons
of specimens from the various geographic localities. I have learned
a great deal about skeletal morphology, geography, and mapping software
(ArcGIS).
Not only did I get to experience the great city of Washington, D.C.
but I also had the fortune of seeing two other famous cities this summer.
I visited New York City to do some research at the American Museum of
Natural History, and I went to New Orleans for the Joint Meeting of
Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. At this meeting, I was able to see
many interesting presentations and make contact with a number of the
leading professionals in my field.
Thank you again for endowing a position in this program. This has been
a most memorable summer.
Sincerely,
Nick Rasmussen
Research Training Program
Class of '06