UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (WTAJ) – Penn State has been awarded a combined total of over $140,000 of state funding to support its work in biodiversity projects to protect local natural habitats.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) under the Wild Resources Conservation Program awarded the university monies to support three separate studies aimed at preserving native plant and fish species.

The three grants from DCNR to Penn State are:

• $42,591 to support a statewide project that will develop a recovery plan for the rapidly declining plant, Scarlet Paintbrush which is considered a threatened species in the state.
• $43,333 to help fund a statewide project that will conduct studies on the taxonomy and distribution narrow-leaf ramps, a newly discovered native plant species with 13 locations in southwestern Pennsylvania.
• $54,845 will support a project in Centre County that will investigate the influence of dissolved oxygen on the distribution and habits of the Chesapeake Logperch, a rare fish that can be found in Pennsylvania.

In total, DCNR awarded over $444,000 to 12 projects in the state, all with goals of biodiversity preservation.