Lyman Briggs College has come a long way since being established as MSU's second residential college in 1967. Growth in enrollment has created a critical need for space to support the living/learning atmosphere that characterizes Briggs. Dean Elizabeth Simmons has announced plans to renovate the West Lower Lounge into:

• 6 faculty offices to accommodate faculty presently locate outside of Holmes Hall
• Senior seminar/conference room
• Student study and engagement area

Please consider a gift in support of this project. Gifts of any size are welcome. Special donor recognition opportunities are available for gifts of just $500, or more. For more information contact: mckean@msu.edu.

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What college students couldn't use some extra money? This is especially true when that money could be going toward your tuition. In the spring of 2011, the Michigan Environmental Laboratory Association will be awarding a $1000 scholarship to a deserving MSU applicant. This scholarship is available to sophomores or juniors majoring in the College of Natural Science, Lyman Briggs College, College of Engineering, or the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. For more information >>>. (Story by: Ashleigh Rogers 11/2010) 

MSU and Briggs researchers do research on Yellow Perch -  LBC assistant professor of environmental toxicology Cheryl Murphy is a member of a tearm of MSU researchers studying how increasing doses of toxic substances affect yellow perch. Using a $498,334 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, the study will focus on exposure to mercury, which is a neurotoxin present in the Great Lakes. Murphy says, "This is the first time such an exercise has been performed for the Great Lakes ecosystem. Contaminants that don't kill fish can still have many negative repercussions on fish populations, and we hope to shed some light on those issues." The grant is a part of the EPA's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which is a $475 million plan that calls for aggressive efforts to address toxin clean-ups, combat invasive species, and promote near shore health and restore wetlands and other habitats. Read more about this story >>>. (Story by: Ashleigh Rogers 11/2010)

As a high achiever who loves science and has her eyes set on medical school, Columbus, Ohio freshman Shanice Akora saw MSU as the perfect fit. But, as a big sister to three younger siblings all being raised by a single mother, the last thing that Shanice wanted to do was burden her family. How she would afford MSU had remained a looming question until late in June when she received the news that she would receive the newly created William A. and Janice D. Simpson Spartan Scholarship, which shows preference to Lyman Briggs students. Additional Spartan Scholarship Challenges are being funded by LBC alumni and friends and will begin awarding in the near future. 

Read Shanice's Story here >>>

LBC's Brian O'Shea's work featured on NASA's James Web Telescope website -  One of O'Shea's simulations is being featured on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope website, which is set to launch in 2014. As NASA's next generation telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope will complement the abilities of the current Hubble Space Telescope, but will be vastly more sensitive.

Read more here >>>.

(Story by: Ashleigh Rogers 10/2010)

Michael P. Nelson, an environmental ethicist, jointly appointed in Lyman Briggs College, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Department of Philosophy and John Vucetich, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University, both stated in an article published in the journal Conservation Biology, that "Scientists by virtue of being citizens first and scientists second, have a responsibility to advocate to the best of their abilities and in a justified and transparent manner."

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