Corvallis High School Grant funds air quality study by PERRY PEARSON - Ravalli Republic 3/14/06

Jim Streibel, a Corvallis High School science teacher, was recently awarded a $10,000 grant that will allow him and his students to study the air quality in the Bitterroot Valley.

Streibel received one of 50 large grants sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales through its Toyota Tapestry grant program

The grants are available to K-12 teachers of science who apply by writing a grant proposal to the National Science Teachers Association.

Corvallis High School must now set up a special account for the funds that will be administered solely by Streibel. This ensures him the freedom to use the funds as envisioned in his proposal, according to a letter sent to the school by Eric Crossly, manager of the Toyota Tapestry grants.

“I hope it increases student interest in science at your school,” Crossly wrote of the project.

The check will be presented to Streibel at the upcoming Toyota Tapestry awards banquet in Anaheim, Calif. on April 8.

Streibel said next year his science students will research what particulates are found in this area's air.

“We're going to establish a baseline because no one has ever done it before,” he said.

The particulates might include smoke and ash from forest fires and other fires or even asbestos, he said. Students will take the samples themselves.

Bill Granath, a University of Montana science professor, helped Streibel write the grant. Another professor, Earl Adams, will assist once the project begins.

Adams will take pictures of the sampled air using an electron microscope. Streibel said it is a million dollar machine and one of the few in the state.

The pictures will then be put on a website that the students can use to view and analyze the data.

“It is pretty novel because no one is doing this around here,” he added.