For Immediate Release

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

October 1, 2007

GRINNELL COLLEGE INTERNS BENEFIT FROM SMELTZER TRUST

Thanks to the generosity of the Ann Smeltzer Charitable Trust, four Grinnell College students completed summer internships in environmental studies in China, Costa Rica, and California.

"The internships continue Ann Smeltzer's long-standing interest in helping students pursue their academic interests in the field," said Charles Powell, director of development, Grinnell College. "It's rare for undergraduates to have such exceptional opportunities for quality field research. We are grateful to the Smeltzer Trust for this generous support."

The Grinnell students and their projects include:

" Sirui Cao, a senior biological chemistry major from Beijing, China, completed field research to learn how to conserve plant and animal species endangered in China due to heavy medicinal use.

" Johanna Krukowski, a senior anthropology major from Midland Park, N.J., collected data about nesting leatherback sea turtles in a protected conservation beach in Costa Rica.

" Britta Nordberg, a third-year biology major from Madison, Wisc., who did field work on sloths and their migration patterns in Costa Rican cacao farms.

" Indrani Singh, a senior biology major with a concentration in environmental studies from Karnataka, India, completed field and lab work about bees and rare alpine flowers in the Sierra Nevada range of southern California.

The Ann Smeltzer Charitable Trust is a private non-profit organization that works to support the environmental, social justice, conservation, cultural, and educational interests of the late Ann Smeltzer, a Fort Dodge philanthropist who died in 1999.

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,500 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs. -30-