All Projects

This project will accelerate production of County Geologic Atlases (part A). An atlas is a set of geologic maps and associated databases for a county that facilitate informed management of natural resources, especially water and minerals.

CMSM opened its new permanent site with increased capacity to serve as an informal learning center that playfully engages children, families, and school groups in interactive experiences with the art and cultural heritage of southern Minnesota. With its current appropriation, CMSM is poised to strengthen its core as an institution that promotes arts and cultural heritage learning through continued

CMSM will build upon the work that began with its 2015-16 appropriation by (1) Remediation and further development of exhibit areas that promote Arts & Cultural Heritage (ACH) learning (2) Expanding ACH learning opportunities for new audiences at off-site locations; (3) Engaging an outside Evaluation Consultant to help plan/implement strategies that meaningfully assess ACH learning outcomes and impacts; (4) Boosting the Museum’s capacity to serve more school/early learning groups.

This project will develop innovative and low-cost biofilters to decrease the concentration of nitrous oxide (N2O), a strong greenhouse gas and ozone layer destructor.

The Givens Foundation will host a African American Literary Conference, slated for April 2025, to explore emerging themes, trends, and issues in Black American literature. Our collaboration with the Archie Givens Sr. Collection of African American Literature will elevate the discourse, fostering critical engagement. 1) Public Forum: Engaging the general public, as well as emerging and established writers, scholars, critics, agents, publishers, booksellers, educators, and students.

Art from the Inside elevates the voices of incarcerated artists in Minnesota and amplifies their stories through their art and community-centered exhibitions of their art, providing the public a space to explore the complexities of identity, incarceration, and our shared humanity. AFTI will expand its reach and impact into more state correctional facilities and incorporate culturally-sustaining arts programming both inside and outside the walls of confinement.

The Children's Museum of Rochester, Inc. will be implementing a program called Passport To Play aiming to increase the number of children and families of all ages, ethnicities, abilities and incomes to participate in hands-on arts and cultural programming and educational exhibits at the museum. Passport To Play would reach over 1,500 children and families a year from underserved communities in Southeastern Minnesota. The Children's Museum of Rochester, Inc.

This study will leverage our current bioacoustics monitoring framework to assess avian diversity at the statewide scale through a citizen science acoustic monitoring program, with a focus on private lands.

While aspen is one of the most dominant forest types, predicted future conditions will negatively impact aspen growth. Increasing tree diversity can provide increase ecological and economic resilience.

The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) will build upon a strong foundation of Minnesota Arts, Culture and Heritage (ACH) learning experiences made possible with prior MN Legacy funding support to:

Rising temperatures and increased precipitation contribute to decreased oxygen and increased methane in Minnesota lakes and wetlands. We will identify impacts on water quality and methane emissions, providing management guidance.

The Minnesota County Geologic Atlas program is an ongoing effort begun in 1982 that is being conducted jointly by the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Geological Survey and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The program collects information on the geology of Minnesota to create maps and reports depicting the characteristics and pollution sensitivity of Minnesota's ground-water resources.

The Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota planned for the cultural alignment of the permanent Children's Museum's art curation, signage, and interactive experiences. The primary focus of this cultural content related to southern Minnesota including Dakota art, culture, and heritage and complemented the Exhibit Development and Fabrication Legacy grant goals.

With the support of Minnesota Humanities Center, Afro American Development Association (AADA) has partnered with renowned Somali musician Nimcaan Hilaac to bring Somali musical education to Somali American youth in Minnesota. The Cultural Music Program for Somali American Youth will allow 50 students to participate in a musical composition workshop with Nimcaan Hilaac, culminating in a performance at a summertime Somali music festival open to all members of the community.

Dakota Wicohan will develop programming alternatives, like online and media resources and delivered care packages, to stay engaged with our youth, adults and families, focusing specifically on using culturally appropriate means to bolster the mental and spiritual health of our youth, and help them deal with any losses they experienced in their families and community. We will continue this new at-home support and activity component of our programming beyond the Covid-19 crisis.

Dakota Wicohan will offer a 16-week “Beading 101” course, covering 5 to 7 different beading techniques presented by experts in each technique, and the needles, thread and other supplies needed for each style. Stitches to include lazy stitch, peyote stitch, the three drop technique, beading with two needles, the wrap technique, loom beading, and, throughout, general beading tips and tricks.

Dakota Wicohan created the first half of a leadership and civics curriculum for Dakota youth—Dakota Itancan Kagapi, or, the making of Dakota leaders. The program will be used to train Dakota youth through the inter-related strategies of remembering, reclaiming, and reconnecting with our Dakota language and lifeways to enhance the region’s civic foundation.

Dakota Wicohan will hire a consultant to 1) sustain success and growth; 2) train and empower staff; 3) foster leadership from within the community; 4) prepare for future challenges and opportunities.

Dakota Wicohan will provide a transformative 16-week program aimed at empowering local Dakota youth by guiding them through the intricate process of crafting their own dance regalia outfits and provide dance lessons, tailored for 10-13 students (boys and girls), from the Lower Sioux Community. Upon completion of their regalia, the participants will be empowered to share their newfound knowledge and skills with the broader community. This sharing will be prominently featured at two local events - the Lower Sioux Powwow and the Redwood County Fair.

The Department of Public Transformation will hire a Development Consultant to lead the Board and staff toward more sustainable and intentional fundraising strategies. Specifically, a consultant teaches skills in building annual giving programs, creating audit systems and policies, coach staff and board on effective fundraising strategies, and implement processes that can evolve as the organization continues to grow.

We will determine the distribution, relative density, and spatial occupancy patterns of 3 small weasel species in Minnesota to fill key knowledge gaps in weasel distribution and status in Minnesota.

Forewarned is Forearmed: Our goal is to protect the newly described MN DNR native bees from invasive virus-derived diseases and population declines.

Low-levels of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminate water and soil in Minnesota. We propose to identify enzymes and microbes that break down PFAS, making them non-toxic.

We will generate genome sequences of bacteria growing in wastewater treatment bioreactors, allowing us to improve phosphorus and nitrogen removal from wastewater in Minnesota and to discover novel pharmaceutical compounds.

The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) will complete the innovative community engagement process started with the previous Legacy grant. CMSM will build upon the progress created with the previous Legacy grant by transitioning the team's focus to carrying-out of strategic access strategies that engage a diversity of community members in the exhibit development process, resulting in the completion of fabrication plans for exhibits and environments that are accessible; engaging; and reflect the diverse art, culture, and heritage of southern Minnesota.

Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried through three successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota used the 2013 direct appropriation to prepare for and begin building exhibit components for its permanent facility by combining professional museum expertise with local resources, volunteers, and community involvement.

In 2007, the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) conducted an environmental scan of early learning opportunities for children in southern Minnesota. It became apparent that the region creates few opportunities for children to engage in self-directed learning experiences in social settings; in particular, opportunities that create access to arts, culture, and heritage. This is still true today.

Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried out through four successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota will use the 2014-15 direct appropriation to complete fabrication and installation of several exhibit components for its permanent facility. Local resources, volunteers, and community involvement will be combined with museum expertise to complete this process.

This proposal aims to answer this question: How would the water quality of Minnesota's lakes change in the next century under future scenarios of urbanization, agricultural growth, and climate change?

This project will analyze existing and projected data to develop simple tools to predict the effect of land use and climate change on extreme floods and droughts.

The project will assess chemical and biological defluorination activities in environmental samples and identify the microorganisms, metabolic pathways, and intermediates resulting from degradation of fluorinated pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

Geologic atlases provide maps/databases essential for improved management of ground and surface water. This proposal will complete current projects and start new projects to equal about 4 complete atlases.

This project will support new exhibit components, including an agriculture heritage exhibit, that will showcase the farming way of life and the importance of family farms for the country's food source. It includes workshops and hands-on learning in roles such as gardener, farmer, processor, seed agronomist, farmers market vendor, and consumer.

This project proposes to increase the adoption of cover cropping in southwest Minnesota to address issues of loss of diversity and environmental degradation. By generating important information on cover crops,

Evaluation of Minnesota raptors, in rehabilitation and free ranging settings, for current or previous exposure to highly pathogenic avian influenza virus to better understand outbreak impacts to raptor populations.