ACT and NCA mark decade anniversaries

Moran

The centers are the Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Environmental Change (ACT), headquartered at the Student Building and directed by Emilio Moran, a SPEA and anthropology professor, and the National Center on Accessibility (NCA), headquartered at the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and directed by Gary Robb.

ACT contributes to studies of the human dimensions of global environmental change, focusing on an understanding of how human populations interact with the environment. Training and research core agendas provide hands-on training on methodogical and theoretical issues, such as the use of GIS and remote sensing for human ecology, and the integration of knowledge across the biophysical and social sciences.

NCA, working in partnership with IU and the National Park Service, focuses on research, training and technical assistance to link the preferences and needs of people with disabilities to those of practitioners designing facilities and planning programs.

"NCA has spent the last 10 years being committed to providing national-level leadership in making park, recreation and tourism venues and programs accessible to people with disabilities," said Robb, who is also and an associate professor of recreation and park administration at IU. Statistics from NCA show that since its beginning in 1992, the organization has trained more than 20,000 professionals and answered more than 19,000 requests for technical assistance. Research work has helped develop national accessibility guidelines for swimming pools, trails, beaches, golf and other recreational environments. Probably the most visible success has involved golf. NCA has pushed for allowing those with disabilities to play golf and provided golf course managers with information on how to accommodate these individuals. In addition, NCA helped establish the National Alliance for Accessible Golf, of which Robb is president.

Read more about the centers’ activities at these Web sites:

http://www.indiana.edu/~act

http://www.ncaonline.org/