Paul Bartels, biology and environmental studies professor at Warren Wilson College, has received a grant from Discover Life in America to continue his research on "water bears" (phylum Tardigrada) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bartels is among the scientists involved in the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, a study of all living things in the park. They and other interested citizens are collecting information on the estimated 100,000 species that inhabit the biodiversity hot spot.

Bartels researches water bears - microscopic, multicelled animals that flourish in the thin film of water that covers mosses, lichens and liverworts. The grant, funding the full amount of his $5,000 proposal, is one of several he has received from Discover Life in America for his work in the Great Smokies.

According to its website, Discover Life in America is "involved in a quest to identify and understand all the species of life within an 800-square-mile ecosystem - Great Smoky Mountains National Park." Its role in the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory is "to identify and develop resources and partnerships to conduct the inventory and related educational activities." When the project began in 1997, "only" about 10,000 species were known to inhabit the park.