Learn in the Great Outdoors

The Wildlife Society announces the Northeast (NE) Section’s Wildlife Field Course taking place in Castleton, VT from May 17-30, 2015. The NE Section offers a two week long, hands-on, outdoor program where students learn a variety of field techniques, including small mammal trapping, telemetry, GPS operation, and the use of chemical immobilization equipment. Students also become certified as Project Wild instructors and complete a basic hunter education course. Students receive 3-6 undergraduate or graduate credits through Castleton State College, which can be transferred to their home institution.

The NE Section has been sponsoring this field course since 2009. Also referred to as a “wildlife field camp”, the NE Section offers an experience that many college and university wildlife programs are unable to provide. Each year, 15 to 25 practicing professional biologists volunteer their time to travel to Vermont and lead portions of the course. By exposing students to outdoor courses taught by seasoned experts, the NE Section gives access to the type of outdoor experience that helped shape many previous generations of wildlife professionals. Rated “fricken awesome!” and “an amazing experience” by previous students, the course not only provides a unique learning atmosphere but also offers opportunities to network with professionals and to connect with fellow wildlife students.

“The TWS program does not simply fill a curriculum void for wildlife students. The program exposes students to a variety of faces, backgrounds, and experiences rare in most university environments,” said Sarah Wilkinson, a student from the 2011 Field Course. “A variety of student backgrounds fostered a dynamic of student-to-student learning. Access to state lands and numerous tools of the trade gave me a real feel for what it would be like to perform tasks out in the field.”

Interested students are encouraged to register early as the course can only accommodate 20 students. For more information visit the Northeast Section of TWS’s website and/or Facebook.

Sources: John McDonald, Northeast Section, NE Section Winter 2011-2012 Newsletter