Ecosystem Management students wrap up Credit for Product projects
Ecosystem Management Technology students wrap up their Fall 2016 Credit for Product projects today at City of Kawartha Lakes – City Hall. The Project Closing meeting featured speeches, creation of a word cloud with Credit for Product keywords, and a discussion on the placement experience.
Credit for Product is a unique placement program where students spend one day per week working with a team on a project for an external agency. This is an opportunity for students to expand their network of employment contacts and gain valuable real-world experience.
“Over the past 16+ years, Ecosystem Management students have completed 500 projects that benefit our community,” said Frost Campus faculty member Sara Kelly. “That’s an incredible amount of environmental projects.”
Sara said while the community benefits from the work the students’ complete, Ecosystem Management students benefit from the applied learning experience. “Credit for Product is a mutually beneficial relationship we have here,” she said.
During the Project Closing, faculty member Josh Feltham acknowledged the value of the work Ecosystem Management students do. “You’re providing a capacity to an organization that doesn’t have it,” he said. “Your work has value.”
He added that part of the value of Credit for Product for students is learning from their mistakes. “To anyone who learned something new, was it from doing something perfectly the first time?” he asked the group. “Most learning is driven from challenges you face, not from things running smoothly. That’s where the learning comes in.”
Josh said that employers want to hear challenges students face during placement and how they found a solution. “Challenges make good and interesting tales,” he said.
Fall 2016 projects include: E. coli feasibility and testing of Kushog Lake for Kushog Lake Property Owner’s Association, Boyd (Chiminis) Island shoreline species inventory and disturbed versus reference biodiversity study for Kawartha Lakes Stewards Association, Stoney Creek watershed report card for Kawartha Conservation, stewardship plan for Vimy Oaks woodlot for Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church, state of Leech Lake report for Leech Lake Cottagers’ Association, and turtle underpass site reconnaissance and feasibility study for The Land Between.”