Out of the classroom and into South Africa
Five students from the Frost Campus will soon be embarking on the trip of a lifetime when they head to South Africa to volunteer with the Askari Wilderness Conservation program.
Leaving April 30, the students – three in the Ecosystem Management Technician program and two in the Ecosystem Management Technology program – will undertake a number of activities during their two-week stay.
Faculty members Barb Elliot and Mike Fraser will be leading the trip. Elliot says the students will be participating in herbivore identification and research (giraffes for example), as well as monitoring large mammals (elephants, rhinos), birds of prey and nocturnal mammals. The students will take part in restoration activities such as road and brush clearing and management of non-native plant species. The group will also have an overnight campout in the bush.
While the students will be studying many plants and animals they have never before encountered in the field, Elliot says it shouldn’t make a difference to the techniques the students have learned.
“It doesn’t matter who the players are – it’s the process,” she said. The students learn monitoring techniques in the classroom that can apply to all flora and fauna.
What will really make a difference for the students is the cultural experience, she said.
“It changes their perspective on everything. The international experience exposes them to so much about human culture and about what’s going on in the world. In the context of being a global citizen, nothing can compare to it.”
Fraser echoed that sentiment.
“(In the Ecosystem Management program) we focus on not only the ecological and biological, but we also focus on the cultural and economic – the big picture. We want to ensure our students become global citizens.”
Fraser and Elliot coordinated the trip to the reserve, located near Kruger National Park in the northeast of the country, through an alumni connection.
A 2009 graduate of the Ecosystem program, Veronica Bass, had volunteered at the reserve and raved about it. After more than a year of preparations, the trip has come together.
For Elliot, the experience will allow her to connect with her students on an entirely different level.
“So often the students see you in one light in front of the classroom. So it’s nice to be able to work along side the students in doing these hands-on, on-the-ground projects,” she said. “Just getting to know the students and appreciate where they’re coming from helps you do a better job in the classroom.”
Elliot added that the trip will add to her commitment to be a life-long learner, citing the skills and knowledge she will gain during the experience.
“Seeing the world in this way and developing a much-broader understanding of the world makes an individual a more well-rounded human being, and much more respectful of what we have.”
Elliot offered her thanks, on behalf of the program, to the college for its recognition and support of international activities.
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