The PA Gobblers students just completed a “purr-fect” week. Over the past five days, the students engaged with professionals and immersed themselves into turkey management, habitat, and forest ecology. As we celebrate this week’s class of Conservation Ambassadors, take a look at the highlights from PA Gobblers!
On Tuesday, the Gobblers students settled into field school and got acquainted with their peers. They jumped right in with a lecture detailing the natural history of the wild turkey. They also took a forest ecology field walk, collected plant specimens to press and mount later in the week, and an introduction to nature journaling.
Getting to know each other.
Forest ecology field walk.
Plant collections for herbarium specimens mounting.
The students participated in a necropsy on Wednesday morning to learn the anatomy of the wild turkey. Their afternoon featured an introduction to turkey calling. They learned and practiced three calls to demonstrate in a calling competition later in the week. They closed out their second day of field school with a lesson on how to sex and age a wild turkey.
Introduction to turkey calling.
Sexing and aging turkeys.
Team building!
Thursday was a favorite amongst the students! They spent the morning learning about how biologists conduct research on wild turkey populations. They were shown a rocket net demonstration, practiced tracking turkeys with radio telemetry equipment, and learned how GIS and GPS can be helpful tools for research studies. Thursday afternoon, the students traveled to a nearby range where they learned about firearms safety, trapping, and archery!
Radio telemetry!
Archery!
The students started off strong on Friday morning with a career panel stacked with experts to answer all the questions they had about their futures. They then participated in a mock town hall meeting focusing on controversial conservation issues. The afternoon “Tips and Tools of Being a Naturalist” session was a hit as students learned about the importance of connecting with their surroundings. In the evening, students constructed their trifold projects on a topic that they learned this week. They will take these trifolds home with them to use in their future outreach endeavors.
We are so proud to share what the newest Conservation Ambassadors accomplished this week! We look forward to seeing their outreach record books next spring. Thank you to all the instructors and volunteers that helped make this week great! We appreciate your support of the next generation of conservation leaders!
PA Gobblers – Field School Highlights
Posted: July 20, 2024 by Katie Mace
The PA Gobblers students just completed a “purr-fect” week. Over the past five days, the students engaged with professionals and immersed themselves into turkey management, habitat, and forest ecology. As we celebrate this week’s class of Conservation Ambassadors, take a look at the highlights from PA Gobblers!
On Tuesday, the Gobblers students settled into field school and got acquainted with their peers. They jumped right in with a lecture detailing the natural history of the wild turkey. They also took a forest ecology field walk, collected plant specimens to press and mount later in the week, and an introduction to nature journaling.
The students participated in a necropsy on Wednesday morning to learn the anatomy of the wild turkey. Their afternoon featured an introduction to turkey calling. They learned and practiced three calls to demonstrate in a calling competition later in the week. They closed out their second day of field school with a lesson on how to sex and age a wild turkey.
Thursday was a favorite amongst the students! They spent the morning learning about how biologists conduct research on wild turkey populations. They were shown a rocket net demonstration, practiced tracking turkeys with radio telemetry equipment, and learned how GIS and GPS can be helpful tools for research studies. Thursday afternoon, the students traveled to a nearby range where they learned about firearms safety, trapping, and archery!
The students started off strong on Friday morning with a career panel stacked with experts to answer all the questions they had about their futures. They then participated in a mock town hall meeting focusing on controversial conservation issues. The afternoon “Tips and Tools of Being a Naturalist” session was a hit as students learned about the importance of connecting with their surroundings. In the evening, students constructed their trifold projects on a topic that they learned this week. They will take these trifolds home with them to use in their future outreach endeavors.
We are so proud to share what the newest Conservation Ambassadors accomplished this week! We look forward to seeing their outreach record books next spring. Thank you to all the instructors and volunteers that helped make this week great! We appreciate your support of the next generation of conservation leaders!
Daily Highlight Videos
See the Gobblers students in action! Check out the highlight videos from each day of field school this week!
Day 1: Getting to Know Each Other, Forest Ecology Walk, and Nature Journaling
Day 2: Turkey Calling, Nature Photography, and Team Building
Day 3: Field Research Techniques, Archery, and Mock Media Interviews
Day 4: Mock Town Hall Meeting, Tips and Tools of Being a Naturalist, and Trifold Projects
Day 5: Closing Ceremonies
Category: Youth Blog Tags: featured, field school highlights, PA Gobblers