SWAU Ecology Class Visits Wildlife Refuge

SWAU Ecology Class Visits Wildlife Refuge

Southwestern Adventist University’s entire Ecology class was presented with the opportunity to go on a weekend long trip to Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge as part of their lab assignment. The purpose of the trip was to get the students into the unique environment of a specific eco-system where they could see first-hand what they were learning in class. They left for Comanche County, Oklahoma, the morning of Thursday, Nov. 30, and returned to Keene on Saturday night, Dec. 2.

“As tradition, I usually take my Ecology students to the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas for their hands-on lab,” says Dr. Jared Wood, assistant professor of ecology and conservation in the biology department. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t go this year because Hurricane Harvey that hit Texas earlier this year affected it.” 

Typically, when the Ecology class goes to Port Aransas they get to sample the ocean and coastal eco-system, but this time they got to see prairie eco-systems and view the wildlife.  Spending time in nature and experience hands-on wildlife was an enjoyable experience for those who went.

“It was so fun for me!” says Lindsey Johnson, a sophomore biology pre-med student. “The southern Great Plains had so much life we weren’t expecting to encounter. We got to see a baby longhorn with its mom and bison and two huge gorgeous elks and a whole prairie dog town! It was so cool getting to experience everything in its natural habitat.”

 The group that went camped, climbed a couple of mountains, went to the Holy Mountain in Cache, Oklahoma, and the Medicine Park Aquarium and Natural Science Center during their trip.

“Everyone likes being hands-on,” says Johnson. “There’s nothing more hands-on than getting to stand in the middle of a 30-foot canyon next to a waterfall or hiking up to reach a 2,464-foot summit, looking over the Great Plains and seeing a herd of bison. This trip was a constant adventure!”

 

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

About author

You might also like

Features 0 Comments

Short Story: “Your Life and Mine” by Jered Mabaquiao

The following short story won second place in the 2018 Creative Writing Contest at Southwestern Adventist University, and is provided here at the request of our readers. Enjoy. Your Life

Features 0 Comments

God Has Better Plans

Riding the bench in baseball helped Mario Labrador get to know God better.

News 0 Comments

Assembly To Feature Associate Youth Director

Assembly today will be held in the Keene SDA Church at 1 p.m. The speaker will be Pastor Armando Miranda. Miranda is the new Associate Youth and Young Adult Director

0 Comments

No Comments Yet!

You can be first to comment this post!

Leave a Reply

IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-)

What is 10 + 15 ?
Please leave these two fields as-is:

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.