Those of us in the wildlife field have noticed the same trend for a while. It has prompted some folks to use the professional society as a vehicle to provide field-based training opportunities. The Northeast Section of The Wildlife Society started a 2-week field course for college students, our 6th annual course begins this weekend (http://wildlife.org/NE/field_course). We have students from 8 different schools signed up, a mix of grad students and undergrads, as well as 1 recent grad looking to get into grad school. Other Sections and Chapters of TWS have started similar courses, sometimes as a weekend workshop, sometimes a bit longer. In the Northeast, as a number of us began to comment on this lack of field-based courses (or limited numbers) at some schools we thought that instead of writing letters to department heads as alums, we could use the professional society to do something constructive and expose students to working professionals who they might not meet on campus. This year, we have 22 professionals volunteering to come and lead or assist in 1 or more of our sessions, so it becomes quite a networking opportunity for students, too.
John E. McDonald, Jr., Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Science Westfield State University Westfield, MA 01086 jemcdon...@westfield.ma.edu<mailto:jemcdon...@westfield.ma.edu> 413-572-8393 Northeast Section Representative and Fellow, The Wildlife Society http://www.westfield.ma.edu/prospective-students/academics/environmental-science/ Like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pages/Westfield-State-Environmental-Science/168696726672260<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Westfield-State-Environmental-Science/168696726672260> John E. McDonald, Jr., Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Science Westfield State University Westfield, MA 01086 jemcdon...@westfield.ma.edu 413-572-8393 Northeast Section Representative and Fellow, The Wildlife Society http://www.westfield.ma.edu/prospective-students/academics/environmental-science/ Like us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pages/Westfield-State-Environmental-Science/168696726672260<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Westfield-State-Environmental-Science/168696726672260>
