NANFA-- Re: nanfa V1 #1190

Arlus Farnsworth (arlusf_at_cwnet.com)
Sat, 23 Feb 2002 18:06:36 -0800

If I don't know you, I love you anyway. Your words are beautiful to me.

>
> Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 11:26:54 -0600
> From: "Denkhaus, Robert" <DenkhaR_at_Ci.Fort-Worth.TX.US>
> Subject: RE: NANFA-- reply from non-list member
>
> This is exactly why I value the education that I received at (CAUTION:
> Blatant alma mater plug to follow!) the University of Wisconsin-Stevens
> Point. As a wildlife major, or for that matter anyone majoring in any area
> in the College of Natural Resources, field work was an extremely important
> and required facet of the educational program. Ornithology class involved
> field birding. Dendrology was spent out among the trees. Wildlife
> techniques class included capturing, marking and radio-tracking a variety
> of critters. If those who major in English Literature are expected to read
> books and accounting majors are expected to use adding machines then why
> does it seem so difficult for universities to understand that student field
> biologists/ecologists/natural resource managers should be in the field?
>
> However, required field work related to classwork is only a small taste of
> what is really necessary. I can remember spending much of my free time in
> the field working on plant, bird, etc. identification. I volunteered to
> work for graduate students just to gain extra field experience. While the
> business majors were honing their golf game, I spent hundreds of hours in
> the field with nothing in return except knowledge, experience and the
> occasional 6-pack of Point Bock beer just for helping out! So many of the
> students that come to me today looking for career guidance are appalled by
> the idea of giving up their weekends and school breaks to gain experience
> for no pay! I'm afraid that they think that they can learn everything that
> they need to know from books and the internet.
>
> To anyone out there looking to go to school and wants a field education, be
> sure to ask about the university's field facilities and check into the
> background of the professors. That will give you an idea of how field
> oriented they are.
>
> Rob Denkhaus
> Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge

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