Y-LINC Day Four: Lumberjacks

"I'm going to study ornithology" said Alberto Gomez on the van ride early in the morning.

Mind you, many of our Y-LINC campers were going to go to college, but it is always so amazing when someone comes into a program like Y-LINC, and keeps coming back, and now they know they want to have a life that has everything to do with outdoors, and they know how to get and where to get it.

Dr. Warren Conway explains telemetry.

Y-LINC had the first time ever opportunity this year to attend a bird-walk, hosted by Dr. Warren Conway of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at +Stephen F. Austin State University. Dr. Conway lent our participants binoculars and taught the nuts and bolts basics of bird calls and using the binoculars to spot birds. He told us there were thousands of bird species in the world and that some people spend their whole lives looking for the next one on their lists. He hid stuffed animal birds for the campers to find, and they did in fact find them. He also showed us the use of telemetry equipment, which SFASU scientists such as himself use to track animal movements.

Dr. Tamberly Conway, Conservation Educator with the USFS
and Dr. I-Kaui Hung, Professor of Spatial Science at
The Arthur Temple College of Forestry and
Agriculture at SFASU.

Wildlife research is not the only ambition that can be fulfilled at SFASU. Dr. I-Kuai Hung told us about the burgeoning field of Spatial Science and Geographic Technologies, which are the research and development behind the latest in map making technology and include powerful Geographic Information Systems which help us understand our world and our spaces better. This career feild is very important to the natural sciences, especially when it comes to creating plans that help us coexist with nature.

Then it was time to loosen up and get active at the Health and Physical Education Building, where a Campus Recreation expert invited us to play some team building games. The campers had a ball as they raced around playing elbow tag, working together to lower a tent pole to the ground, tying themselves in knots, and many others. All the games had the common theme of creating bonds with each other, turning strangers into friends. It was all great preparation for our last activity at SFASU: climbing the rock wall. Fears of awkwardness and heights were conqured simultaneously on Thursday.

Elbow Tag at the Health Science building.

Rock wall at the SFASU Rec Center

Once we returned home, John Boyette of the +Texas A&M Forest Service taught  a bit of Texas history with a tree cookie from the famous, one-of-a-kind Marshall Oak tree. John wove history into biology together as he showed the students how wider rings indicate faster growth, which may indicate more favorable growing conditions, such as a lack of competition. John illustrated the competion concept through the PLT lesson "Every Tree for Itself".

Alberto Gomez with a tree
cookie from the Sam Houston
Campaign Tree.

The next day would be another National Forest adventure, out to the land where nature helps to conserve itself...

Don't forget to check out more photos of today's events at our Flickr Photostream!

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