-
Determining Habitat Suitability
This week of class was shorter than most. Typically we have Mondays dedicated to our practicums and Tuesdays through Fridays used as class time. However, Monday this week was the national holiday traditionally called Columbus Day (now widely alternatively recognized as Indigenous Peoples’ Day), and so Tuesday was our practicum day instead. This left us…
-
Ecological Monitoring
This week we did a lot of going out, looking for animals, and recording what we found. This was to give us first-hand experience with ecological monitoring, which is essential for conservation. To have any idea of what steps should be taken to preserve the biodiversity of an ecosystem, you need to know what species…
-
Stakeholders and Conservation
This week, one thing that was emphasized in our course material was the role of stakeholders in conservation of species or natural areas. Because with any given one, it won’t just be one group that is affected by decisions about their protection. Therefore, for conservation efforts to be successful in a long run, all relevant…
-
Conservation Land Management
A major focus of the lectures this week has been the role of land management in conservation. We talked about modifications are made to the landscape by conservation workers to promote biodiversity, such as the targeted removal of invasive species and planting of native species. We also spent a lot of time discussing how different…
-
Learning About Protecting Wildlife in the US
The class material for this week focused on the history of environmental protection laws in the US, as well as what is happening with them in the present day. We learned about how the extinction of species such as the passenger pigeon, as well as disasters that resulted from mismanagement of the environment like the…
-
Welcome to my blog!
I am a 23-year-old from Michigan who will be using this site to reflect on my experiences week-by-week at the Smithsonian-Mason-School of Conservation, located at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. I created this for class but look forward to sharing my adventures with anyone interested who stumbles across my blog! A wild eastern American toad…
-
Initial Personal Reflective Essay
View of sunset over the Blue Ridges from Racetrack Hill. I want to begin this post by saying that I am thrilled to be at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) this fall semester. Ever since I learned about this opportunity from my mom, the idea that I could spend an entire semester studying on…
A four-month adventure at the prestigious Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation
