Natural Resources Careers Conference 2009

Submitted by Lynne Marquess, Frederick County Forestry Board (FCFB)
The original article can be found on the FCFB website

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Once again the Natural Resources Careers Conference (NRCC) took place the last full week in July at the Hickory Environmental Education Center in Garrett County, MD.  The days were warm, the nights were cool, the forests were green and plentiful.... the perfect setting for this indoor/outdoor program to introduce high school students to career options and regional college programs in forestry and natural resources.  Thank you, beautiful western Maryland!

Thirty-five high school students from MD, PA, VA, & DC participated in NRCC 2009.  They may have arrived not knowing much about forestry and natural resources, but boy did that change by the week's end!  The NRCC Curriculum Director is also head of the forestry department at Allegany College of MD (ACM).  This July he brought seven of his second-year students to lead the small groups which made an ideal 1:5 student-to-teacher ratio to facilitate absorbing lots of material in one week's time.  The days started early (7:00 am), ended late (11:00 pm), and were packed full of good classroom and hands-on field exercises.

Take Monday for example:  Everyone wakes up to the infamous Hickory bell, the director's morning movies, and a hearty breakfast prepared by the Hickory kitchen staff.  Then the first instructor, a professional urban forester who holds a baccalaureate and masters degree in forestry and who has been teaching at this program for 19 years, hones the student participants' skills in tree identification, first in the classroom and then in the surrounding arboretum.  A difficult act to follow, but the next speaker is also a veteran forester and instructor who arguably has the most difficult and important task of the entire program:  teaching participants how to develop a comprehensive forest management plan tailored to specific landowner objectives.  (Each student team will prepare, present, and defend such a plan as their final task of the week.)

Monday afternoon is the first field trip, to Casselman River State Park in Grantsville, for three busy rotations.   The students get HOT learning the basics of fire suppression from two professional foresters while competing against other teams for the best time in a fire drill using real equipment.  Next they COOL off in the Casselman River learning the basics of stream ecology from a regional fisheries biologist while outfitted in chest-high waders and shocking fish.  NRCC 2009 participants were further fascinated by capturing water snakes;  for some of these students it was their first time holding a snake.  (Parents, these water snakes are not poisonous!)  Finally, they RELAX in the third rotation with a retired hydrologist who acquaints you with forested watersheds and with a USGS professional who introduces you to stream monitoring data and equipment.

All return to Hickory to “refuel” and then to explore several career pathways in the natural resources fields from a panel of professionals during an interactive and competitive Q&A session.   The evening closes with a  delightful Scales 'N Tales presentation by a former NRCC graduate and current DNR Park Service professional who brings several interesting wildlife critters to share with you.

And  that's only Monday.   Five more days to go....   but here's just a few more highlights from the rest of the week:

College-bound juniors and seniors:  Where do college professors go to recruit you to enroll in their forestry and natural resources programs?  Answer:  College Night (Wednesday) at NRCC!   This year's participants were engaged by representatives from VA Tech, UM, WVU, ACM and GC.  Afterward the students were entertained by the Garrett College professor who endeared them to the cacophony of the nocturnal sounds of the forest.

Fellow Frederick County residents,  here's something new and exciting from the MD state bear biologist's (Thursday's) presentation last July:   Frederick County once again has a biological population of black bears, as a sow with cubs was hibernating and tagged in the northern part of the county this past winter/early spring.

After completing their management plans, the students unwind and take the lead entertaining at the Friday night campfire.   While engorging on smores, you quickly discover NRCC students got talent!!

Thirteen of this year's 35 conference participants opted to take the ACM mastery exam to earn two college credits.  All thirteen students passed, with over 75% earning an “A” or “B”.  Maryland's Harford County has special bragging rights since the two participants (1 male, 1 female) who were selected as “Outstanding Student of the Week” by the ACM group leaders were both from that county.

Every year the volunteers from Maryland's 24 Forestry Boards and Association Education Committee work hard to recruit NRCC students and to raise funds for this worthwhile educational program.  We are grateful to our many supporters and financial contributors.  We are also pleased to announce that NRCC is the first recipient of the Tree Research and Education Endowment (TREE) Fund's Arboriculture Education Program Grant.  The money from this grant will be used to cover many operating expenses of the program.

High school students, please join us at next year's conference on forestry and natural resources.  Mark your calendars now for NRCC 2010:  July 25 – 31.