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22 area high school students participate in Field Ecology Governor's school at Dabney Lancaster
 | | BCHS students Sage Tanguay (left) and Sarita Hough compare specimens from the Cowpasture River near Millboro during the Governor's School for Field Ecology held this summer at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. (Photo courtesy DSLCC) |
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CLIFTON FORGE — The Dabney S. Lancaster Community College governor's school in field ecology held its 24th session this summer, with 22 rising ninth and 10th graders from seven local school divisions in the DLSCC educational service region successfully completing this year's program. Originally conceived and directed by former DSLCC biology professor Dr. Steve Adams in 1984, the challenging three-week program incorporates a high intensity curriculum that combines scientific methodology, field work and critical thinking skills as they apply to ecological principles.
Participants take part in three scientific studies during the program. The first week's investigation includes a three-day backpacking trip in which students engage in capturing, identifying and releasing salamanders along eight elevational gradients in a remote area of Highland County to determine species diversity and preferable habitats.
During the second week, participants are exposed to forestry tools and techniques in Greenbrier State Forest area of Harts Run, W.Va., by establishing a research forest transect in which they identify, measure and tally the various tree, sapling and seedling species within six plots along the 50 meter transect. This study can confirm the species richness, the amount of useable wood and the overall health of the local forest.
The third study in the final week of the governor's school incorporates the methodology of Virginia "Save our Streams" protocol. Participants capture, identify and count macroinvertebrates found on the rocky bottoms of local streams. This data, based on the species of organisms found, is used to determine stream health, the degree of human impact on the stream and possible points of origin, sources and causes of water pollution at the study site.
In order to participate in the program, students complete an application process and are nominated by their science teachers based on their academic ability and interest in science. Upon completion of the program, participants earn six college credits in general forest ecology and principles of forestry. Directors and instructors for the program are Jane DeGroot, biology teacher at Alleghany High School and Josh Craft, English teacher at Clifton Middle School.
For more information on the program visit the governor's school website at www.fieldecology.org or contact your school division's guidance department. School divisions represented this year included Alleghany, Covington, Lexington, Botetourt, Buena Vista, Rockbridge and Bath County.
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