SEEDS Regional Field Trip –Mountain Lake Biological Station, VA
Twelve students – four freshmen, six sophomores and two seniors from three Historically Black institutions – Coppin State University (Baltimore City), Howard University (Washington, DC) and Hampton University (Virginia) as well as the University of Maryland participated in the SEEDS Regional field trip from May 22-25, 2014 at the Mountain Lake Biological Station. Faculty advisers from Coppin State – Dr. Mintesinot Jiru and Dr. Tatiana Roth also participated, along with Teresa Mourad, ESA Director of Education and Diversity Programs. Nearly all the students had never visited a field station or done any ecological fieldwork prior to this field trip. Working with researchers and graduate students at MLBS, the students learned about the forked fungus beetle and the black-eyed juncos. In small groups, students developed questions related to the aggression behavior of mated and unmated male juncos and investigated the relationship between beetle size, sex and mite load. Students also learned about their own leadership styles and exchanged ideas on possible chapter activities. They also had a lovely hike up the Cascade Falls. Students demonstrated high interest in the interdisciplinary direction that ecology as a field is going.
For more information on SEEDS: http://esa.org/seeds/