Educational Programs
Ames Plantation is home to many educational
programs in forestry and wildlife biology. People come singly or
in groups that range from high school students to teachers to
forestry and wildlife students to professional foresters and
wildlife biologists. People come here from all over the world.
Students or technicians who come to Ames often stay for extended
periods. It is not unusual for students to be in residence at
Ames for several days, and often they stay for weeks or months
as long as a year. Technicians, working on specific projects,
may be in residence for several years. Ames has two small
“dormitories,” that are located in houses, one for men and
another for women. And, it is not unusual for Ames
personnel to travel to other places to conduct educational
activities.
Programs
University of Tennessee veterinarian students spend 1 week at
Ames learning about livestock. These student groups come here 4
times per year. Each group receives an overview of all forestry
and wildlife research and management efforts ongoing at Ames.
Having the chance to see wildlife research is valuable to
students who will make their living working with animals and,
because they will be expected by the public to know about
animals, must often comment on issues involving wildlife.
During the early part of the year the Director of the Ames
Forestry and Wildlife program was invited to speak at local
Rotary and Chamber of Commerce clubs. It is a way to keep the
community abreast of events and these groups are enthusiastic to
learn about what is going on at Ames.
Several times during the first half of the year, Ames personnel
had the chance to visit the Larry Rea radio show on to discuss
various programs that are ongoing at Ames.
The Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference was held
in Memphis from February 28 – March 3, 2005. This meeting is one
of the most prestigious forestry meetings in the Nation and is
held every-other year. Scientists, professions and students come
from all over the South and also Nationally to attend the
weeklong Conference where research findings are presented.
Nearly 400 people attended the Conference. This year the group
elected to visit Ames to observe the research efforts. A field
tour, which was limited to 50 people, was quickly filled. This
number represented one of the largest field tours ever conducted
in the history of the Conference. The group visited Ames on
March 3, for an all day tour of forestry and wildlife research.
The University of Tennessee Department of Forestry, Wildlife and
Fisheries conducted inservice training for Extension personnel
on March 8-9. Agents spent time learning about forestry and
wildlife issues and also to gain the knowledge needed to train
young 4-H students so that they could successfully compete in
forestry and wildlife judging events.
A group of students attending a Wetlands Ecology and Management
course spent a day at Ames on March 15. The students were
enrolled at the University of Tennessee and came from the
Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries. The group was
able to observe a number of eco-systems and also to visit with
the Ames Director of Forestry and Wildlife.
The Ames Forestry and Wildlife scientist attended the Tennessee
Wildlife Society Meeting on March 17 to deliver an update on the
Quail management Program at Ames. Statewide wildlife
professionals and students attend the meeting.
The Director of Forestry and Wildlife was able to attend the
Memphis Lumberman’s Education Foundation meeting on April 14,
where an overview of the Teacher’s Conservation Workshop was
given. The Foundation is an offshoot of the Lumberman’s Club of
Memphis and is dedicated to providing sound information about
forests and forestry to the general public. One of the programs
that they support is the Teacher’s Conservation Workshop held
partially on Ames every year.
The Director of Forestry and Wildlife attended the Mississippi
Teachers Conference on May 24 to deliver lectures and field
tours. About 50 teachers attended the conference.
On May 8-9, a group of students and Professors from the
Kasetsart University, Thailand were in residence at Ames. The
group was able to see forestry and wildlife projects along with
an overview of the entire Ames Program. The Thai group has been
coming to Ames for several years and each year different
students and professors are involved. In 1995 the Ames Director
of Forestry and Wildlife was able to visit Thailand for 21 days
hosted by faculty at the Kasetsart University.
From June 5 through the 10th, fifteen young people, ranging in
age from 10 to 16, were in residence at Ames. This was part of
an annual camp sponsored by Quail Unlimited. During the course
of the week these youngsters were able to complete hunter
safety, learned how to safely paddle a canoe on a river, how to
shoot clay targets, photography and a long list of things that
relate to wildlife management. Of course, being on the grounds
of the National Championship for all-age bird dogs, they were
able to learn a great deal about quail biology and management.
They also spent time learning about quail telemetry.
Union University students attended Ames on June 11, for tours on
forestry and wildlife.
Teachers’ Conservation Workshop
The Ames portion of the Tennessee Teachers Conservation workshop
was conducted July 11 –12. Teachers from the western end of the
state attend the weeklong workshop to learn about forestry and
wildlife. The Tennessee Forestry Association and the Lumberman’s
Education Foundation have sponsored the event. It is also
supported by a wide range of public and industrial personnel and
is dedicated to teaching sound forestry and ecological science
to teachers. They also have a great deal of fun during the week,
visiting areas where they can rock hunt learning how to make
paper and a host of other activities. From this week’s
experience they can pick up an array of things that will be
valuable application in their classrooms. Although a very
similar workshop has been ongoing for a number of years in
Mississippi, the original impetus for the Tennessee program was
derived from the Woods Walk – Woods Talk program that was
supported at Ames for about 20 years. Getting the program
organized is largely credited to Mr. Gerry Reynolds of the
Memphis Hardwood Foundation. It was his vision to present sound
forestry by letting people observe good management and healthy
forests that made the program a reality.
The old Woods Walk – Woods Talk program was presented at the
Annual Meeting of Society of Wood and Science Technology, June
24-28, 2001, Baltimore Md. It was an invited talk. Below are
excerpts from that presentation.
WOODS WALK - WOODS TALK
by:
Allan E. Houston
An excerpt from an invited talk
at the Society of Wood and Science Technology,
June 24-28, 2001, Baltimore Md.
A Day in the Woods
"Woods Walk - Woods Talk" was designed to
teach teachers. From the beginning there were two major goals in
mind. First, attendees receive a better understanding of the
dynamic nature of biological communities, both across the
landscape and across time. Second, the day provides some concept
of the values that attend a forested landscape and provides the
audience with a rudimentary ability to measure basic monetary
values such as boardfoot volumes, along with wildlife and
aesthetic components.
Armed with this information the audience leaves the woods better
able to evaluate modern-day natural resource debates. At the
very least, when ecological issues are portrayed in typically
much-to-simple terms, they may be better prepared to discuss the
questions with greater depth and a better sense of balance.
We begin the day with an indoor lecture that gives students a
tour of time and an impression of how landscapes change. We
visit a 19th century homestead, to renew our understanding of
how the land contributes to men’s lives. From there we travel to
an outdoor Museum –a Natural Area-- and discuss how a forest is
born, dies and is born anew. We visit a forest that stands on
the poor ground where men once grew cotton; and we see a
majestic bottomland forest where priorities vie in a spectrum of
values. And, then we look at young growth.
“Woods Walk - Woods Talk” was born out of a vision that the
target group would multiply the educational input; and from this
foundation the program had proven durable and has evolved into
something better.
A Homemade Recipe for Field Presentations - Twenty Years of
Ingredients
To be effective, an educational effort must be delivered to a
receptive audience in an attractive manner. It is a question of
targeting a specific group; packaging information so that it
isn’t too big or small and then evaluating the resources
available to effectively convey the information.
“Targeting the group” - Many programs are, by nature, broad
based. Their appeal reaches across an array of age groups and
disciplines. Other programs however, would do well to target a
specific group, honing an ability to fit the needs of that
group. For example, a program developed to educate college
students would not be fitting for third grade school children.
Also, programs that do well in the long run mature over time. A
core of expertise builds within the material; and from that base
the best programs achieve the flexibility to include new ideas
and issues as they come along.
For a nontrained-educator in the public realm, like myself,
zeroing in on a target group helps reduce the frustration
inherent in trying to build a program. There are enough
bureaucratic limbs obstructing information shot toward any
target, without trying to be all things to all people. Once the
target group is defined, it is vital that the message be built
with that audience in mind. One must not only consider what is
desirous for them to hear, but also what they must first
understand before they can comprehend the message --and how much
can they carry in the time frame allowed?
“Packaging information” - In general, information is conveyed in
three broad mediums:
- a classical educational experience, most likely thought of as
a classroom setting;
- a hands-on experience, where students build something, or
perhaps a field trip with the student in a close-up, but
observational role;
- fun, where the students participate in an entertaining or
exciting experience that is educational and perhaps team
building, or even ancillary to the main process, but allows
students to relax and better engage in the total program.
This trioka may be developed very fully over a week-long
workshop. It can even be developed in a half-day lecture with
slides to simulate a field trip and thoughtfully injected humor
to keep sleepy heads from thumping desktops. Depending on the
audience, one leg of this triangle will need to be longer than
another. With younger students, obviously a premium should be
placed on the “fun” and “experience” portions, as opposed to the
droning of a classroom.
There is always a temptation to tell the audience more than they
need, or care to hear–to make the subject more complex than it
needs to be. Many issues raised in one-day natural resource
workshops are the subject of 4-year degrees. Any horse rode into
the ground usually takes a saddle-sore, and downright angry,
audience along for the ride.
Packing information is an exercise in organization. It must flow
logically and attractively. It is better to overly inform than
to utterly confuse. But, information must not bog down in
tedium. Teaching resources can be used like stepping stones to
the goal of understanding. However, it is vital that both
“package” and methods be identified a priori so as to be
delivered in a cogent, thematic and logical manner.
The educator must be prepared and know the material. He must
like his audience and by extension respect contrary points of
view as being held by respectable folk. She must identify a
theme and critically assess the means to achieve its full
composition.
“Evaluating resources” - Resources come in many forms, including
the dynamism and expertise of individual speakers, the
availability of take-home products, proximity of land resources,
monetary support and administrative blessing, and the long term
fidelity of audience pool. Resources must be evaluated for
effectiveness rather than incorporated for convenience. To wit,
a long bus ride to a good field site may not be worth the view,
unless the audience is highly technical and badly needs to see
some hard-to-find, specialized gadgetry. A fine speaker can be
sabotaged by poor presentation mediums or staging. On the other
hand a mediocre speaker can be riveting with outstanding props
and a love of what she is about.
A Vision tied to Reality
All three of these concepts were vital to the success of the
“Woods Walk -Woods Talk” program, although all three are more a
virtue of hindsight and in some cases simple good luck. Yet,
there was a sense that teachingteachers was worth the effort,
that this was a program with a “multiplier effect.” This formed
a “vision” that was a tremendous incentive. There is no fire
that doesn’t need a few banking coals over the long haul.
The “Woods Walk - Woods Talk” target was large and there were
novel ways to gain access to them, including in-service days.
And the audience provided a stimulating synapse. These are smart
people. They wanted to know things and sometimes they initiated
contact and set up a day in the woods.
The information package was evaluated very critically. As new
issues came to light they were incorporated, but the
foundational biological precepts remained. In essence, it is to
this day a set of very orderly steps that the students
accomplish during the course of the program. It brings the
students onto a common page and moves them into a common
realization that allows them to evaluate and quantify natural
resource questions in a new light. Building from foundational
ideas, the day moves from one teaching tool to the next. An
array of resources allow illustration of specific concepts
through an escalating alphabet of understanding. It was good
luck to have so many pertinent natural resource settings, so
quickly available, at Ames Plantation.