It’s good to be back!!
The first week of the second semester is always weird – on one hand, it feels scarily overwhelming (assignments! projects! syllabi!), but on the other it feels like you never left.
There isn’t really such a thing as being “eased in” in the FWR program, so as a result we’ve got presentations, papers, and projects to think about already, and I’m still getting used to the school schedule after three weeks of sleeping in, so I’d really like a nap.
BUT!
This last semester is probably going to be the best yet. The courses I’m taking are awesome – Fish Ecology, Wildlife Ecology, Parks and Recreation, Environmental Law, and Public Info Techniques. Our Environmental Law class is taught by an actual Fishery officer at DFO.
Not only that, but the highlight of this term (and probably the entire FWR program) is our class trip to Yellowstone coming up in February. Yellowstone is the first national park that was ever established because of its amazing geothermal features – Old Faithful ring a bell?
Old Faithful geyser
Our project at YVR (you can read about it here: http://commons.bcit.ca/mylife/2013/11/11/insect-mania/) is going really well. Our entomologist, Sean, is off in the Honduras studying caracaras, so we’re on our own from here on in. We’ve started on the data analysis already and though it’s hard to remember how to do stats since we took the course a year ago, our results are looking good. Excel is an amazing program, if you know how to use it… Microsoft Access is a little harder, but as long as you have a good foundation and layout, it’ll make your life easier in the long run.
Coming up we also have to develop an interpretive program for kids and go out to schools or groups and deliver them. This semester we’ll also be doing some small mammal trapping, going to my favourite place in the world (the aquarium), holding mock court trials in Law, and a whole bunch of other cool things.
In addition, I’m also planning a trip to Connecticut and New York this spring break! So follow me every week folks and I’ll have something new for you to read!
Cheers,
Audrey