Environmental Education Club at UGA

Thanks so much for speaking with us last week, Mitchell! We learned so much about being a teacher! If you were unable to attend and have any questions about teaching high school feel free to send us a message and we can put you in touch with Mitchell. 📚🌎☺️

Meeting tonight!

Hello EE enthusiasts! Our first meeting of the spring 2022 semester will be Tuesday, February 15th at 6pm. The meeting will feature Mitchell Green, a Warnell graduate student and former high school environmental science teacher. He will be talking about his teaching experience. We hope you can join us! The meeting will be held on zoom, DM us for the link! ☺️🌳🌎📚

Hello EE enthusiasts! Our first meeting of the spring 2022 semester will be Tuesday, February 15th at 6pm. The meeting will feature Mitchell Green, a Warnell graduate student and former high school environmental science teacher. He will be talking about his teaching experience. We hope you can join us! The meeting will be held on zoom, DM us for the link! ☺️🌳🌎📚

EE club members had so much fun exploring the botanical gardens! We learned about aquatic snails, wild ginger, Japanese knotgrass, woodpeckers and even saw a deer carcass!

Reminder our meeting is today!!!

Check out this info about the Sustainability certificate with UGA Office of Sustainability!!

EE Club October meeting: Monday 10/18 @ 4pm @ GA Botanical Garden!

Free activities!! 🦇

Celebrating Bat Week 2021 - Project Learning Tree Bat Week is Oct 24-Oct 31! Use these free activities to celebrate and teach kids about the important role bats play in nature.

Hey everyone! Our first meeting of the semester will be tomorrow night at 6 pm on Zoom! Please join us!

https://zoom.us/j/98456021281?pwd=Y000WHFtcGQvZlNERzgrQXhmRmhCZz09

Hey EE enthusiasts! Watch this space for upcoming meeting and opportunities but in the meantime take 15 minutes out of this beautiful day to do the Great Georgia Pollinator Census! Info below:

Today is the start of the Great Georgia Pollinator Census! This event is a community science project that can be done anywhere (including your own home garden or property).

Not an entomologist? No worries - the census was designed for children, families and adults so that all Georgians can participate in the data collection process anywhere around the state.

To learn more about the Great Georgia Pollinator Census, visit: https://ggapc.org

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is seeking college students and recent graduates interested in environmental education to fill two seasonal naturalist positions at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield, Georgia.
Primary responsibilities include assisting with the development and implementation of activities for public, student, and specialty programs, assisting with event planning, and social media.
Other expectations and duties include assisting with the creative development and implementation of new programs for the 2021 school year, animal care/husbandry, and participation in other activities as they arise. Applicants must be self-motivated, conservation minded, interested in working with children, love the outdoors, and enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with others. Preference will be given to those candidates who are currently working toward or have earned a wildlife or education-related degree.
The seasonal naturalist positions will begin
September 1, 2021 and end December 17, 2021.
Selected candidates receive an hourly wage of $8.75 at 40 hours/week and free on-site housing.
Applications must be received by
Monday, July 19, 2021.
For more information, and to receive an application,
please email the Residential Programs Coordinator at:
[email protected]

Reminder: apply to be an officer by midnight tonight!!! 🌏😊

Good morning EE enthusiasts! We are looking for officers for the 2021-2022 school year! It’s a great opportunity for a leadership role that looks amazing on any resume! No experience is necessary. All uga students are welcome to be an officer. All positions are open (president, VP, treasurer, secretary, and social media/outreach manager). Please check your email or dm us for position descriptions. Email Caroline ([email protected]) if you are interested by this Sunday (may 23) at midnight! Don’t miss out! We will be doing a lot more as restrictions lift this fall 😊🌏

Good morning EE enthusiasts! We are looking for officers for the 2021-2022 school year! It’s a great opportunity for a leadership role that looks amazing on any resume! No experience is necessary. All uga students are welcome to be an officer. All positions are open (president, VP, treasurer, secretary, and social media/outreach manager). Please check your email or dm us for position descriptions. Email Caroline ([email protected]) if you are interested by this Sunday (may 23) at midnight! Don’t miss out! We will be doing a lot more as restrictions lift this fall 😊🌏

Happy earth day EE enthusiasts! Tomorrow is the second day of the UGA pollinator census. If you are on campus this is a great opportunity to participate in a citizen science project! All you need to do is watch a flower for 15 minutes! Info in the link below 🐝🌸🌼🐞🪰🌍

If you love water and teaching as much as we do then you won’t want to miss our Project WET training on March 13th! You will learn all about water education and gain tools needed for teaching others! The certification never expires and looks great on any resume! Visit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/160624ieqTwBTsgddd9imyyj03826DX0PkGO8vXMKftk/edit =0 to sign up and feel free to DM us with any questions! 🌏🌿💦

Success! Thank you Dr. Irwin and Dr. Fuhrman for speaking about UGA's Environmental Education certificate at our meeting tonight!

Pictured below is our special guest, Snowy the albino corn snake! Dr. Fuhrman teaches the course AGED 2001 "Teaching with Animals" and is an expert at using animals in education.

Missed the meeting or interested in UGA's EE certification program? Please visit http://www.eecertificate.uga.edu/ or email [email protected]

-----

Meeting tonight!!!

Meeting coming up!!

The Environmental Education Club will be having its first meeting of the semester on Tuesday, February 16th at 6pm! We will be discussing our plans for the semester including upcoming trainings for Project WET, Project WILD, and Project Learning Tree. Dr. Kris Irwin and Dr. Nick Fuhrman will be our guest speakers at the meeting talking about all things EE and answering your questions about Warnell's EE certificate program. There may also be a special guest critter or two 🙂

The meeting will be virtual, please send us a message if you'd like the zoom link.

Check out this resource from our friends at the Georgia Forestry Commission! Did you know fire can be prescribed like a medicine for ecosystem health? Prescribed fire is good fire that helps our forests stay healthy!

It's Prescribed Fire Awareness Week in GA! Reducing or removing dense fuels that can create high intensity provides many benefits beyond protecting communities, such as aesthetics, biodiversity, economics and overall health of ecosystems. Learn more about at www.goodfires.org

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Happy (February 2, 2021). Water connects the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the wildlife it protects.

Image: Moose in wetland at Selawik NWR, Alaska by Steve Hillebrand/USFWS.

STEM: Watch on Wetlands - Project Learning Tree Use these ideas to engage middle school students in STEM as they explore wetlands and learn about why they are important.

Gray fox also known as "forest foxes" are one of two fox species in Georgia. These sleuthy canids stand out from the rest because of their unique tree-climbing talents and ability to leap from branch to branch like a cat. This helps them escape from predators, forage for food, and gain access to dens or resting places. One Gray Fox den was even found in a hollow tree 30 feet above the ground!

Gray foxes being carnivores with their diet including rabbits, rats, mice, squirrels, birds, and insects — they will also eat a variety of fruits, nuts and berries. Because of the adaptability of both gray and red foxes to urban and suburban environments, as well as the abundant food and shelter associated with these areas, foxes are quite common in cities, towns, subdivisions, and even near rural home sites as well as in their natural habitat. Although foxes are primarily nocturnal hunters, it is not uncommon to see a fox during the day. If you see a fox during the day in either the woods or in your yard, the best advice is to simply leave it alone.

More info on reducing wildlife conflicts: https://georgiawildlife.com/preventing-wildlife-conflicts

PLT Featured on CNN: Outdoor Classrooms Reenergize Kids During the Pandemic - Project Learning Tree PLT supports educators and parents with outdoor classrooms to connect children with nature, improve health, and social emotional learning.

Happy Holidays EE enthusiasts! Have a great break and we’ll see you next semester! 🌲😊

Happy World Soil Day everybody!

Today we celebrate the ground beneath our feet: It's World Soil Day!

Did you know that dirt literally makes you happy? Mycobacterium vaccae, a common soil bacteria, is frequently inhaled by gardeners, foresters, and others who beat around in the soil (and ingested by everyone who eats garden-fresh veggies). Once in your bloodstream, it stimulates serotonin production in the brain and has been found to affect neurons in the same ways that pharmaceutical antidepressants do.

Our faculty and students studying soil health know this—now you do too!

Go to the woods, go to the garden, go to your happy place!

•

A heartfelt thank-you to all veterans on this Veterans Day! Thank you for your service! 🇺🇸

Thank you to all who attended our monthly meeting tonight! Gail Westcot from the Mary Kahrs Warnell Forest Education Center shared valuable insights into the world of environmental education with our members. Thank you, Gail! We can't wait to put what we've learned into practice!

Happy Halloween! This week’s is the tri-colored bat (aka eastern pipistrelle)! Tri-colored bats are one of the 16 bat species that call Georgia home. This species is one of our smaller bats that we have. They can be identified by their black wings, yellowish brown fur, and pink forearms. They are called tri-colored because there are three different colored bands on each hair. They can be found roosting in caves, trees, mines, bridges, and culverts. Even though you may find several tri-colored bats in one area, they generally like to roost by themselves like the one in the picture below. For more information about the bats that are native to Georgia please visit: https://gadnrle.org/GeorgiaBats.
Photo credit: Naturalist Matthew

Are your students learning about animal adaptations? Make sure you check out the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)! Our friends at the Wyoming Migration Initiative ( ) have illustrated some of the adaptations of this remarkable animal.

The pronghorn clocks speeds of 60mph and is only found in (aka "endemic to") North America. Its large heart and lungs carry lots of oxygenated blood through its body, and "spinal flexion" allows the spine to bend flexibly so the pronghorn can run further with each step. These are just a few features that help the incredible pronghorn be the fastest animal in the Western hemisphere.

Do your students have a unit on animal/plant adaptations on the horizon? Let us help you! The Environmental Education Club is committed to supporting Athens-Clarke County communities and schools by providing high-quality natural and environmental science programming for grades K-12, completely free of charge. Schedule a virtual guest speaker for your students today by leaving us a comment, sending us a private message, or writing us an email. We can't wait to work with you!

HOW DO PRONGHORN RUN SO FAST?
Pronghorn have some really cool adaptations that make them the fastest land animals in the Western Hemisphere. We’re talking up to 60 mph! They have very lightweight but strong bones to allow for maximum speed. The front hooves are larger than the back ones, and they have pads that act as shock absorbers to cushion the leg bones from impact as they run. Pronghorn have an enlarged heart, lungs and trachea to provide oxygen to their muscles to help them run faster. Like most hooved animals, they also lack collarbones, which allows for wider range of front leg movement. That flexibility combines with long legs to make a long stride. At top speed, each running stride covers about 29 feet. A pronghorn could travel the length of a football field in 3.5 seconds, taking just 10 strides.

With this much running…muscles heat up the core temperature, which can be dangerous to the brain. Pronghorn use external heat exchange with the environment and internal heat exchange between the carotid artery rete (a configuration of arteries and veins in at the base of the brain) and their nose to regulate their temperature.

All in all, pronghorn are the finely-tuned hot rods of the prairies. Unlike deer and elk, which share a lineage with species in Asia, pronghorn are the result of ~2 million years of evolution right here on this continent. Today Wyoming is their stronghold, with 436,000 animals (or 47 percent) of the 915,800 pronghorn in North America.

Among Wyoming’s migratory ungulates, pronghorn are perhaps the most flexible and unpredictable in the routes they use from year to year. At the same time, individuals have been documented migrating up to 150 miles, from the Tetons and the Upper Green all the way to the southern Green River Basin and Interstate 80.

Illustrations by WMI’s Emily Reed, with special thanks to Dr. Laura Vietti, director of the University of Wyoming Geological Museum for providing access to a mounted pronghorn skeleton and Crystal Driedger - Artist for reference material.

Changing leaves are a colorful reminder that winter will soon be upon us, but trees aren't the only ones preparing for chilly weather! In this new video by the Wyoming Migration Initiative, children and students learn about mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and their fall migration. How do they handle snowstorms, and what is a stopover site? Why do they migrate? What other dangers might a migrating mule deer face?
- - - - - -
Would your students enjoy a virtual visit from an environmental educator? The Environmental Education Club at UGA can't wait to visit your classroom and support your students' curriculum. Send us a message or leave a comment to begin planning your class's visit today!

Bat week is coming up October 24-31! Check out these free bat activities!

Celebrating Bat Week 2020 - Project Learning Tree Bat Week is Oct 24-Oct 31! Use these free activities to celebrate and teach kids about the important role bats play in nature.

September 30 kicks off the start of Fat Bear Week, the most glorious tournament to crown fattest grizzly bear in Katmai National Park!

Will last year's champion Holly retain her crown? Or will Otis reign supreme? Only time will tell. How are you filling out your Fat Bear Bracket? VOTE daily at https://explore.org/fat-bear-week

Why are grizzlies so chunky this time of year, anyway? The bears have entered hyperphagia ("hyper-fay-jee-ah"), the need to eat excessively, to stock up on the fat reserves that will sustain them through their long winter nap. For the past weeks, these big grizzlies have been gorging themselves on the best feast of the year: hundreds of delicious, nutritious salmon! Who do you think will win the prize and be the ?

Meet the officers of the Environmental Education Club! Today we introduce our vice president, Christine Favorito!

“Hi! I am so excited to be a part of the EE club this year! My name is Christine, and I am a second semester MS student studying pollinators in managed pine forests in Dr. Kamal Gandhi’s lab. I have previously served as a watershed ambassador with AmeriCorps where I had the opportunity to visit many schools in my home state of New Jersey and teach students about water quality issues. One of my favorite things to teach was about benthic macroinvertebrates, the small critters living in streams. We use them as an indicators for water quality. I love teaching about all things entomology and getting students to learn cool facts about things many people think are weird and gross.”

Have you heard the story of how change the course of rivers? It is a prime example of "trophic cascades" or "top-down control" showing how wild animals, both big and small, herbivorous and carnivorous, impact the landscape so profoundly that their presence (or absence!) can alter the soil, change the location of forests and grasslands, and even restore the path of rivers.

How does this amazing cascade happen? Our friends at the NY Wolf Conservation Center will tell you all about it. Read on to discover how incredibly connected all wildlife are to each other, and even nonliving things like nutrients. It is a fascinating reminder that in nature, everything is connected, even us humans.

Read on: https://nywolf.org/2016/08/wolves-are-a-critical-keystone-species-in-a-healthy-ecosystem/
- - - - - - - -

Are your students learning about food webs, , , , or ? The Environmental Education Club is here to help! To schedule a virtual speaker for your students or children, leave a comment, send us a message, or email us at [email protected] today! We can't wait to share our knowledge with you.

Meet the officers of the Environmental Education Club! Today we introduce our president, Caroline Karnatz!

"Hi everyone! My name is Caroline, and I'm a second-year master's student studying forest sustainability and biodiversity with Dr. Dwivedi. Before grad school, I worked with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources as an interpretive ranger at Vogel State Park, where environmental education and nature-based programming were my full-time jobs. I'm excited to keep up the EE work with the UGA community, schools, and beyond. Go Dawgs!"

Meet the officers of the Environmental Education Club! Today we introduce our Treasurer, the fantastic Lila Ryman!

"Hi everyone! My name is Lila Ryman. I am majoring in Environmental Economics and management with minors in Spanish and Geology. I love exploring the outdoors, hiking, backpacking, gardening, yoga and traveling. I think teaching children about the environment and fostering a love of nature is crucial for the safety and health of future generations. Environmental education is so important and I am excited to be a part of the Environmental Education Club!"

Are you looking for a way to engage your students with nature and wildlife while distance learning? Good news! Look no further than next week's !

What is Fat Bear Week, you ask? Why, the most glorious time of the year, of course--if you're a 1,000lb grizzly bear! In late summer, the grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) of Alaska's Katmai National Park enjoy the biggest feast of the year on the Brooks River. They gorge themselves on salmon to bulk up their fat reserves for their long winter hibernation, since they won't be snacking while they're sleeping. In celebration of these magnificent (and chunky!) creatures, we hope you'll enjoy the Fat Bear Week tournament that launches on Sept. 30. Your vote decides which grizz wins the crown of Fat Bear 2020!

The best part? You can vote from anywhere--your classroom OR your home. So why not spice up a school day with some , , or facts, and then hop over to Explore.org to vote for Katmai's Fat Bear 2020?
- - - - - -
Would your students like a visit from a "nature scientist"? The "EE" club here at UGA loves teaching a variety of nature-related topics that support the GA Standards of Excellence! Get started today by leaving a comment, private message, or email us at [email protected]!

She is beauty and she's grace, she stuffed so much salmon in her face...

Will last year's Fat Bear Week Champion Holly defend her title? There is only one more week until the heavyweight competition begins! She is up against some BIG competition, including two-time Champion bear 480 Otis. All the contenders are currently feasting on salmon. (You can watch their fishing live on Explore.org.)

If you are a Holly fan or a fan of another Brooks River bear, here's how to participate: this is a single elimination tournament to determine who will be crowned 2020's fattest bear. For each pairing of bears, you will be given the opportunity to vote at https://explore.org/fat-bear-week. The bear with the most votes advances. Only one will receive the title of fattest bear! The wait is almost over!

Image: Large and in charge, bear 435 Holly is reigning Fat Bear Week champion at Katmai National Park & Preserve. NPS