"Please thank all the kids for us. And I want you to know how much I've appreciated you bringing a special dimension to my work that I regretfully otherwise would have missed. We always enjoy the kids… What a difference you are making for them (and us)."
Glenn DelGuidice - Research Biologist; DNR
 "As a teacher educator at Moorhead State, I have been very impressed with the design of the Eyes on Wildlife program and its ability to provide a quality inquiry-based science program which engages students in real-world investigations using knowledge, skills and habits of mind learned in their regular academic courses"
George Davis, EdD -Director and Associate Professor
"This project has far reaching benefits for our nations conservation efforts. Students involved in this project will have a much greater appreciation for the environment, all aspects of a field research project, the professionals that care for it, and the role that public policy plays in conservation………The success of this project will be measure when these students become community leaders and resource professionals."
Gary Huschle - Wildlife Biologist; USFWS
"In the two years we have been associated with the project, we have grown more and more excited about it and believe in its goals, and think that engaging GIS can enhance the educational experience for many students……we are please to see this project expanding and are honored to be able to participate.:
Charlie Fitzpatrick - Manager, ESRI Schools & Libraries Program
"In the short time I have been involved…….I have noticed a growing enthusiasm and eagerness toward the project. My colleagues and I have also recognized the student's blossoming concern for their local communities and the natural components therein. Rarely do we work with students so genuinely interested in what is happening around them."
Shelly Buitenwerf - MN DNR GIS Coordinator, Region 1
Becky,
" I've been meaning to write to let you know that the bittern crew and i
really enjoyed your class' visit with Jeff and the kids on 17 (or 18) May. We were very impressed at how knowledgeable the class was about bitterns, marshes, GPS and the whole telemetry technique! It was so nice to see the enthusiasm that they had.
Also, we would like to thank them on helping us with trapping (the bittern) If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have caught him. We wanted to let them know that we caught another bird later that afternoon, a bird that they also watched on the west side of the refuge.
We hope your class will visit again."
Thanks, Soch, Dave, Jessica, and Val.
(Research Biologists and Assistants - Bitterns - Agassiz Refuge)
Biologists are enthusiastic about the program. Huschle said he sees a real difference between the Eyes on Wildlife field trips and others that come to
the refuge:
"You don't have any kids in the back kicking dirt and daydreaming," he said.
"They're all attentive and want to get in closely."
Gary Huschle - Agassiz Refuge Biologist
"…..this is one of the best interdisciplinary, inter-age group, real-world learning opportunities I have ever seen available in a classroom….(this program) has sparked a curiosity, a concern, and a drive in students unlike that of any I have seen in my career in Natural Sciences. This program has tremendous potential for growth and expansion.."
Shelly Buitenwerf - MN DNR GIS Coordinator, Region 1
"When you study a particular animal in depth, you have a better
understanding of how complex the ecosystem is and how it is all
interrelated, how changes in animal populations affect people, and
how what we do determines whether animals in the food chain
live or die."
Rachel - 9th grade student
"I have lived in the woods all my life, but I didn't realize that everything in
nature is so closely knit together, that every animal is affected by
every other animal. I have learned basic ecology, how things
work in wildlife, and it's helped my research and presentation
skills."
Patrick - 11th grade student
Web Site Articles Done on this Project:
http://www.govtech.net/publications/gt/1998/sept/geoinfo/geoinfo.shtm
Government Technology Magazine
Learning With Wolves by Bill McGarigle - September, 1998
http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=NEWT0405
Minneapolis Star and Tribune Newspaper
Eyes on Wildlife Program Gives Kids Hands-on Science by Darlene Pfister - April, 2000
|
