Students experience raptor field research
By CCTIMES, Published May 25, 2007

Field research is relatively rare among community colleges, but a biology pro­fessor at Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC) in Minnesota has set out to change that.

Jennifer Braido has helped to organize and supervise a new service learning field research project at the college in conjunction with an annual raptor survey conducted through the Eastman Nature Center at Elm Creek Park Reserve. Twenty-three ARCC students recently complete the project.

“Anoka-Ramsey has a significant num­ber of students who transfer to four-year colleges and pursue a major in the sciences, Braido says. Experience in authentic or re­search-based learning opportunities needs to be made available to these students.”

Student participants Ted Graber and Jody Hammre agree that the project was well worth their time.

“The project is great experience for those who will be doing field research,” says Graber, who intends to transfer to the University of Minnesota to pursue a medical degree.

“This [the experience] gave us a taste of real field research,” concurs Hammre, who intends to transfer to St. Cloud State University to pursue either a degree in education or ecologi­cal restoration. “And it will look good on my resume.”

Graber, Hammre and the other stu­dents began the project by attending ori­entation sessions in January. Coinciding with the raptor nesting season, the collec­tion of data began Feb. 10 and continued into April with the help of co-coordinator Paul Schlick, raptor survey coordinator at the Eastman Nature Center.

“What struck me was how welcoming Paul [Schlick] and the park staff were,” Hammre says. “Funding for the survey is limited, so they rely on volunteers for this important work.”

ARCC’s participation in the project wrapped up in late- April as each student prepared to present findings on nesting and observed raptors. The findings will contribute to the established knowledge base of raptor species within the park.

“It is excellent experience in field work,” Graber notes. “It’s a taste of what it could be like with a $200,000 grant from a research university.”

Each student committed 10-15 hours of service in fieldwork or literature research and extra hours to accomplish all the re­lated assignments. Groups of four to five students were required to complete en­trance and exit surveys as well as a project proposal, an outline, a paper and finally the presentation of their findings.

Graber was slightly disappointed that the project was not longer.

“We hypothesized that some raptors would actually increase with increased human population,” Graber says. “Raptors like Cooper hawks would increase in population be­cause they eat songbirds. The more humans use bird feeders, the more songbirds are in their yards and the more Coo­per hawks. The project was not long enough to support our hypothesis.”

While Graber and Hammre weren’t able to prove their hypothesis, they did get to learn about raptor behavior, the use of natural resources and how environmental changes effect behavior changes.

While learning how to directly apply the scientific method within a relevant setting is vital to students, Braido also stressed that a community element was equally important.

“Fostering relationships with and pro­viding service to local organizations, such as the Three Rivers Park District, through their annual raptor survey, strengthens the role of Anoka-Ramsey Community College students within the community and strengthens the commu­nity as a whole,” Braido says.