A Pathway to Discovery: Nicolet's University Transfer Students Learn in the Field

Two of Nicolet College’s University Transfer courses feature field trips as an integral part of learning. General Ecology and Introduction to Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife are part of a collection of courses that allow students to earn an Associate of Science degree at Nicolet and then transfer seamlessly as juniors to University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. 

In these courses, field trips to logging sites, a fish hatchery, a bog, a stream., and various forest ecological communities allow students to gain hands on knowledge and experience to complement their work in the classroom. Biology and Natural Resources instructor Roger Dorsey said that “when students can use a Biltmore stick to measure trees or sample stream invertebrates they gain a better understanding of classroom concepts.” 

Student Hannah Menzia added that she “really enjoyed and learned a lot tracking and seeing the changes that resulted of a roughly 100-year-old fire that had occurred atNatural Resources Station Tomahawk.” 

One of the highlights was touring the Art Oehmcke FishHatchery in Woodruff. There, students were able to see how muskie and walleye are raised from eggs to stocking length. The biologists explained what sort of conditions are needed for spawning, how they catch the fish to obtain the eggs, how they are fertilized, and how special conditions that are managed in the hatchery to allow for greater survival of young fish than in natural conditions.

Another highlight was a tour of a NEON (National EcologicalObservatory Network) field site on UWSP Treehaven’s property. Here, ecologists – as part of a nationwide effort - are collecting long-term data sets on everything from tick numbers and how many carry disease to forest ecological changes to atmospheric and soils studies. Dorsey said, “To allow students to be exposed to high level science like that is an opportunity that many first-year students don’t get.”