May 19, 2016: The last full day of class was filled with capturing fish twice! In the morning, the class headed out to Jackson’s Mill Reservoir to use seine nets to capture bluegills and other aquatic organisms. Later in the evening, we netted the same spot to see if the same bluegills returned. This is called the Petersen … More Day 4: Fisheries Camp
May 18, 2016: Boaty McBoatface didn’t make an appearance for today’s electroshocking of Stonecoal Lake, but our class and the WV DNR did! This is the third type of electroshocking used to sample lakes and streams. Parallel wire and backpack shocking were done this week as well, but today, we used a boat. Technically, this is the most dangerous because … More Day 3: Fisheries Camp
May 17, 2016: All the fishes got a shock to their hearts with a West Virginia-bred form of electroshocking: parallel wire electrofishing. With some equipment and knowledge from the WV DNR and stream access from the West Virginia State Police Department, the class got to uncover the fishes of Stonecoal Creek . Parallel wire electrofishing is when … More Day 2: Fisheries Camp
May 16, 2016: D(el)ay 1 was not the smoothest of days, but it was certainly one full of fun and fishes. The morning started out with biscuits, eggs, and gravy, and finished at a town outside of Elkins to see the Bowden Fish Hatchery. This hatchery was once federally managed, but it was handed off to the … More Day 1: Fisheries Camp
May 15, 2016: Today was the first day of Summer Camp for my Wildlife & Fisheries Management major. It’s a week spent at WVU Jackson’s Mill, an extension of the University, studying fisheries techniques. So, in accordance with the principle of the camp, I’ll age these posts the same way to age a fish. The first … More Day 0: Fisheries Camp
Amidst the Crazy In this past semester of college, 6 of my professors have left, either permanently or temporarily. By the end of this year, my favorite priest will also be leaving my school parish. Maybe it’s me being the common denominator or something, I’m not sure, but all this change has been tough because … More Changing of the Seasons
Of all the lectures that I could’ve missed in my WMAN 100 class, “The Traditions of Hunting,” it had to be the one about black bear management. That’s probably why I didn’t get a bear during black bear season in PA. Not really…but maybe. Kidding! It was really windy and I was in a tree … More Bear-ly Hunting
Mornings are only so-so, right? The Discover Life in West Virginia program shows how that’s so, so wrong. The basis of this program is to collect scientific data by using citizen science, showing exactly what natural resource scientists do for a living. There’s an article about it here. There have been two of these sessions … More Mist Netting
