Northern Prairie Reaches the Kids
Article taken from People, Land & Water, September, 1998Dave Fellows
Jamestown, North Dakota -- In a sparsely inhabited state where high school graduating classes often number fewer than 12 seniors, biologists at Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center seldom have the chance to talk to more than a few students at a time. Wildlife biologist Bruce Hanson may have set an all-time center record, however, when he took advantage of two opportunities to meet with more than 2,000 junior high schoolers in late April and May.
In late April, Hanson represented Northern Prairie at the Earth Day observance in Fargo, an event that was attended by schools within and around North Dakota's largest city. During the day, Hanson delivered five formal presentations on the value of wetlands to groups of 50 students. Between lectures, he talked informally with interested students about other wildlife issues and career opportunities in wildlife biology.
In May, Hanson participated in Marketplace for Kids, an economic development effort begun in 1994 by U.S. Senator Kent Conrad and Sarah Vogel, the former Agricultural Commissioner of North Dakota. The program offers a forum for young entrepreneurs to show their inventions and products, and for others to explore career possibilities. Although held in Jamestown this year, the event was attended by nearly 1,800 students from schools across the entire eastern half of the state.
Working from a booth containing posters, terrariums, aquariums, statistical games, and study skins of birds an mammals, Hanson was surrounded by a constant crowd of young people for most of the day, as he talked about research programs, discussed government careers in wildlife biology and related fields, and answered questions on a wide range of wildlife and environmental topics.
Hanson found his participation in both events to be fulfilling. "I really couldn't detect any particular pattern of interest among the kids," he said. "They just seemed genuinely interested in everything having to do with wildlife and wildlife habitats. You know I also have a teaching certificate in secondary education, and these kids gave me a fun excuse to practice some of what I learned."
