Conservation Connect LIVE!
Bats and Small Mammals
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In our first segment, host Chelsea Mckinney talks with Jon Reichart-Bat Biologist, FWS Northeast Regional Office in Hadley, MA about how bats help humans, how we help bats and the terrible bat disease called "white nose syndrome". In the second segment, Chelsea talks with Ariel Elliot-Small Mammal Biologist from Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge near Albuquerque, NM. Areil and Jon talk about their wildlife conservation work and answer questions from students who participated in the live chat room discussion. Conservation Connect helps middle school students learn about wildlife, conservation careers, and the technology used to study and protect wildlife.
Aired: October 21, 2015 Educator Resources for Small Mammal
Educator Resources for Bats
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Wildlife Law Enforcement
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Join host Chelsea McKinney to learn about Wildlife Law Enforcement. You may have seen news reports about criminals killing elephants and rhinos in Africa, but did you know that wildlife crime is also a problem in the U.S? Chelsea's guests today will be USFWS Refuge Law Enforcement Officer, Gabe Harper, Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge and Heidi Ruffler, FWS Office of International Affairs, Washington DC. They will be with us to answer questions that YOU have about illegal wildlife trafficking, poaching of animals, technology that law enforcement uses to help protect animals and careers in wildlife law enforcement
Aired: November 18, 2015 Download Video (right click link; save target as) |
Wading Birds and Waterfowl
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Join host Chelsea McKinney to learn about Wading Birds and Waterfowl. Meet Steve Earsom, a Pilot Biologist from our Migratory Birds Program and Education Specialist, Toni Westland at Ding Darling NWR. December 16, 2015. To learn about Wading Birds and Waterfowl. Do you know how these birds have adapted to living around water? They are amazing! Today we meet Steve Earsom, a Pilot Biologist from our Migratory Birds Program. We’ll fly with Steve and learn about aerial waterfowl counts. Then we head to sunny Florida to meet Education Specialist, Toni Westland at Ding Darling NWR to learn about the Roseate Spoonbill. As always, you can chat LIVE with our conservation experts to ask questions about the wildlife they study, their career pathways, and the technology they use to protect and study wildlife! Aired: December 16, 2015 Download Video (right click link; save target as) |
Manatees and Monarchs
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Join host Chelsea McKinney to learn about Manatees and Monarchs as we visit Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida and tag Monarch butterflies in West Virginia. What do Manatees and Monarchs have in common? You might be surprised! Our guests this month will be Education Specialist, Ivan Vicente from Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge who engages with the public about the West Indian Manatee, and Tracy McCleaf, a Biologist at the National Conservation Training Center and our National Monarch Butterfly Coordinator. Aired: January 20, 2016 Educator Resources for Manatees
Educator Resources for Monarchs
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Junior Duck Stamps and Bald Eagles |
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Join Conservation Connect host, Louie Ocaranza to learn about the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation Program, see some ingenious technology used to study waterfowl, and have a preview of the 2016 nesting season of our resident Bald Eagles. In the first half hour we’ll talk with Suzanne Fellows, Program Coordinator for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program. This is a dynamic art and science based curriculum that teaches wetland and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school. The program encourages students to explore their natural world, invites them to investigate biology and wildlife management principles and challenges them to express and share what they have learned with others. In our second half hour, we'll chat with Wildlife Biologist, Jim Siegel, to learn about bald eagle biology, behavior and their upcoming nesting season. Jim will give tips to help teachers use the NCTC Eaglecam in their classrooms, we’ll discuss the bald eagle conservation success story and we’ll check the nest for new eggs! As always, we welcome student questions via our online chat room and will answer as many as time allows. Aired: February 17, 2016 Educator Resources for Bald Eagles
Educator Resources for Junior Duck Stamp:
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Mussels and American Eels
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Join Conservation Connect Host, Louie Ocaranza in our aquatic conservation episode to ask questions and learn about what may be under the surface of our rivers and streams. In the first half, we’ll talk with Matthew Patterson, our freshwater mussel expert at the National Conservation Training Center. Matt will tell us about how these less obvious but important animals play a huge role in the health of aquatic ecosystems. You’ll also learn about the fascinating life cycle of mussels.
In the second half we’ll learn about electrofishing and American eels. Alan Temple, Fisheries Biologist at NCTC and expert on electrofishing will show us how this technology can be used to study and conserve wild fish populations. As always, we welcome student questions via our online chat room. Aired: March 16, 2016 Educator ResourcesDownload Video (right click link; save target as) |
California Condors and Black Footed-Ferrets
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Our April broadcast featured Black-Footed Ferrets and California Condors, two endangered species success stories. Do you know what an endangered species is? Do you know what role the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service plays in protecting these species? Join Conservation Connect Host, Louie Ocaranza in our Endangered Species Broadcast to ask questions and learn about what conservation professionals are doing to protect these species that are at risk of going extinct. Here’s a preview: http://bcove.me/dz1k7ylp
In the first half, we talked with John Hughes, an Endangered Species Biologist, and a Black-footed Ferret expert from the National Black-footed Ferret Center in Colorado. John will toldl us about all about the only North American species of ferret, and the efforts involved at the National Black-Footed Ferret Center to save these nocturnal prairie predators from going extinct. In the second half we learned about the California Condor. Joseph Brandt, California Condor Expert from the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex in California, will show us what technology the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service is using to bring back a species that at one point in the 20th Century, had only 22 individuals in the wild. As always, we welcomed student questions via our online chat room and we answered as many as time allowed. Earth Day is coming soon so we’ll celebrate by checking on the newly hatched California Condor chick and the Bald Eagle nestlings at NCTC, both via webcam! Join us for the next Conservation Connect LIVE, April 20 at 2:00 pm Eastern time. http://nctc.fws.gov/broadcasts Conservation Connect is a new web-based video series, in partnership with the National ScienceTeachers Association, that aims to connect youth, ages 10-15, with the great outdoors & conservation careers. To view past episodes, resources, and lesson plans, Aired: April 20, 2016 Educator Resources for California Condor
Educator Resources for the Black-footed Ferret
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Bog Turtles and Salamanders
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Join host Chelsea Mckinney and guests for a look at two endangered animals: Bog Turtles and Cheat Mountain Salamanders. Learn about the fascinating world of these secretive amphibians. Get your questions answered LIVE with Supervisory Biologist, Dawn Washington, from Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Christine Peterson, biologist at the National Conservation Training Center, and Nathan Byer, a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin. Here's a preview: http://bcove.me/iusnntb0 Aired: May 18, 2016 Educator Resources
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Migratory Bird |
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Our first LIVE Conservation Connect Broadcast of the season it's happening this month! We will be featuring our new Migratory Bird Treaty centennial episode with our Conservation Connect Host, Louie Ocaranza. Ask questions to one of our migratory bird biologists, Stacy Sanchez from headquarters in Washington D.C. And learn about migratory birds, and what the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service is doing to protect them. You will have the opportunity to chat and ask questions to learn more bird ecology, the history of the Migratory Bird Treaty, and about what you can do to help back home! Watch the preview!
Aired: September 21, 2016 Educator Resources
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Recovering the Delmarva Fox Squirrel |
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Join Conservation Connect host, Chelsea McKinney with Amanda Bessler, Wildife Biologist, Blackwater NWR to answer all your questions about the Delmarva Fox Squirrel.
Autumn is the time for squirrels to gather nuts for winter, but not all squirrels are as common as those you might see in your backyard or woods. The Delmarva fox squirrel is a subspecies of fox squirrel found on the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia). Learn more about the once endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrel and how it recovered? We will travel to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to work with biologist, Dr. Carol Bocetti, from the California University of Pennsylvania, and biologist Cherry Keller, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as we learn about “mark recapture sampling” to understand population sizes and brush up on some genetic research by looking at squirrel hair. Here’s a preview! Aired: October 19, 2016 Educator Resources
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Humpback Chub |
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Join Chelsea McKinney, Conservation host, and Mike Pillow, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife Biologist as they talk about the endangered Humpback Chub fish! You will learn cool facts about careers, technology, and the Humpback Chub! Here’s a preview!
Aired: November 19, 2016 Educator Resources
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