Student Summer-2010 Updates

 Kyle Ferrell, Senior Agribusiness Major from Weatherford, Texas

This summer I was outside of Jackson Hole Wyoming in the Bridger Teton National forest working as the Head Wrangler for a dude ranch. I was managing the health use of the ranches 65 horses, as well as a crew of five wranglers which were responsible for taking out the ranches guests on half day and all day trail rides my primary tasks were teaching guests equine safety and riding techniques as well as overall barn operations and riding programs. Through this experience I learned a lot about time management, guest relations, the general vacation/service industry as well as important human resource management skills. I would tell students if you are interested in this type of job or the outfitting business, to get in touch with the National Dude Ranchers Association. This organization has a great amount of opportunities for young people as well as many scholarship opportunities. My favorite part of my summer was bringing in the herd every morning from mountain pastures and watching the sun rise on crisp and cool mountain mornings as well as seeing beginner riders improve their abilities over the course of their stay.

Tiffany Lutz, Junior Animal Science – Pre-vet major from Zelienople, Pen.

This summer I was in Abilene, Texas.  I was and still am doing research for Dr. Mhlanga on the utilization of tropical legumes to improve goat production. Most of the summer was spent working with Spencer Fox to grow four types of legumes. I just started the second part four weeks ago, which is feeding the legumes to 24 weaned goats.

I am learning a lot about animal nutrition, about how goats utilize different components of a plant, things that relate to my degree. More so I feel like I’ve learned a lot about the effort and dedication it takes to conduct research after having to go out every day and feed goats. It has made me more aware of the opportunities that are out there and what I am capable of. No, I haven’t learned what exactly it is that I’m supposed to be doing, but I feel that God has been opening my eyes to a lot of the possibilities that are out there.

I strongly advise other students to do a research project. It is a good chance to get some one-on-one mentoring from a professor and you will learn a lot about information related to your field while also learning about what you can handle. While you are doing it, it can be hard and frustrating at times, but overall it has been a very good experience.

There wasn’t really any distinct moment that I will always remember. It has had its good points and its bad. Overall I just enjoyed the hands on experience and the opportunity to apply what I have learned.

Spencer Fox, Junior Environmental Science major from Houston

I stayed in Abilene this summer working on a research project at the ACU’s Rhoden farm.

I have been managing a plot of land that has had three legumes (beans) growing. This has been so that I could do an agronomy study. We also harvested all of the plants after 60 days so that my research partner would be able to do a feeding trial with goats. I have taken away many different strategies from this project for working in a team, ways to go about research, as well as a big boost on my resume. We will go to a national competition in Corpus Christi next semester. I would recommend fellow students to do something similar just to make sure you know everything that is expected before going into it.

What I will remember most is pulling weeds by hand everyday in the Texas heat… Lots of manual labor.

Derek Zimmerman, Senior Environmental Science major from Round Rock, Texas

I worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife in Northeast Texas on the White Oak Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The WMA is 25,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods along the White Oak Creek and Sulphur River, managed for native plants and wildlife. It is land open to the public for hunting, hiking, horseback riding, fishing, and wildlife viewing. 

I managed a 500-acre wetland system, also called a moist soil unit. The wetlands are managed primarily for waterfowl, such as the wood duck, and other migratory birds. However, the moist soil unit also has a positively substantial impact on deer and furbearers, including the protected river otter. 

My job duties included: maintaining and repairing wetland levees; installing culverts in washed out ditches and bridges; summer vegetation maintenance like shredding, herbicide application, dozer work, disking, seedbed preparation; nuisance beaver control; planting population sampling and analysis; preparing and completing the summer prescribed burning program; and executing deer spotlight counts and calculating a doe/fawn and buck/doe ratio.

What I’m taking away from this job for the future. Eventually I want to own my own outfitting service to provide lodging and guided hunting & fishing trips.  In order to attain my goal this job helped me gain valuable experience operating and maintaining equipment, acquired experience in plant identification and wildlife value of the flora and fauna of the bottomland hardwoods of east Texas, and learn the wetland management calendar and flood/drain timing to ensure optimal wildlife production and woody species control.

I would highly encourage students interested in the environment and wildlife management to find work that allows you to be in the field gaining equipment experience and studying what’s out there and how you can make it better.

My favorite part of the summer was driving through the wetlands early each morning. I always saw something new: raccoons leaping over the trail from tree line to tree line, deer leaping from the levies splashing into the marshy wetland cells, hundreds of wood ducks flying from their feeding areas to a wooded slough, fawns bouncing through meadows of smartweed, a family of river otters eating crawfish in the wetland canal.