NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1008599
50 NEBRASKAland • AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2018 Major: Fish and Wildlife From 101 to Ph.D., Nebraska's colleges and universities play a vital role in developing professionals who serve wildlife and fisheries. I t may be common for students' thoughts to turn to the outdoors during a lecture, but some are fortunate enough to do so under the teacher's direction. They include the next generation of wildlife and fisheries professionals, many of whom are earning degrees at Nebraska colleges and universities. While growing up on the family farm and ranch near Berwyn, Lacey Clarke did not dream she would someday be handling wild greater sage grouse in Montana or researching exotic birds in Australia, but her studies have led her to those experiences and more. "I love wildlife and the outdoors, so choosing wildlife management was pretty easy for me," said Clarke, who earned a degree from Chadron State College in 2015. Clarke is one of the many graduates of what have become popular fields of study for college students – wildlife or fisheries management. The programs are not only filling a need to provide an educated work force for agencies that manage lands and natural resources, but are serving as a key career step for those who are passionate about the outdoors. At about 200 undergraduate students and another 50 graduate students, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's fisheries and wildlife program in the School of Natural Resources serves as the state's largest program. Larkin Powell, professor in the School of Natural Resources, said programs such as these are vital to people's essential role of caring for the planet. "Fisheries and wildlife education prepares students to meet the challenges of a world that is increasingly responsive to preserving fisheries and wildlife habitat, protecting threatened and endangered species, and the thoughtful management and conservation of natural ecosystems," he said. "Without new generations of students learning to not only appreciate natural resources, but to also understand how to manage and protect them, we would slowly continue to lose unique habitats and species." The university offered its first course in wildlife management in 1948 and the program has grown to offer Chadron State College students join Commission staff and volunteers to release a bighorn sheep ewe back to the wild after equipping it with a new radio collar near Chadron State Park this winter. Pictured are Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioner Rick Brandt; students Wyatt Helton, Josh Kling and Travis Millikan; and Commission staff members Todd Nordeen and Justin Powell. PHOTOS BY JUSTIN HAAG By Justin Haag