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/823575
MAY 2017 • NEBRASKAland 51 Fighting ensues. After the skirmish the winner settles inside, cozy and hidden, while the loser fidgets exposed and vulnerable outside. Paint-dotted for identification, two crawdads that battled the first day are swapped into the tub. One steers clear of the other, yielding shelter to the crawdad that gave it a thrashing yesterday. This is enthusiastically noted. Crawdads remember battles. How long will they hold that information – a day, a week, forever? Though this experiment's results won't alter the path of humanity, it will inform these young men about the scientific process, and someday they may discover something greater. Any student is welcome at Cedar Point, though most are pursuing larger scientific career goals in life science fields such as biology, human health professions, fisheries and wildlife, veterinary practice or animal sciences. "Students pick up a level of enthusiasm for science and biology that they didn't have before they came," said Cedar Point's Associate Director Jon Garbisch. "This provides a focus on what they want to do with their life. Those who endeavor to take summer courses here gain tangible skills and a unique depth of specific knowledge. We get the students who like being in a hands-on learning environment where they can put their fingers in the mud." Guin Drabik fits this mold. A city girl who loves camping and riding horseback, Drabik's major is veterinary science and she wants to become a professor. This is her third session at Cedar Point, and it's not just nature that draws her. "It's about being around like-minded people," Drabik said. "Like-minded" in this case denotes focused, mature, hardworking students who love sharing adventures. Students in her parasitology course are young natural-science brainiacs, wide-eyed and enthusiastic about what lives in animal guts. They chatter about the amazing Anoplocephaloides variabilis and the elusive Vexillata armandae. In the late summer, coursework is not the only challenge here. Masses of midges, mosquito-like bugs without the bite, plague the station. Higher up where the bluffs turn to plains, great swarms of blackflies pester, bouncing This student finds a peaceful moment in the Cedar Point cafeteria before setting out on another busy day of field research. North of Paxton, Annie Skradski checks traps set to capture jumping mice the night before. Local ranchers cooperate with UNL's researchers by allowing land access.