MAY 2017 • NEBRASKAland 53
for future studies in grassland
biodiversity.
Surrounding farmers and ranchers
allowing land access occasionally
stop by to see what the students
are up to, but Cedar Point remains
enigmatic to most of the regional
population. "It's like the Area 51
of Ogallala," said Durst. "The locals
know we're here, but most don't know
why." But the local teachers know.
Cedar Point and UNL's Environmental
Studies Program partner with Keith
County's middle schools to provide
several days of exploration per season
learning about nature, catching bugs,
fishing, collecting plants, and building
friendships.
As an added incentive for faculty
to present courses here, professors'
families are allowed to tag along.
Playing children give the station a
summer-camp feel. These kids are
learning to love the outdoors just as
their professor parents do. Many will
attend courses here someday and all
will gain new friends.
"Friendship" is a catchword here.
Amid all the frenetically implanted
knowledge and experience, students
soon understand that their greatest
takeaway will be
human connections. "As I get older
this will be a place I hold close to my
heart," said Durst, newly appointed
turkey-gut specialist.
College campuses can be impersonal,
and as technology gradually enables
students to attend in the mode of
passive anonymity, things remain old-
school at Cedar
Point ... and
proudly so. ■
Mark Harris
is the Associate
Director of the
University of
Nebraska State
Museum.
Masiel Maza adjusts the microscope's light while Altangerel Dursahinhan searches animal organs for parasites which are ever-
present in all of Nebraska's wildlife.
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