Canisius Ambassadors for Conservation

By Dr. Michael Noonan

The primary objective of Dr. Noonan’s project is “to develop a group of students into educators and advocates of conservation through in-depth and on-site studies of certain animal species.”  To fulfill this objective and create what he calls “Canisius Ambassadors for Conservation,” each spring semester he will select twelve students, from a variety of disciplines, who will travel to a site to study the management and stewardship of a particular species.  The first year, for example, they will focus on the Bighorn Sheep at Rocky Mountain National Park in northwestern Colorado, while in year two they will travel to the Pacific Rim National Park in British Columbia to focus their study on the Orca Whale.

Having completed the on-site research, for which they can receive academic credit, these students will bring their understanding and their firsthand experience to the Western New York community as Conservation Ambassadors who will make daily interactive presentations at local zoological institutions.  These students will also develop PowerPoint presentations targeted to high school students in a multimedia format and create a videotape version of their presentation to be presented at the American Zoo and Aquarium Associations’ annual zoo educators’ meeting.  In addition to refining analytical skills, the students will further develop their ability to communicate by working in pairs during the fall semester, when they will make presentations in high school classrooms.  They will also develop Web page versions of their presentations.

In addition to the intellectual benefits of exploring a single topic in a fully interdisciplinary manner, the students will “have an opportunity to try their hand at activities associated with a number of different professional careers--serving at different times as mini-naturalists, public speakers, teachers, public policy advocates and computer programmers.”  The project gives students the opportunity to enhance scientific knowledge and to help shape attitudes toward the collective stewardship of nature and natural resources.

To visit the Web site for the Canisius College Ambassadors for Conservation, click here.