An environmental studies major turns a Linfield class project into a field guide for the public

Davis, Laura

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An environmental studies major turns a Linfield class project into a field guide for the public

DigitalCommons@Linfield

Linfield Magazine Volume 3 Number 2 Fall 2006 Article 10 Fall 2006 Outdoor Enthusiast Pens Field Guide Laura Davis Linfield College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine Recommended Citation Davis, Laura (2006) "Outdoor Enthusiast Pens Field Guide," Linfield Magazine: Vol. 3 : No. 2 , Article 10. Available at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine/vol3/iss2/10 This article is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@linfield.edu. 1 4   -   L I N F I E L D  M A G A Z I N Eand they learned words that were specific to mountains,forests and nature.” And those weekends had a profound effect on somestudents, Richardson said. “A junior sidled into my office one year and saidshe had gone to Linhütte as a freshman,” he said. “Shehad not said much during that visit, being reticent aboutusing her first-year skills when there were better speak-ers present. She told me that weekend had been anunforgettable milestone in her Linfield education andthanked me for it.” Close, the student who carved the Linhütte panel,was not a particularly strong German student,Richardson said. But after graduating, she moved toGermany to make her way in the art world. She mar-ried there and years later returned to give a talk atLinfield about her art, a talk delivered in halting Englishwith a heavy German accent. Upkeep of the cabin was a labor of love for thosewho used it. It had been re-stained, had its roof and gut-ters repaired and the stove chimney straightened. Someyears major repairs were required after the cabin wasvandalized. A few years ago, a new outhouse was need-ed, since the existing one was “listing to the side as wellas showing plenty of use,” Cruikshank wrote in hisbook. That January, surrounded by snow, the old out-house was burned to the ground.“The two mental images I have today are of the oldouthouse burning and a snow-laden tree standing outagainst the blue-white sky,” Cruikshank added.“Drannan and I agreed that it was the passing of an era.”– Mardi MilehamKelly Warren ’07 has been anavid waterfowl hunter since firstslogging through the marsh withhis father and grandfather at age 2.So when Warren, an environ-mental studies major at LinfieldCollege, set out to find a topic for hisindependent research study, he turned to the subject heknows best – geese. After deciding to identify and ana-lyze the seven Canada goose subspecies found in theWillamette Valley, Warren contacted state and nationalenvironmental agencies for background material. While sorting through Oregon’s complicated hunt-ing regulations, Warren saw the need for a better huntereducation tool and took the initiative to develop the“Identification Field Guide to the Geese of theWillamette Valley and Lower Columbia River.” It was amajor undertaking but one that will aid the averagehunter, according to Brad Bales, a migratory game birdbiologist with the Oregon Department of Fish andWildlife for 26 years.“Kelly took thousands of digital photos, which addsto the overall field guide,” Bales said. “It took a tremen-dous amount of time.”Warren took some 4,300 photos, which he nar-rowed down to 95 for the publication, and includedinformation on the geese such as history, behavior, man-agement and maps charting breeding and winteringareas. The final product is a 40-page field guide targetedto hunters, biologists, birders and the general public. The project ultimately earned Warren an A in hisLinfield class, along with a byline on a field guide nowdistributed by the United States Fish and WildlifeService, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlifeand the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.Warren is also collaborating on a DVD to accompanythe publication. “This is something that I’ve been passionate aboutall my life,” Warren said. “To tie it into school work is anextra plus.”Warren’s interest in wildlife biology has broadenedwhile at Linfield, where the liberal arts environmentnurtures students to think within larger contexts,according to Tom Love, professor of anthropology andWarren’s project advisor.“Kelly took his interest in geese and developed itinto a first-rate project which will be widely used,” Lovesaid. “In addition to the academic skills he’s developed atLinfield, Kelly has a sixth sense, which a good hunterhas, about habitat, reading a landscape and knowingwaterfowl behavior. On top of all that, he has admirabledrive and perseverance.” Warren plans to build on this project with a seniorthesis on the one subspecies that nests in the valley andhas become a local nuisance. He later plans to attend graduate school in environ-mental policy, and ultimately obtain an environmentallaw or teaching degree.The project also sparked a new venture for Warren,who has started a photography business as a result ofrequests from the field guide.– Laura DavisOutdoor enthusiast pens field guideHard work and hundreds of hours in the field by Kelly Warren ‘07 are represented in a field guide now distributed by state and nationalwildlife agencies. The guide and a DVD will be available this fall athttp://www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/InfoCntrWild/goose_testing.htm.F A L L  2 0 0 6 -   1 5Top: Relaxing, reading and writing in journals occupied someof the time students spent in the cabin during the winter outdoorcourse. Below: Burning the old outhouse.(Editor’s note: The Office of Alumni Relations has created an online group so those who spent time at Lincabin can sharetheir memories. Share your own memories or read what classmates have to say at http://groups.google.com/group/lincabin.)

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