Making Practical Training for Conservation Ecologists more Meaningful: Linking Undergraduate Training with Long-term Monitoring

Karen Esler,¹ Sue Milton, Shayne Jacobs
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology
Stellenbosch Univesity
¹kje@sun.ac.za

At a time when global environmental changes are accelerating biodiversity loss, people with sufficient knowledge are needed to reverse damage to natural capital and the human society that it supports. Key skills are becoming scarce in the current generation of conservation science professionals worldwide, and particularly in Africa, because data management skills and policy analysis are replacing, rather than augmenting, an earlier culture of the passionate professional field biologist and conservationist, well grounded in natural history and fundamental ecology. We are addressing this trend by using the Conservation Ecology Programme at Stellenbosch University to develop these capacities in young South African professionals.

Conservation ecology is an applied and integrative discipline. Although some of our graduates become academics, many find employment as policy makers, managers of protected areas or consultants on environmental issues ranging from control of environmental weeds, grazing and game management to stewardship approaches to conservation outside protected areas. These types of environmental decision makers need to understand the relationships between the geology, soil, landscape, vegetation and fauna. Our students need to know how to sample natural ecosystems so as to detect changes in soil, plants or vegetation that may be the result of grazing, invasive plants, fire, or climate change. Sampling and long-term monitoring require an understanding of experimental design as well as knowledge of field data collection methods. Moreover, for decisions on conservation and sustainable use to be made on the basis of field data collection, the student also needs to understand how to convert data to information and how to convey it lucidly to others.

Clearly field trips to learn about the environment and how to measure it are an essential part of conservation ecologists’ training. However, time constraints during academic terms confine the practical component of our courses to the Stellenbosch area and limited time periods. Using FIRLT funds, fourth-year conservation ecology students were taken on a four-day field trip to the Tierberg Karoo Research Centre, a SAEON long-term observatory node in the southern Karoo near Prince Albert, 400 km from Stellenbosch. During the trip, students conceptualized research projects, made decisions on data gathering, and worked as teams to gather data. In the afternoons, small groups collated data and briefly presented it to the class. Upon return from the trip, each student wrote a mini research paper. Data collected annually by students will form the basis of future long-term research projects, with publication intention.

Outcomes were analyzed using a questionnaire approach. On average, students more than doubled their knowledge about the Karoo landscape, its biodiversity and function. Clearly there is increased value of such a field trip where a few questions pertinent to understanding land use and weather patterns as drivers of change are addressed through rigorous data collection with the ultimate aim of publication. This is an excellent way to expose students to the scientific method and to opportunities that exist in both the academic and the applied arena of conservation ecology.

In addition to providing exposure to new environments and real-world environmental challenges, the projects developed on the field trip allowed students to develop a range of analytical, technical and organizational skills that, although taught, are not necessarily put into practice while on campus. While time consuming (four days and three staff members working approximately ten-hour days) and increasingly costly, this level of input is required to produce students who are professionally trained, well rounded and able to enter the job market with confidence.