OXFORD, Miss. – Things are really buzzing this summer at the University
of Mississippi Field Station, and it’s not just the mosquitoes. During
five weekly sessions this summer, the Field Station hosted Ecology Day
Camp for kids in grades 2 through 7, and the response was tremendous.
The camp, which is funded cooperatively by the Mississippi Department
of Environmental Quality and the Field Station, is so popular that an
extra session was added this year, and it quickly filled up.
“We enjoy having the youngsters here and having a chance to share all the natural riches the Field Station has to offer,” said Field Station executive director Ray Highsmith. “Our aim is to create lifelong enthusiasm and an appreciation for our environment, which will one day be theirs to care for.”
The weeklong sessions are jampacked with learning activities related to ecology and the environment. Participants spend their days enjoying the outdoors and learning to identify many species of insects, trees, birds and fish at the 740-acre facility. Because of the Field Station’s wide variety of wildlife and supporting habitats, campers have an opportunity to experience an “outdoor classroom,” something that camp director Mike Wallace says they will always remember.
The dangers of pollution and the importance of clean water come full circle for the kids when they take a mini field trip to a local grocery store. The campers make a list of all the foods they can find in the store that come from aquatic environments such as the ocean.
“This is an effort to get kids to think about where food comes from before it hits the store shelves,” Wallace said. “It’s a really good exercise for everyone, not just kids.”
Kids love bugs, so it’s no surprise that one of the highlights of the week is a fire ant lesson, led by Jake Marquess, a graduate student studying the insects at the Field Station. Marquess teaches the kids all about the insects, and they get a chance to see the ants close-up without the fear of being stung.
“I love teaching the kids,” Marquess said. “They are so enthusiastic.”
Another highlight for many campers was a field trip to Twenty Mile Creek near Frankstown, where highway construction uncovered a rich bed of fossils, including shells and shark teeth.
The Field Station is located in the Bay Springs area of Lafayette County at 15 County Road 2078. Its mission is to foster ecosystem stewardship by providing a natural laboratory and infrastructure for research, education and service, and by cultivating scientific information and understanding of upland watersheds in the lower Mississippi River Basin and similar habitats.
For more information, go to http://baysprings.olemiss.edu .