As long I have the luck when it really matters...

Unfortunately, I don't have a Naturalist Club adventure to share because I was at work getting certified for CPR and First Aid (about 3 months later than I should have...good job boss!) instead of tubing down the Trinity River (Boooo! But at least I won't be totally useless if my work client is in need of some life-saving! Which is useful, since I work in supported living services!!!). So instead of telling you about my non-adventure, I'm going to write about a club I forgot to mention in my first post.

Conservation Unlimited is the HSU student chapter of The Wildlife Society, and I just joined last spring. You have to pay to be a member, but it's entirely worth it to be able to attend workshops and events they put on! This semester I also enrolled in the class for Wildlife Conclave, which is basically to train the Quiz Kids of wildlife (did anyone else have Quiz Kids at their high school? I know trivia's totally nerdy but it's all stuff I need to know for my career later anyway!)! The quiz bowls are held at The Wildlife Society conferences, where wildlife biologists and students gather for workshops and field trips and all that good stuff.

This Fall's national conference is going to be held in Snowbird, Utah. Conclave gets some funding from the school to take students to these conferences, and also has a coffee table in the Wildlife & Fisheries Building to raise money for these trips. Of course, these trips can get a bit expensive ($220 registration fee per person, transportation, lodging for a week, etc.) so not everyone in the class can go all the time. The established conclavers are a given, but we only had enough funds to take 5 newbies (me being in the newbie category). Newbies had to draw straws for those 5 spots, and that's where all my luck for the week went! I have to miss a week of class, but it is so worth it! The Fall conference is the national (not regional) one, so that means it's mostly professionals and fewer students attending, which means I get to meet these awesome wildlife biologists! Not to mention a whole week of geeking out over whatever animals we get to see in Utah and learning from students and the professors going who all know tons more than I do!

Anywho, I already know what I'll be talking about for my next post, which will not be wildlife-related this time. APASA is helping host the Moon Festival on Wednesday, September 22nd in the Kate Buchanan Room from 4-7pm. Stop on by for yummy treats, karaoke, and more! If you can't make it, I will be writing all about it in my next post!