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Outdoor summer camps provide fun, learning
MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Those with a love for the outdoors have four conservation camps to take advantage of this summer offered through Mississippi State University’s College of Forest Resources.
Three of the camps are intergenerational and are geared for anyone interested in the outdoors. Designed for students 10 or older, the camps are useful for those who participate in the Envirothon or on Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program teams. Students may attend individually or with parents and grandparents.
The three intergenerational camps are based at MSU and hosted by the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture. Food, lodging and on-site transportation are included in the fee. Each camp is limited to 25 participants, and registration closes when the camps are full. These camps cost $325 per person or $300 per person when a parent attends with a child.
Two Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture camps are offered May 30-June 3 and June 27-July 1. Activities include boater and hunter safety, river ecology and fish trapping, seining and electro-fishing, archery and bow fishing, rifle and shotgun shooting, tomahawks, tracking and trapping, birding, a deer necropsy and an introduction to scuba diving.
The Basic Insect and Plant Ecology camp is offered June 13-17 in collaboration with the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. Activities and topics include collecting insects, plant ecology and succession, insect/plant interactions, insect photography, medical entomology, carnivorous plants, edible plants and insects, a bee hive tour, pest insects and insect/wildlife interactions.
The intergenerational camps offer continuing education credits for teachers. For more information on these camps, contact John Guyton at (662) 325-3482 or jguyton@cfr.msstate.edu. Registration can be completed online at http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/wildlife/conservation_camp.
The Natural Resources Summer Camp is offered June 6-10 and is geared toward high school students. Hosted by the College of Forest Resources, this camp introduces students to the diverse world of natural resources and explores career opportunities in conservation.
The camp costs $175 and includes food, lodging and on-site transportation. Activities include water quality testing, tree identification, canoeing, law enforcement, birds, herpetology, waterfowl, wildlife habitats, wood properties and global positioning systems.
For more information on this camp, contact Patsy Foster at (662) 325-5548 or pfoster@cfr.msstate.edu. Online registration is available at http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/summer_camp.