GC&SU biology students go “wild” at Lockerly Arboretum

Georgia College & State University biology students get the opportunity to put theory into practice while helping to maintain trails at Milledgeville’s Lockerly Arboretum.

The Bushhoggerz, as they call themselves, are part of a service-learning program in Dr. Harriett Whipple’s Biodiversity class. Students in the class must have 10 hours of service learning to get credit for that portion of their grade. Helping at Lockerly is just one of the ways students can spend those hours.

“I tried to find something that would expose the students to the field component of Biodiversity,” Whipple said. “I’ve always brought students out here. This year we’ve been able to make it more organized.”

Most students would agree that hands-on activities are much more enjoyable than spending time in the classroom. Sophomore Chris Bazemore enjoys spending time at Lockerly.

“I think this is cool because we aren’t always in the classroom taking notes. It’s nice to get outside and actually see what we’re learning about,” Bazemore said.

As the students work, Whipple points out different species in the area.

“Lockerly is a perfect place because it’s on the Fall Line,” Whipple said. “You get representative plants from all over Georgia. Where else could they get an experience like this?”

A proponent of hands-on learning, Whipple believes that classroom lecturing has its limitations. Working at Lockerly provides her students with a chance to learn in ways not possible in a classroom environment.

“A kid can say ‘this is a rhododendron.’ They can feel a rhododendron,” Whipple said. “They can ask ‘why is this rhododendron doing well and this one dying?’”

The relationship between the students and the arboretum is symbiotic. The trail the students are working on is often used for educational programs for schoolchildren who visit the arboretum on fieldtrips. Greg Eilers, educational programs coordinator for the Lockerly Arboretum, is appreciative of the help.

“We use this trail a lot with educational programs. It’s been a struggle for us to keep it clean and leveled out. It really helps me out a lot,” Eilers said.

The opportunity to contribute to the learning experiences of the area’s children is part of the reason some students chose to volunteer at Lockerly.

Roger Wood, a sophomore, said, “I think it’s a really good thing to help out here because kids can come out here and not have to be in the classroom as much. I know I loved going out on nature trails when I was young.”

Lockerly Arboretum is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students from kindergarten through college. GC&SU students in classes ranging from the sciences to art have utilized the gardens at Lockerly. Lockerly’s Educational Director, Murali Thirumal, hopes that more students will take advantage of the arboretum’s resources.

“There’s something therapeutic about this place, the therapeutic factor of being in the environment,” Thirumal said.

Thirumal said that he hopes the students that work on the trail for Whipple’s class will return to enjoy their work.

“We hope that this will be a taste for them, and they will come back outside of service learning, not just for work but also for enjoyment,” Thirumal said.

Whipple agrees that more students should visit the arboretum, either for class or on their own.

“It’s so close to town that you can work it into a class schedule,” Whipple said. “It’s a perfect teaching environment.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 16 2005. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry