Rutgers Field Camp

Two groups of students from Rutgers University spent three days at Sedge in late May. Because both Professor Julie Lockwood and graduate assistant Tom Verzi are expert birders and many of the sessions revolved around ornithology. Rising before daybreak, the students kayaked to Island Beach State Park to walk a transect from the ocean beach to the bay. Timed to coincide with the peak of spring migration, both groups saw a wide variety of bird species.

Many students fished and were disappointed not to catch much on hook and line. The big crab trap proved to be much more productive as many green crabs were caught. Students were very helpful in checking bags of 10mm clams to find survivors of a winter spent in a bag covered with mud at the bottom of Barnegat Bay.

This was the second year that Rutgers has brought down a group of students for their field camp course. It is this type of active experential learning that many large universities are cutting back on. When students are fully submersed in the ecology of an area that is when true learning and love of science can really be seen.

Once again it was a pleasure to have wonderful, bright students from Rutgers out on Sedge Island. We look foward to great things to come from all of you.