Happy Birthday Darwin!

Celebrating the Father of Evolution

February 12th marks the birthday anniversary of Charles Darwin; and a celebration of science and humanity.  

Charles Darwin (Feb 12 1809 - April 19 1882)

In celebration of the discoveries and life of Darwin, the MSU Museum hosted the spectacular event of Darwin Discovery Day this last Sunday. This event was quite the success with over 590 visitors and 120 curators/volunteers! All of the MSU Fisheries and Wildlife Club members volunteering did an excellent job at being ambassadors for MSU and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. 

"Team Darwin" 2013
(Photo courtesy of MSU Museum)

With our "Conservation Biology" themed booth, we had the awesome opportunity to display many items that were confiscated at the Detroit Metro Airport to help educated others about the stresses put on endangered and threatened species with illegal take.

Ryan R., Katie M., Becca B., and Kelsey S. at the MSU FW Club Booth

We had many different items from endangered species at our table including:

     - Hawksbill sea turtles preserved for display

     - Musical instrument made out of a Hawksbill shell

     - Pelt from a leopard

     - Ivory (jewlery and decorative pieces) from Elephants/Rhinos

     - Bear Gall Bladder (in a dehydrated form)

     - Handbags made from Caiman leather

     - Boots made from sea turtle leather

     - Endangered Birdwing butterflies pinned in a collection

Becca B. talking about Hawksbill sea turtles

Visitors of the event interacting and exploring items

Ryan M. displaying a Hawksbill sea turtle

Ryan M. and Lydia K. showing an instrument made from a Hawksbill sea turtle shell

Katie M., Becca B., and Ryan F. talking about endangered butterfly species

Chris L., Katie M., and Becca B. explaining the importance of conservation biology

Becca B. and Kelsey S. showing items from the table

Katie M. showing a handbag made of Caiman leather

(Photos courtesy of Liz Brajevich unless otherwise noted in caption)
  

Written by Becca Blundell (blundel2@msu.edu)

Come Discover Darwin!

DARWIN DISCOVERY DAY

February 10th, 2013, 1-5PM

MSU Museum

Come out to the Michigan State University Museum to celebrate Darwin Discovery Day: Tails of Scales: Darwin & Reptiles. This FREE event is a great opportunity to learn more about Darwin with many great hands-on activities. The MSU Fisheries & Wildlife Club will be participating in this awesome outreach opportunity, by hosting a booth at the event. We have several club member volunteers to help educate attendees of the event about conservation of endangered species. Come out to support club, and to support the Darwin Discovery Day; and be sure to visit the Club's booth! We will have many neat items on display that were confiscated at the Detroit Metro Airport; to help teach others about the stresses put on endangered species with illegal take. 

Also at the event will be:

- Interesting and unusual specimens from the MSU Museum's natural science collections

- Hands-on activities for kids with MSU 4-H Children's Garden and Dept. of Horticulture

- Ask Darwin:  Rich Bellon, MSU Darwin Scholar, will answer questions about Darwin

- Ask an Expert:  Museum curators and MSU Specialists can help identify backyard curiosities:  bring in a rock, bone, fossil, tooth, or other natural object

-  Live critters with the MSU Herpetology Club

- Tours of the MSU Museum's "Bug Room," where beetles help prepare animal skeletons for inclusion in the collections

- The annual behind-the-scenes tour of MSU Museum Natural Science Research Collections

- Science books and kits at the Museum Store

- MSU Museum's West Gallery: "Hyenas Rule!" and "50,000" part of a series of exhibits featuring NSF-sponsored BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action

- Cake and refreshments for Darwin's Birthday!

For more information on this event, visit http://museum.msu.edu, or send questions to msufwclub@gmil.com. Hope to see you at this AWESOME event! Happy Birthday to Darwin!

 Written by Becca Blundell (blundel2@msu.edu)

Wood Duck Box Work

On January 26th, several MSU FW Club members braved the cold to do some wood duck box work in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources out at Rose Lake. 

It is really important to maintain wood duck boxes when they are put up, to ensure that they are safe for ducks, as well as to ensure that they will be successful for next nesting season. After repairing any damages, removing old nesting materials to add fresh wood shavings, we did work on a total of 19 different wood duck boxes in several different locations throughout the Rose Lake Wildlife Area. 

We did find a few interesting things in the boxes to make note of!

-Two different screech owls in two different boxes

-A very stubborn lazy raccoon in one box

-Feathers of a Red-winged black bird, most likely from previously nesting in the box

-Many many successful duck boxes with egg shells and fluffy down!

Shawn Szabo and Drew Rayner replacing a
damaged wood duck box

Drew Rayner and Matt placing a new
wood duck box

Shawn Szabo marking a wood duck box for
better identification

Written by Becca Blundell (blundel2@msu.edu)

Crested Geckos

1/31 Club Meeting: Crested Geckos! 

 

              

 

At our last meeting we had Lauren Phillips come to talk about Crested Geckos and her breeding program. We learned about their behaviors, diets and reproduction, along with how to care for them as pets. Lauren also brought several of her Crested Geckos for us to hold. 

 

Aren't they adorable?

 

 

Now for some cute Gecko pictures (The real reason you guys are reading this.)

 

 



 

 

 

 

(All pictures shown were taken by Carrie Kozel)

 

First Meeting of the Semester!

           Welcome back, everyone! This week we have our first meeting of the semester. It is this Thursday the 17th at 6:30pm in Room 223 at the Natural Resource Building. We have Kevin Frailey coming in to talk to us about Project WILD and Project FISH. We will also have a fun icebreaker and free food so we can get to know each other. Welcome back and lets have a great semester! 

 

 and also...

 

Michigan Chapter of American Fisheries Society Meeting

When: February 20-21st

Where: Treetops Resort Gaylord, Mi

The 2013 Michigan Chapter of AFS meeting is an opportunity for students to attend workshops, meet with professionals, and attend presentations. The FW Club would like to send students interested in attending to represent Michigan State University. Club is able to provide up to 6 students with registration and lodging costs. Students would be responsible for travel and food. Priority will be given to dues-paying members but anyone interested is encouraged to attend.

Registration deadline is January 30th. More information will be announced at this week's meeting or you can contact Carrie Kozel through the club email.

Visit http://www.fisheriessociety.org/miafs/upcoming_meet.html for more details.

 

 

 

FALL CAMPING TRIP!!!

The Annual Fall Camping Trip is just two weeks away!  So here is a recap of the details:

Where: Pine River - Manistee National Forest

We'll be camping at Pine River Paddlesports, on the Pine River

When: OCT 5-7
leaving Friday (time TBD) and returning Sunday

What:  Included in the cost of the trip is all of your food for the weekend, camping and canoe rental Saturday morning, those that are interested will be able to canoe the Pine River

We will be inside of the Manistee National Forest, so a hike in the woods, maybe some birding and wildlife viewing will be possible as well.  Additional activities will be posted when we know what they are.

Cost:  Cost is $40/person which includes all of the items noted above

Travel:  We will carpool, and the cost of gas will be split between passengers
in each car.  We don't expect it will be too costly

Important:  In order to attend you MUST fill out a registration form, available at the upcoming meeting, or by email (please request).  The form MUST be returned to an E-board member by Sept 28th.  And you will have to have at least your semester dues paid at the time you register.  Reminder: semester dues are $15, yearly dues are $30.

Also!!  If you have any camping equipment, particularly propane stoves or portable cooking utensils/methods, PLEASE bring them along!  

If you have any questions, see Drew Rayner or another E-Board member or send us an email at msufwclub@gmail.com

Link to Pine River Paddlesports website: http://www.thepineriver.com/

Welcome Back!

As we start the Fall semester, things can seem very hectic.  We've been working hard at comprising opportunities, finding activities and planning fun and exciting meetings to keep everyone excited and engaged in the club, and at times it can seem like we're inundating you with information.  We want to make a better effort at making information available to you in many places so you can find what you're looking for or catch up on what you missed.

First things first, the Fall camping Trip is one of our most anticipated events.  We are a professionally-minded organization, but what's the harm in having a little fun as well?  We look at this trip as the first real opportunity for members to catch up with one another and meet new folks.  Attending is the best way you can get to know each and every one of us, so we hope you decide to come.  If you're fuzzy on the details, see an E-board member or check to make sure you're receiving e-mails, as we will communicate most information that way.  
***this trip is for dues paying members only.  We want to stress that we hate to exclude anyone and this is one of FEW activities that are exclusive to dues paying members, however it is important that the club makes money in order to host events, plan field trips, keep the cost of transportation down and to provide the delicious ice cream sundaes and other snacks that we all enjoyed last week.  We appreciate your support and hope that you will consider becoming a dues paying member.

Next up, weekly meetings are the time we use to introduce you to new ideas, connect you with potential employers and plan our activities.  Classes sometimes conflict, and we hope that if you can't make it to meetings that you feel like you can participate in other ways.  If you see or hear about something that happened at a meeting or want to get more involved in planning events and serving on a committee, please e-mail us and we will do our best to get you there.  A side note about committees, this is a great way to hone your skills in developing research projects, planning communications and outreach activities, managing private lands and just overall planning and execution.  This is something we encourage you to get into and to put on your resume, as many of the things you do in committees are valuable skills.

Lastly, our club is very active...we do an absurd amount of work and have a lot of fun doing it.  There are a lot of dates and times to keep up with, details to remember, opportunities to be aware of so we encourage you to use all of our resources (which are linked on this website).  We have a facebook page, a google calendar and this blog in addition to the reminders at meetings and emails that you may see.  So please check these sites often to find information.