University students in Tofino for ‘Clayoqout Biosphere Immersion’
Professors and students from the University of the Fraser Valley were on Meares Island as part of an ecosystem course called the Clayoqout Biosphere.
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‘Professors and students from the University of the Fraser Valley are spending eight days in Clayoqout Sound as part of an intensive ecosystem course hosted at the Tofino Botanical Gardens field station in Tofino.The course is called the Clayoqout Biosphere Immersion, and it was first taught four years ago.”I love this area so much and I really wanted to introduce students to something that I think is amazing and needs to continue to be protected. There’s no better way to do that than education,” said Dr. Allan Arndt, biology professor.Arndt said that when students think of visiting pristine environments, they think of exotic overseas destinations.”They have no ideas what amazing ecological setting they have in their own backyard.”The course exposes the senior university students to a maritime ecosystem, First Nations culture, and teaches them about some of the socioeconomic and environmental issues in the area.”It really enriches our educational spectrum,” said Arndt, adding that some of the students had never visited the West Coast before the trip.”I think the nice thing about Tofino is it offers an opportunity to cover not only intertidal, but forest ecosystem, the bogs, and we can teach more than intertidal zone. It really exposes them to the whole spectrum of field work in biology,” said professor Pat Harrison.’ – taken from The Westerly News
See more at: The Westerly News September 1, 2011