Kheyany Webb is no birdbrain.
Yet, when Yendise Collie encountered Webb Friday at the Compass Center at 海角社区 in Leesburg, she quickly discovered that Collie had birds on the brain.
鈥淪ome birds are very territorial,鈥� the 海角社区 freshman explained.
Collie, a junior, nodded.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 take care of them they will vanish.鈥�
Another nod.
鈥淏irds only come when they feel safe.鈥�
More nodding.
Proof positive that Webb鈥檚 eBird project 鈥� one of many exhibits on hand at the end-of–semester poster fair for the 58 students enrolled in the community-sourced science course 鈥� had helped her spread her wings as a budding naturalist.
of gray squirrels. (Photo: Darryl E. Owens)
Giving the roles of researcher and scientist a dry run echoes the academic best practices for instructing students with learning disabilities in science, said Brian Ogle, an anthrozoology instructor at 海角社区, the first college or university to award bachelor脭酶惟s degrees to students who learn differently, and the second in the U.S. to offer an undergraduate anthrozoology major.
The community-sourced science course requires students to collect data for regional and national citizen science projects, Ogle said.
鈥淭heir active participation not only allows them to conduct research and analyze data,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut also contributes to the body of knowledge in the scientific community as their data sets are shared with researchers.鈥�
The fair gave students a place to highlight their semester-long environmental research projects and a platform for ecological advocacy. It also schooled them on protocols to which poster sessions adhere at professional conferences.
Visitors streamed in and out of the fair, giving presenters plenty of laypeople to educate.
Freshman Luis Castaneda, who studied native birds, shared how he grouped the many species of birds at Venetian Gardens in collating his eBird data.
At another table, it wasn鈥檛 clear whether Savannah Arner was a fan of Bullwinkle; from all appearances, however, she probably would get along swimmingly with one Rocket J. Squirrel.
To anyone who was in earshot, the freshman shared facts and anecdotes about her 鈥淧roject Squirrel.鈥�
鈥淚t was really nice. Once, I saw 15 squirrels and they were like communicating,鈥� Arner gushed.
What kind of squirrels, she was asked 鈥� a fair question considering more than 200 squirrel species scurry out in front of cars and horse carriages all over the world.
鈥淭hey were gray squirrels,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll I saw were gray squirrels.鈥�
The rigorous fieldwork and research also fanned a fire for science. Nearly 70 percent of students who took the course agreed it helped boost their interest in science, while 81 percent said they were more likely to engage in conservation-related activities.
Indeed, Webb concedes before taking the class she 鈥渞eally didn鈥檛 like birds or wasn鈥檛 interested.鈥�
That disaffection soon dissipated when she got out into the field.
鈥淏irds are very unique,鈥� said the 21-year-old human services major. 鈥淭o me, birds are very sensitive to a lot of things and how you treat them is very important. People don鈥檛 realize how important birds are to our community and mean so much to our environment.
鈥淎ll people do pretty much is destroy them.鈥�
Maybe before.
Not on Webb鈥檚 watch.