Three faculty members Carl Knight, Jeff Hughes, Jill DeVito,
and six Science Club students,
(Sara Hays, Miki Crawford, Brittany Davis, Mario Coleman,
Brian Goad, and Jose Marmotejo), attended Big Thicket Day
on
October 14, 2006.
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The conference was hosted
at the Big Thicket Field Research Station in Saratoga, and
its focus was the Strategic Plan for its conservation. |
 Sara
Hays: "From the
Big Thicket Experience I was able to practice team working
skills by maintaining the field station with my fellow peers
and advisors. Also, communication, social skills and networking
skills with my peers, advisors, a variety of scientists and
many of the "Big Thicket Day" attendees. I had never
heard of the Big Thicket before last year in Dr. Knight's
class. What an amazingly diverse place!
It is amazing how much you forget about when you are in the
city or the suburbs all of the time. Driving to the Big Thicket
area was very country and filled with wild animals. On the
nature trail I was able to see beetles, spiders, lichen, mushrooms,
de-rooted trees from Hurricane Rita, different types of berries
and native plants and much more. I even had an encounter with
a little brown snake, who was quite cute might I add.
This trip allowed me to experience people, places and things
in the science world that I would not have normally run into.
I am very excited and feel very privileged to have the opportunity
to learn about the many fields of science. I used to know
exactly what I wanted to do before I realized that there was
so much more out there than what I knew or had in mind."
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 Miki
Crawford: "The one
thing that impressed me the most about our trip was the number
of people (politically influential and not) that are concerned
in the preservation of this magnificent place. The future of
the Big Thicket was presented to be more promising for family
oriented activities, with the addition of more hiking trails,
bike trails, canoing activities and possibly some camping sites.
The only roadblock at the present time is in advertising.
Not many people know much or have even heard about the Big Thicket,
and for native Texans this is sad. Having over 290 species of
birds, 4 out of the 5 carnivorous plants in the U.S., and thousands
of different plant-types, this Thicket is a world of its' own.
The air is clean, the trees are majestic, the noise is...sorry,
there is no noise, only the resonance of the Thicket and her
inhabitants, such wonderful music to the ears. Life is everywhere
in the Big Thicket and people need to be informed of this nature
wonderland.
What has yet to be discovered in the Big Thicket is the task
for our generation and the next. Given opportunities to research
will open many more secrets held by the BigThicket and will
intice more people to come and be a part of this awe-inspiring,
eye-opening, and life-thriving preserve. Thank you so much for
the opportunity to visit this place and to now be a part of
it's preservation."
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De-rooted tree by Hurricane Rita
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