Poking Around

Who says graduate school has to involve sitting in classrooms listening to lectures?

The first two weeks of class for the ninth cohort of students in the M.Ed program at North Cascades Institute and Western Washington University have been anything but traditional.After a couple of days of orientation to the program, Cohort 9 headed into the field.Students observed bald eagles at Padilla Bay, took time to journal on top of Mount Erie, and poked around the mouth of the Skagit River before heading to Bay View State Park for a barbeque.

Week two involved further practicing the art of poking around at the Environmental Learning Center and on the Skagit River.Our 11 new graduate students come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, work experiences and geographical regions.  Each adventure involves someone sharing their knowledge of topics ranging from entomology to canoeing.

Justin McWethy points out a toad he found near the Skagit River

This week the group will be camping at Baker Lake to learn about glaciers, butterflies and everything else they discover.Look forward to many more posts about the adventures of Cohort 9!