Whidbey Island Tree Farm Fieldtrip to Monitor Long-Term Ecological Study Sites in the Forest

Every year in the fall and sometimes in the spring, we take 26 students up to an ecological study site on Whidbey Island, donated by the DeBell family, to learn about forest growth and ecological succession, the effects of re-forestation, and carbon sequestration of hardwood and softwood forests.  Students participate in several field studies, working together to collect data and then later to analyze and present data to each other. During the trips, we first work on community building by introducing students to each other.  They come from three different classes of biotech academy students. (Biology, chemistry, and genetics cohorts may all participate.)  Students cook meals together and eat together.  In the fall, we also have the opportunity to harvest apples to make fresh apple cider and feed the cows.  This fall trip was cold, but sunny.  The rain held back until Saturday morning when students were busy analyzing and presenting data.  It was another successful trip!

Getting to know you-Playing screaming toes!

Hanging out with the cows.

Tree identification on site.

Collecting data from WIT 1.

Capturing macroinvertebrates with the beating sheet.

Taking temperature 2 meters above ground level.

Rotting tree bed?  Might be a new interior design thing.

Oregon salamander found at WIT 1 and released.

Tree huggers, hugging the Western red cedar mother tree.

Alder forest on the way to the WIT sites.

Successful plankton tow from pond.

Posing and fishing from the dock.

Using the manual cider press to make the best cider ever!

And the Saturday morning data crunch.

Identifying critters from the study sites.

Presenters explaining how to measure the volume of a tree.

The ferry ride home in the rain. Flashing BT signs to represent!