As seen in San Patricio County News

By Sarah Whetstone, Editor

With a new school year upon us, the conservation education and research staff at the Welder Wildlife Foundation and Refuge in Sinton would like to invite all students and teachers – near and far – to experience Welder’s many opportunities for hands-on learning in the great outdoors.

While the Foundation is known nationwide and internationally as an exemplary facility for wildlife research and conservation education, educators Kelsey Griffin and Meg Streich, said they would love to see more students from schools in San Patricio County participating in their programs, which are offered year round.

Griffin is a Welder Fellow who is earning her masters degree in Wildlife Management through Tarleton State University. She is primarily in charge of k-12 education programs and guides public tours while handling other responsibilities in regards to outreach and upkeep. 

The daughter of one parent who worked for the National Park Service and another who worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Wyoming, Griffin said wildlife and being outdoors has always been a big part of her life and she’s passionate about sharing that with local students.

She earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biology from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, and was selected as a Welder Fellow in 2012. As part of her fellowship, Griffin will split her semesters between the refuge and the university as she finishes her thesis, which is evaluating The Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s Wildlife Conservation Camp.

The other half of the equation is Conservation Education and Volunteer Program Coordinator, Meg Streich, a permanent employee of the refuge who oversees all aspects of education including the conservation educator fellows, k-12, collegiate and adult education programs. She also manages the Refuge’s loyal group of volunteers, who assist with education programs and help conduct public tours. Many of the volunteers are retired from careers in science or education.

Streich said the staff works hard to fulfill the wishes of the late Robert H. Welder, who established the Foundation 60 years ago to promote joint use of natural lands by wildlife, cattle, and people.

The Welder Foundation began building its endowment by investing revenue from oil and gas production generated on Refuge property, and the Foundation continues to operate off of returns on those investments.  Welder education and research programs are sometimes supported through funds from grants and donations.

Understanding the strict framework in which school teachers have to present their lessons, Griffin and Streich said they structure field trips around almost anything wildlife and conservation-related from soil to animal species to seasons and weather. In addition to the education portion, groups can participate in recreational activities such as kayaking, archery, hiking nature trails, birding and scavenger hunts using GPS units.

“Whether it’s general ecology or if they want to be more focused on bird adaptations and birding, or aquatic sampling, or learning about weather, they can come out here and do that,” Griffin said. “We even have events in the summer for groups of students or boy scouts or girl scouts, and all of our education programs are free.” The Foundation even hosts overnight camps that can accommodate up to 36 boys and girls.

“The kids look for signs of different animals. They’re looking at different animal scat and tracks, and then they have to tell us what they think the animal was,” Griffin said. “They have to be the ones investigating. We really try to do all hands-on, inquiry learning based activities. It’s not just them sitting in a classroom and us giving a lecture.”

Griffin said they have hosted students from public and private schools from across the state, but have seen a drop off in public school participation.

“That’s something we know is a challenge for local school districts these days,” Streich said. “We know money is always an issue and teachers have a lot to fit in during their instructional day. The Refuge hosts all of their education programs free of cost, however they understand the school still has to be able to pay for transportation, substitute teachers and other costs incurred by the school. “We have the capability to assist with securing funding to help public schools who are interested in a field trip to the Refuge.”

Other yearly events are Conservation Across Boundaries for science teachers, a program in which teachers travel to West Texas and the Welder Refuge in Sinton learning ways to engage their science students in the outdoors; The Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s Wildlife Conservation Camp, where 25 high school students are selected to participate in a week-long program that teaches wildlife management and conservation, hunter safety, aquatic ecology and much more; and a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Youth Hunt for kids 9-17 years old.

“The conservation camp for high school students, which usually happens in July, would be something that’s great to get more Sinton high school students involved in,” Streich said. “Because we have students from all over Texas and out of 25 students this year, we only had one from Sinton…and he was great. We called him “Mr. Sinton” and he was really proud to represent Sinton at the Camp.”

Overall, the conservation education staff said their desire is to carry out the wishes of founder Robert H. Welder.

“He wanted the public and researchers to come here and to be able to learn about the refuge and how to manage the land for the common good of wildlife, domestic animals and humans.”

“We want to be more well-known in the community, letting families know we’re a really good resource,” Griffin said. “They can bring home-school groups, church groups, boy scouts and girl scouts, or just come out as a family on one of our Saturday public tours.”

The Refuge offers free tours to the public every Thursday at 3 p.m., and select Saturday morning tours by appointment only. Tours include a quick introduction and walk through the museum, and a ten-mile driving tour with stops to view wildlife and historical markers. Tours can be tailored to whatever topic the group is most interested in. Binoculars and tennis shoes are suggested. Please contact the Foundation at (361) 364-2643 or check out their website at www.welderwildlife.org for information about tours, field trips, workshops or other educational programs.