UTM Wildlife Society growing and thriving

From cleaning up streams in the Martin community, installing wood duck boxes at Reelfoot Lake State Park, hosting boy scout merit badge workshops, to the annual fishing rodeo, the UTM Wildlife Society has proven their dedication to preserving natural wildlife habitats for generations to come.

“We do service projects, data collections, learn to identify different animals and plants, pay attention to how different policies are affecting wildlife and our profession, and educate different groups in hopes that they may come to have a love for the outdoors and nature that many of us grew up with,” said Kenley Schwartz, a senior Natural Resources Management major and the president of the Wildlife Society.

While many students believe the misconception that the Wildlife Society is just a hunting and fishing club, explained Schwartz, the Wildlife Society is actually a student-priority professional organization that strives to create professionals in all aspects of wildlife management from wild game to fisheries science.

Dr. Eric Pelren, the faculty advisor for the UTM Wildlife Society, believes the chapter is making strides not only in wildlife conservation but also in the wildlife professional community.

“It builds competent professionals, but I also strongly believe [and value] that it provides a network for our students that transcends a forum for professional development – for many, I think, it becomes a second family,” Pelren said.

The Wildlife Society has helped secure internships for its members through organizations such as the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge. Vice President of the Wildlife Society Brandon Weber, a senior National Resource Management major, earned the opportunity of a lifetime to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services after an internship with the TNWR. The field experience he began receiving his freshman year of college through the Wildlife Society prepared him for his internship in Alaska, studying and banding endangered duck species, as well as conducting bird population surveys.

One of the Wildlife Society’s main community projects is the stream cleanup program in Martin.

The Wildlife Society not only teaches its members lessons they will need in their field, but also lessons for life.

“We do a general skills workshop where we help members learn how to drive a manual transmission vehicle, back a trailer, operate a tractor, run a weed-eater and a chainsaw, set various traps and several other skills that are very useful in the field that we are interested in,” Schwartz said.

The Wildlife Society is also in the process of creating a Wildlife Ambassador program where wildlife and fishery majors will visit high schools to teach students about careers in wildlife programs, as well as the Wildlife Society at UTM.

The Wildlife Society hosts many events throughout the year, but one of the most successful events has been the Philip Trey Lindsey Endowment dinner. The first dinner raked in over $30,000 for the endowment, with this year’s dinner featuring guest speaker and baseball legend “Will the Thrill” Clark.

Clark, who studied Petroleum Engineering at Mississippi State University, considers himself an avid outdoorsman and even owns a hunting ranch in Mississippi. He even offered to host the Wildlife Society on his ranch for testing excursions.

While he focused on playing baseball during his youth, he also spent what time he had left over hunting and fishing.

“I didn’t want to sit behind a desk; I wanted to be in the field, out in the water, in the marsh, wherever it may be,” Clark said.

During his presentation at this year’s endowment dinner, Clark spent his time telling the best stories from his career including the best wildlife related events he could remember.

Clark recounted many different games that even members of the audience were familiar with, and shared most of his favorite memories over the years, including the time he left a mule in his teammate’s locker after a goat had been left in his.

Being the oldest players on the Texas Rangers, Clark and Mark McLemore, who played second base, constantly referred to each other as “Old Goat” and “Old Mule.” One day, Clark walked into the clubhouse and noticed that all of his teammates were watching him, waiting for him to notice something.

When he finally made it to his locker, he realized that a live goat had been tied to it, wearing a Will Clark jersey standing next to “a steaming mound of goat poop.” The goat had eaten his glove, shoes and anything else it could get to.

Clark, an avid prankster, decided he would get his teammate back. About a month later, Clark managed to borrow a mule from a local farmer, dress it up in a McLemore jersey, and leave it waiting by his locker.

“The moral of the story,” explained Clark, “is that a mule poops a lot more than a goat does!”

While the night was full of laughter and legendary stories, Clark encouraged students to stay involved in the Wildlife Society to protect natural resources for future generations to enjoy, just as he has.

“Perhaps the most unifying theme in their efforts is putting a face to the wildlife profession for our students,” Pelren said.

“Freshmen entering our program have a rudimentary understanding of wildlife conservation; The Wildlife Society helps ensure that, when they graduate, they have been able to put to practice the core principles they have been taught in the classroom and labs.”