The UTM Wildlife Society competed at the annual Southeastern Wildlife Student Conclave March 21-23 in Tifton, Georgia.
They won first place in the obstacle course, second place in the quiz bowl and third place in both field photography and air rifle.
During the event, the 19 students of the UTM team took part in a variety of workshops, field tours, social events and competitions.
The competitions included an obstacle course, a two-day quiz bowl competition, field photography, dendrology, a lab practical, shotgun, trap and air rifle.
Winning second place behind the University of Georgia, the UTM team achieved its highest placement yet in quiz bowl.
The quiz bowl competition consists of a double elimination tournament in which four students and one alternate from each team compete in 10-minute rounds to answer academic questions related to wildlife professions.
Dr. Eric Pelren, team adviser and Wildlife Biology professor, said that this marks a very proud moment for the UTM Wildlife Society, and next year they intend to
Brandon Weber, a senior Natural Resources Management major from Tiptonville, is one of the students who took part in the event and competed in Dendrology, a tree identification competition, and quiz bowl.
Weber said that, for the students, one of the best parts about participating in the event is the ability to compete against the Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools.
“It makes us feel good about ourselves,” said Weber. “We compete against SEC schools. . . and we can beat some of those bigger schools.”
Among the 19 other schools competing at Conclave were UTK, the University of Arkansas, the University of Florida and Auburn University.
According to Weber, aside from commemorative plaques and a painting that the UTM team won by getting second place in quiz bowl, one of the best takeaways from the event is bragging rights to say that “We beat UT Knoxville.”
For more information about the Southeastern Wildlife Student Conclave or the UTM Wildlife Society, contact Pelren at epelren@utm.edu.
