For the past two years, Friends of the Island Fox has had the honor of funding all of the new and refurbished fox tracking collars for Santa Cruz Island–but this summer, these collars were able to support more than just island fox monitoring and research.
As part of Paso Robles High School's Field Studies Collaborative program, a group of 25 students ranging in age from 15–18 spent a week on Santa Cruz Island, learning about its history and ecosystems. The program includes student presentations, expert workshops on a variety of topics, and field experience, like vegetation sampling and plant identification.
This past year, FIF board member Justin Purnell expanded the program to include trapping and working with island foxes, giving students an opportunity for hands-on experience working with the island's (very adorable) apex predator.
Justin isn't new to Paso High's program. Taking the class, during his junior year at Paso High, inspired his own path forward in wildlife biology. Since then, he has been a volunteer and chaperone on the trip, which is now in its 34th year.
The students (and other chaperones) were blown away by the experience of working with the island foxes. For many of the students, it was their first time seeing wildlife up close–and the impact cannot be overstated. Some were moved to tears and many of them expressed an interest in continuing their education in not only wildlife biology, but a host of other careers that support conservation.
Here are some of their reactions, in their own words:
- "Working with those foxes was such an amazing experience and changed my life. I thought I had my future figured out, but seeing what Justin does on the island threw a wrench in my plans. Now I think I want to go to college and study forestry. I would never have looked into or even thought about this as my career path if I didn't go on this trip." - Hannah, 16
- "It was hard to believe that doing something so special as a career could be more than a dream, but after getting to experience working with the foxes firsthand, I now know that doing work like this could be my reality." - Jordan, 17
- "It was incredible to see the foxes close up and to be a small part of helping to preserve this endemic species. This is one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do, and it really drove home for me the importance of preserving nature. I get emotional thinking about it! I am forever grateful for this experience." - Ava, 15
- "When I was younger, I was absolutely obsessed with animals and was set on working with them as an adult. As I grew up, I lost faith that I would be able to have a stable career working with wildlife. Watching Justin work was super emotional because I felt that love and interest in wildlife return. This trip totally changed my plans for my future–I am now planning to go into wildlife conservation." - Divy, 17
These experiences, and the impacts that can ripple out from them, are the reason that we do this work. We are happy that our funding of the collars was able to help support this experience for Paso High's field studies program and are excited to find other ways to support both the island foxes and the next generation of wildlife conservationists. Article by Justin Purnell