Black Bear Management, an undergraduate research course at Finger Lakes Community College was created in response to a need for more information about the increasing bear population in our service area. The class is structured so that students participate in both a long-term research and a novel project each year. In partnership with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, students in this class assist professionals at black bear dens throughout Central New York. Bears are chemically immobilized, fitted with telemetry collars and released unharmed. Specifically, my students and I are charged with taking biometric measurements of cubs and recording den characteristics. These two long-term projects were chosen in response to the needs of the state agency.<br/>In addition, a novel project is conducted each year so students can participate in all steps of a research project. I follow Windschitil’s (2008) four-step model for authentic inquiry: Discussion of what we know and what we want to know, creation of a model that describes our current understanding of the phenomenon, data collection, revision of the model into a scientific explanation. Past projects include survey of college students’ knowledge and opinions of bears, ground marking behavior in black bears and correlating habitat characteristics at utility poles with bear bites versus those without. Students have presented our work at regional and national conferences.<br/>Several challenges had to be overcome in order to make this course a reality. One large issue was reconciling the academic year with the field season in which den visits take place. Another is the amount of work required of this course as compared to a “normal” three credit course, especially with students of varying levels of preparation for undergraduate research. After four years, the course remains very popular and I consider the research a success.

Black bear research: A case study in undergraduate research at a community college

249th National Meeting (2015)

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