Caught on Cam
Caught on Cam
DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PRACTICE TRAP CAM TECHNIQUES IN PREPARATION FOR UPCOMING STUDIES AT CRYSTAL COVE AND BEYOND.In November 2013, CCA invited 18 students from Dana Hills High School’s AP Environmental Studies class to Moro Canyon, where they worked with a wildlife technician from Irvine
Ranch Conservancy to learn how to operate trap cams. Trap cams, which are used to take photographs of wildlife in their natural habitat, are triggered by movement and are used by researchers to discover any animals that might be present in a particular ecosystem.
The students, who were juniors and seniors taught by Dolores Dang-Wright, were sent back to their school with basic trap cams and have spent the last few months learning about the best ways to position the cameras, how to download photos and more. Come January, they will progress to setting up the cameras in the Berns Environmental Study Loop
upon its opening at the end of the month.
Part of a larger study, they’ll work with park managers to decide the best places to put the cameras in the back country, and then take photographs that they can contribute to an Irvine Ranch Conservancy project tracking the back to their school with basic trap cams and have spent the last few months learning about the best ways to position the cameras, how to download photos and more. Come January, they will progress to setting up the cameras in the Berns Environmental Study Loop upon its opening at the end of the month.
Part of a larger study, they’ll work with park managers to decide the best places to put the cameras in the back country, and then take photographs that they can contribute to an Irvine Ranch Conservancy project tracking the movement of bobcats throughout the area.
“We’ve been learning about this type of stuff in class,” says Ella, one of the students participating in the program. “It’s neat to be out here doing it.”
This is the pilot year for the program, which will eventually become part of a wider Global Sustainability initiative. Next year, the program will expand to a larger scope and will be sponsored by the Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation as part of its Global Sustainability Project. The students will not only participate in the training and program here in Crystal Cove State Park, but they’ll be flown to a wildlife park in South Africa to use trap cams in a study of scavengers. This will allow them to actively engage in ecological sustainability, both locally and internationally, and is only one of the many out-of-the-box programs launching with the new Berns Environmental Study Loop.