Partnership Allows Students To Learn About PA Wildlife, Earn College Credit

Teens attending deer, trout, grouse, bear and bass focused summer courses offered by the Wildlife Leadership Academy to earn college credit at Cedar Crest College in Allentown.

The Wildlife Leadership Academy, which is coordinated and administered by the PA Institute for Conservation Education, is a year-round program that focuses on wildlife/fisheries conservation and leadership development.

The mission of the Academy is to engage and empower high school age youth to become Conservation Ambassadors to ensure a sustained wildlife, fisheries and natural resource legacy for future generations.

Cedar Crest shares similar value and believes in broadening the educational landscape for students to encompass opportunities to learn in any place and at every age while building partnerships that expand students’ experiences beyond our campus borders.

This type of experience also goes hand in hand with Cedar Crest College’s Environmental Conservation program.

“The main goal of the Environmental Conservation program at Cedar Crest is educate women to be leaders in conserving and protecting species and habitats. We are excited to partner with the Pennsylvania Institute for Conservation Education and the Wildlife Leadership Academy to help educate the next generation of conservation leaders,” explains Dr. John Cigliano, Director of Environmental Conservation.

The Academy begins with an intensive, five day residential field school experience that focuses on a fish or wildlife species as a springboard for exploring biology, habitat, and conservation issues.

Youth also develop leadership skills engaging in team-building activities, educational presentations, and mock “town hall” meetings on current topics.

“As a result of the intensive field school training, students develop leadership skills and considerable knowledge about conservation issues specific to the species of focus of the Wildlife Leadership Academy program that each student attends,” explains Michele Kittell, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institute for Conservative Education.

Earning Cedar Crest college credit allows students to get a head start on their education and enter into the next stage of their life with invaluable field experience and leadership skills.

For more information on student, teacher and adult education programs, visit the Wildlife Leadership Academy website.