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Volunteerism and the SCB: one chapter's experience

Last winter, while we sat in our offices playing computer-screen biologist and dreaming of ways to escape the grayness of Seattle, several members of the Puget Sound chapter of the SCB began to explore the idea of volunteering as field researchers during the University of Washington's spring break. Biologists are always looking for free help, volunteering on another researcher's project would expose us to some new areas of ecology, and, best of all, we would be in the field.

We considered various parks, refuges, and research stations where we had personal contacts, seeking a group that might benefit from and be willing to facilitate the type of volunteer experience we had in mind. Although our goal was to assist biologists, we also respected the inevitable time that our hosts would have to devote to logistic arrangements for our visit. Several friends were kind enough to make initial introductions and overtures to their colleagues in various governmental and nongovernmental organizations. One telephone call led to another and ultimately, thanks in large part to the reputation of the SCB and the fact that the Puget Sound chapter of the SCB is an official student group of the University of Washington, I was organizing a week-long trip for eight chapter members to assist wolf biologists in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

The amenities of our base camp at Mammoth campground, just inside the northern border of the park, included nearby hot springs, outstanding views of the lunar eclipse and Hale-Bop comet, and serenades from a pack of coyotes. To accommodate the park's biologists, our group was split into three. Each group of volunteers traveled with a biologist working with a different pack of wolves and assisted the biologist in his or her daily routine. The days started early and cold, as the wolf observers needed to be at their stations no later than 6:00 A.M. Magnificent sunrises alternated with snowy mornings. The wolves would typically bed down around noon, but our work for the day was far from complete. Afternoons were typically spent collecting data on carcasses of elk that had fallen prey to the various wolf packs.

In addition to our status as an official student organization, affiliation with an SCB chapter was critical to instilling confidence among the wolf project's staff that our assistance would be worthwhile. The reputation of the SCB helped to convince our contacts at the park that we not only understood the rigors of field work, but also had the skills to perform the work. Neither networking nor the SCB alone could have opened this door for us; the combination was invaluable. Our previous biological training was an asset not only to the wolf biologists but also to our experience in Yellowstone: we were involved in research activities, such as actively participating in autopsies of elks that had been killed by the wolves, in ways that might not have been accessible to the average citizen.

In the five days our group spent in Yellowstone, we gained knowledge, experience, and perspective. We saw, first hand, the complex interactions between wolves and the species with which they share the park. We learned not only about wolf biology and behavior, but also about the biology of their prey. We gleaned the basics of radiotelemetry, and, thanks to one of the foremost trackers in the park, some members of the group began to learn how to interpret wolf behavior and actions from wolf tracks. And we were filled with awe and excitement watching a pack take down a bull elk, a pup learning how to hunt, and the reunion of an alpha male with his pack. In each case, the realities of survival and mortality were close at hand. A major piece of the ecology of Yellowstone is being restored, and we had the opportunity and honor, if only briefly, to share in that process.

Andy Cooper
Puget Sound Chapter, Society for Conservation Biology

A more complete account of the Puget Sound chapter's volunteer experience in Yellowstone National Park is available at http://weber.u.washington.edu/~acooper/wolftrip.txt

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