When I learned that my Junior Seminar classmates and I were to participate in a service learning project that involved both camping and the collection of dragonfly larvae, I have to say I was a little apprehensive. After all, I am not a biology major, I have little knowledge of ecology, and I am definitely not a camper. While the majority of my classmates buzzed with excitement and wondered what all adventures our weekend trip to the Steel Creek Research Station at Buffalo National River would entail, I asked myself “Can I do this?” I questioned not only my ability to spend the night outdoors but whether or not I would actually be able to contribute to the success of the project we were working on. Despite my worries, I chose to go on the trip after receiving encouragement from classmates and family.
As we made the two and a half hour drive up to Ponca, I told myself “You’ve got this.” When we arrived at the Research Station, almost all of my worries about the camping aspect of the trip were calmed. We were not, in fact, going to be “roughing it” in the forest. Steel Creek Research Station turned out to be an adorable stone house where we were to prepare meals and hold class. Outside an NPS tent was already pitched on top of a raised wooden pallet with clean cots arranged inside. Together, we made a dinner of sautéed vegetables and ramen noodles and our host for the weekend, Ranger Faron Usery, brought us the most delicious beans and cornbread.
After our meal, we all gathered in the living room turned classroom of the house to learn about the project and prepare for the following day of collecting dragonfly larvae. Cameron Cheri, a University of Arkansas graduate student studying biology and member of the Conservation Corps, explained to us the purpose of the research and taught us how to identify different species of larvae. The fancy tent and yummy food had calmed my nerves, but learning that I was going to be scooping dragonfly larvae out of an old mill pond brought those same feelings of nervousness right back up. As my classmates looked with enthusiasm and anticipation at the different species of dragonflies and damselflies, the same question creeped back into my mind, “Can I do this?”
The next morning we packed our daypacks and split into teams. Each team was to collect larvae from a different section of Boxley Mill Pond, the site of our collection.
Within each team, there were to be two people collecting larvae out of canoes and the rest of the group was to collect larvae from the banks. I tried to force my way into one of the canoes, yet somehow ended up the one member in chest waders. With my new gear on, my group and I made our way to our marshy section of the pond. Armed with borrowed work boots and a noble sense of bravery, I sank myself knee deep into the mud and began scooping up little dragonfly and damselfly larvae up from the banks.
I never thought I would say this, but being knee deep in the mud while pulling bugs out of a pond was actually one of the most interesting and fun things I have done in my Honors experience thus far. I loved the challenge of finding the perfect place on the bank to scoop up samples and I was having fun catching tadpoles, fish, and anything but the larvae I was supposed to be collecting. When we took our samples back to the researchers, we used tweezers to help pick the larvae out of all the mud we had scooped up.
By the end of the day, we were all able to identify little dragonflies and damselflies with little help from the rsearchers. Together, our class must have collected dozens and dozens of larvae. Cameron with even informed us at the end of the day that our class had collected two species he had never before seen in the pond. It was the greatest feeling to know that we had helped work on a project that not only helped the researchers but the National Park Service and the rangers at Buffalo National River as well. Although I came into the project with feelings of apprehension, I left with a new confidence in my ability to go outside of my comfort zone and participate in new activities.
