Virginia - NC Ecology Meet

Wildlife Station. Sherrie Storm, USACE discusses a test question with Robert Bondurant, VA Dept of Game & Inland Fisheries: Alan Clark, VDGIF and Ken Benson, VA State Parks.

Herpetology Station. Students from Bluestone High School attempt to identify this non-venomous snake as part of the competition.

Lake: John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir, VA

Partners: USACE; VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; North Carolina State Parks; Natural Resources Conservation Service; Soil and Water Conservation Districts: Vance, Granville, Warren Counties, NC; Halifax, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg, VA; Virginia Department of Forestry; North Carolina Department of Forestry; Virginia State Parks (Occoneechee); Virginia Cooperative Extension Service

Partnership Type: Not-for-Profit-Organization

Corps POC: Juanita Souther, Outreach Ranger

Story: The VA-NC Ecology Meet is a one-day environmental education competition held annually at Kerr Reservoir in honor of Earth Day. The event is open to middle and high school students in the six-county, two-state area surrounding Kerr. Up to 16 schools compete at the eight testing stations, each sponsored by a different natural resource management agency. Established in 1990 at Kerr by Corps Park Rangers after Pittsburgh District's EcoMeet, it has been the winner of state and national recognition.

The Ecology Meet is the only competition of its kind in the area that allows students from two states to interact in scholastic competition. Teachers chose their own teams of six students plus any number of alternates. Study packets from each station are mailed 4-6 weeks prior to the event to each team that will compete. The subject matter and the test questions support the states' standards of learning objectives.

At the start of competition, student teams rotate to each of the eight stations: Aquatics, Herpetology, Wildlife, Soils, Forestry, Interpretation, Hydrology, and Endangered Species. Each team has 20 minutes to complete each test and then moves to the next station. Testing format is up to the sponsors of each station. "Interpretation" involves student skits, "Endangered Species" mimics a "Jeopardy" game, and "Hydrology" requires students to sketch a watershed and solve a mathematical problem concerning rainfall and lake elevations, etc.

Following the competition, scores are totaled and trophies awarded. First place trophies are awarded to the overall middle school and high school. First and second place ribbons will be awarded to the middle school and high schools at each category station.