4__________________
WedNEsdAy, Apnil 11, 2001
Feature
TI he ClAckÄMAs P rint
PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER PORTER
21 students attended this year's Death Valley trip during spring break. Back row, left: Erin, Lisa, Raquel, Sarah, Nathan, Jeff, Eric and Nicole. Second row, left:Suzanne,
Terry, Patrick, Kristine, Christine, Jonel and Bob. Third row, left: BethAnne, Dan, instructor Porter and Jodi. Front row, left: Tim, Craig, instructor Hoover, Jeff, Andrew and
Loyd.
MAGGIE JIRASEK
Feature Editor
The annual college Death Val
ley Trip, a three-credit science
course, was lead this year by biol
ogy in-
struc- .
t o r S'l
Jenni-1
f e r
Porter
and
Sarah
Hoover with the goal to
give students a chance
to apply their knowl-<
edge ‘out in the real
world.’
Over spring break, 21 Clackamas
students went to Death Valley
Park in California to study animals,
plants and rocks in a place where
the average temperature during
this time of year ranges between
90-100 degrees.
“It was really hot which was kind
of good because it brought out the
critters. We saw more snakes, liz-
a r d s and scorpions than ever
before. We even
found a gecko. I
have never seen a
' desert gecko be-
I fore,” explained
s J Porter.
< The Death Val-
ley Trip, which is a
natural field course,
has been coordinated
by Clackamas for over 20 years
now.
“It’s natural history and we do
some geology, biology as well as
archeology,” said Porter.
For students who went on the
trip, prior meetings were required.
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Each student was assigned a re
search topic for the trip.
“While the students were down
there, they actually had to givepre-
sentations and lectures;” said Por
ter.
Camping for ten days in a place
like Death Valley was not easy.
Sleeping in tents and three show
ers per week was all the comfort
Death Valley had to offer.
“We usually got up in the morn
ings, made breakfest, jumped in the
vans and drove around. We went
to various spots around the whole
Death Valley Park where I gave a
lecture or students gave theirs,”
explained Porter. “Other times, we
were just running around, chasing
animals and looking at plants and
rocks.”
The students made a trip up in
the mountains where they studied
types of cacti as well as learned
how to identify different types of
bushes. At Scottie’s castle, the
national park service gave them a
guided tour. According to Porter,
one of the most amazing experi
ences was visiting Ash Meadows,
which is lo-
cated outside
the park and
consists of
whole system
I i t t 1 “
springs.
Itwasjustincred-
“ ible, almost like an
oasis in the middle
of a 4^*" desert,” said Por-
ter. “Un-
fortunately, none of
the plants were blooming yet in
Death Valley. The rain hit too late
and so the plants haven’t gotten
enough water yet.”
Instructors as well as students en-.
joyed the trip and were fascinated
by seeing how animals and plants
can manage to survive in such a
PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER PORTER
One of the highlights while camping out in Death Valley was
visiting Scottie's castle where students enjoyed a guided tour.
Bottom left: Christine, Jeff, Jodi and instructor Porter. Top row
left: Suzanne, Patrick and Loyd. Middle: Lisa.
harsh environment.
“It was the year of the critters. It’s
just a beautiful place. All the animals
there have their own little history of
how to survive in this awful hot place.
To me, that is amazing,” said Porter.
In all the years that students have
been visiting the Death Valley Park, no
one has ever been injured, stung or
bitten.
“This time, we. had some sidewind
ers right on the street in front of our
campsite. They were sitting there ev
ery night, keeping themselves warm.
This was the only thing that caused
some concern,” explained Porter. “This
group was pretty fearless though.
They wanted to pick up everything,
even the scorpions and snakes. But
we had a great time”