Written by Charles Denney with UTIA
Maintaining resources is critical to protecting the environment and the benefits nature can provide for us. It could also turn into a rewarding career for some people. UT’s Herbert College of Agriculture has a new area of study called Outdoor Recreation and Park Management. Here we take you to a class where students learn challenging skills to care for our natural world.
Video transcript:
When the walls of your classroom are nature-made, scaling a huge rock at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, these UT Herbert College of Agriculture students in the School of Natural Resources get a field trip that’s not your ordinary day of academics. Anna Hunnius is learning to climb – strong grip, sure footing – and appreciates the chance to be outdoors.
“That’s kind of why I went into Herbert in the first place. I knew that there’s going to be experiences like this where our classroom is going to look a little different. It’s not going to be desks and a chair, but rather a rock wall that we get to climb,” Hunnius says.
This class is part of a new area of study for the Herbert College – Outdoor Recreation and Park Management. Potential careers here include being a ranger, conservation officer, naturalist, or small business owner.
“It’s very versatile. There are plenty of careers you can follow,” Cody Baumgardner says.
Graduating senior Cody Baumgardner hopes to someday work for the park service. Here’s how it looks from his perch about 25 feet up as he helps a fellow climber. Baumgardner loves rock climbing, indoors on campus, but especially in this setting.
“Climbing itself can be challenging at first, especially physically. Mentally is where it’s most challenging because you’ve got to mentally get up the rock,” Baumgardner says.
Students also learn leadership skills and how natural areas are managed, with respect for the land.
“Protecting the environment is so inextricably linked to getting as many people as possible outdoors,” Matt Hudson says.
A former park ranger, Matt Hudson with UTIA’s School of Natural Resources teaches this class, and here demonstrates some nifty climbing skills himself. Hudson says the curriculum attracts students with a calling to protect our natural world and educate others to responsibly recreate in the outdoors.
“One of the main things is, it’s an opportunity for people to do what they love, right? If you are passionate about the outdoors and love to be outside, then what better thing than to get paid to do that,” Hudson says.
Part of the instruction here was how to assist someone with a disability who might want to try rock climbing – making the outdoors welcoming for everyone.
“Somebody who might be interested in rock climbing who has a limb difference or maybe is in a wheelchair, we want to be able to extend those opportunities as widely as possible,” Hudson says.
Watching these students conquer this tall test, you can’t help but note the metaphor – reaching for the top by first reaching inside yourself. Whether your journey is up the side of a huge rock – or in life – the lesson is the same. If you can overcome your self-doubt on a high climb, that enhances your experience of the beauty around you.
Several students in UT’s School of Natural Resources do internships with the Tennessee State Parks as part of their college education.
