University of Delaware Hunter Education Program
Promoting Waterfowl Hunter Education for New Adult Students
2018 & 2019 Awardee
WC Seed Monies Committed: $2,000
Today, many Waterfowl Ecology graduate students — who will become tomorrow’s environmental leaders and environmental resource educators and managers — know little to nothing about the world of hunting. They’ve never had a hunting experience. How can they communicate and work successfully with hunters and landowners if they have never experienced the sport? Through UD’s field program, these budding professionals get the opportunity to gain their hunter education certification (via course material and gun safety training) as well as learn and discuss waterfowl identification, waterfowl policy, waterfowl habitat management, values structures associated with hunting, hunting dog training, and cooking wild game. The course ends with a voluntary opportunity to engage in a one-on-one mentored waterfowl hunting experience. This component of their studies is not designed to make them hunters; it provides them the opportunity to engage and learn about the sport firsthand, making them better able to understand all perspectives in the conservation world.”