Starting in 2024, the Fish and Wildlife Club (FWC) at the University of Calgary in conjunction with the Students’ Union, aims to offer students experiences in environmental conservation and outdoor activities.
“[We’re] Looking to offer students hands-on, in-the-field experiences to help build skills in environmental conservation and research. Our goal is to create an inclusive platform for students of all backgrounds who are interested in fish/fisheries management, wildlife, habitat reclamation, ecology, and sustainability,” states the FWC’s mission statement on the Student Union Club website.
Noah Gordon, Co-President of the FWC and a third year nursing student at the university told the Gauntlet the club was founded two years ago.
“The Fish and Wildlife Club aims to help students who just kind of want to get outdoors, whether that's in research, field work, or whether it's hiking, fishing, hunting. Just kind of encouraging students to appreciate nature and appreciate the outdoors,” stated Gordon.
Gordon says he and the other co-president noticed that other outdoor clubs at the University were activities based such as a focus on hiking, lacking a conservation premise.
“There was nothing that was conservation based, so nothing that focused on the wild places themselves. More just on the activities you could do. So we wanted to come up with something to give back, something that can contribute as well as kind of pull from those contributions,” Gordon stated.
According to Gordon, the club has hosted many events including fish rescue work, hiking, ice fishing and regular fishing, as well as some indoor activities such as trivia nights and movies.
Gordon said the club likes to keep events diverse, showing students different areas and environments.
“It's all kind of within an hour and a half of Calgary,” stated Gordon. “Our fishing day in the summer was on a small alpine lake, which was really pretty, [we’re] catching really pretty fish, it was great.”
This year, the club is planning to introduce different events.
“So we are partnering with a hunting mentorship program to offer a duck hunt this year. We [also] have a career panel where we're going to invite wildlife biologists, fisheries biologists, in various stages of their career to present, to interest students in that career path,” Gordon said.
Right now, the club has around 85 members. Gordon said the first year the club began they jumped from zero to 60 members.
“We're open to anyone. Anyone can join as long as you're willing to give it a try. It's a lot of fun. We are not super super high commitment, and you kind of join as you see fit,” said Gordon. ”Some people like hiking, some people like fishing, some people like research [and] some people like volunteering. It's just kind of a mix, and we kind of offer that to all of our students.”
Gordon said the club is also a great opportunity for volunteer hours or simply trying something new.
“It's awesome. It's really fun. It's really good if you want to get volunteer hours. If you want to just be exposed to something you've never tried before, whether it's fishing, hiking, anything like that, whether you have the gear or not, we're ready to help, and it just gives the students the chance to try,” explained Gordon.
To find more on the FWC they are accessible on Instagram @uofc.fwc, by email uofc.FWC@gmail.com, and on the Student Union Club Website.
