Interdisciplinary studies are a hallmark of environmental sciences, which balance the needs of nature with those of agriculture, industry and other human intervention. Lakeland College’s new Range Team embraces that need for a diverse approach, and that’s what helped propel them to success as they participated in the Undergraduate Range Management Exam in Spokane, Wash., for the first time.

Michiko Tsuyuki, a second-year student in Lakeland’s environmental sciences program majoring in wildlife and fisheries conservation, was excited to join the Range Team in its first year.

“Range management is a really broad concept,” she explains. “It includes everything from how many cows you graze on a piece of land to how you prevent fish loss. It involves aspects of climate change as well as animal husbandry. On the team, we want to learn as much as we can about sustainable rangeland management.”

Trinity Long, a student in the bachelor of applied science: environmental management (BASEM) program, was drawn to the range team specifically because of her prairie upbringing.

“Growing up on a farm, I was outside all the time,” she says. “The prairies are pretty impacted by climate change and land-use change, especially in Canada. It’s incredibly important and I’m from the prairies so it’s close to my heart.”

For the first part of the academic year, the Range Team focused on brushing up on their knowledge of range management and fundraising for the main event – a trip to Society of Range Management Annual Meeting to participate in the Undergraduate Range Management Exam.

“The test is a friendly competition between universities and colleges in North America,” Tsuyuki says. “It’s a matter of pride to see who’s the best at range management.”

She explains the exam is a long multiple-choice one, covering topics from identifying various biomes to intricate grazing calculations.

That’s where the diverse nature of the Range Team really came in handy. The team is made up of seven members from a variety of programs. That breadth of knowledge really helped when preparing for the exam.

“The Range Team is one of the more diverse clubs that I’m a part of,” Tsuyuki says. “We have some people who are strictly agricultural sciences, some who are taking ag sustainability, and others in environmental sciences. Talking to the other team members and seeing the different things they are learning about range management, it’s so different from what I learned. It’s really nice to have that sort of cross-disciplinary club so you can cover each other’s blind spots and learn from each other.”

The Lakeland team placed ninth out of 23.

“Ninth out of 23 was pretty impressive for our first year, especially considering we had probably one of the smaller teams there,” says Long. “We were all really impressed with how well we did and we definitely came out of it with more direction for what we need to study for next year.”

“We were up there with some teams who are actually taking a Range Management class rather than just in a club during their spare time,” Tsuyuki adds. “They had way more time to study than we did and instructors who had run the course. Being in the middle of the pack is so good for our first year.”

There was also a plant ID competition. Four team members participated in the learning exam, where they got to experience what the exam was like without actually competing for the title. Long, however, decided to jump in and challenge it – placing in the top 50 per cent of over 100 students.

The exam was lengthy, with 110 stations. Students had one minute at each station to figure out what the plant at that station was, and some specimens were tiny. To complicate matters further, the plant names were in Latin, some weren’t native to Canada and some of the classification systems were different.

“When they mark the test, they stop marking once you’ve lost a certain amount of points, and you place based on how far you made it before they stop,” Long, who has a passion for plants and plans to pursue her masters in the subject after finishing her Lakeland studies, says. “I was pretty impressed to come in 43rd!”

Long will be returning to the Range Team next year, while completing her BASEM practicum requirement. She intends to spearhead the plant side of things and has high hopes for the team’s success next year.

Tsuyuki won’t be returning to the Range Team next year, intending to finish her studies at the University of Alberta.

“In high school, I had jobs in the forestry and wildlife industries and every professional I met said they went to Lakeland, work with people from Lakeland, or that the best graduates come from Lakeland,” she explains. “I heard about how field-ready Lakeland graduates were and I thought it would be the best of both worlds, with Lakeland’s transfer agreement with the U of A. Though I’m moving on to the U of A, I plan to join the range team there. I know Lakeland has some first-year students interested in joining the team now, and some current members will be returning, so maybe I’ll see the Lakeland team at the next conference!”

Just in time for some friendly competition.