With my friend Michael Noonan, whose formal title is Peter Canisius distinguished teaching professor at Canisius College, I spent a recent morning observing his program for regional middle and high school students at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Leading the students would be eight of Noonan’s Canisius Ambassadors for Conservation college undergraduates: Nick Glabicky, Melissa Graham, Kyle Horton, Austin Milbrand, Adrienne Rothenberg, Brittany Rowan, Stephanie Schelble and Gary Steele.

No sooner had I met Noonan and the student leaders than two big yellow buses pulled into the parking lot loaded with eager students. One bus was from Our Lady of Black Rock Elementary School and the other from Frontier Central High School. They would be going on a hike around the Swallow Hollow Trail.

Off we all went to the trailhead parking lot on Knowlesville Road. There the students gathered into groups of six to eight and joined one of the leaders. Noonan and I followed Horton and his group of middle school students along the sanctuary boardwalk.

And here is where the long period of preparation for working with these kids became apparent. These leaders, carefully selected from many applicants based on ability, knowledge and demonstrated commitment to environmental education, had been involved for months in Noonan’s program preparing them for their work.

During the March college break, they went to British Columbia with Noonan to study the wildlife of the Pacific Coast. There, where they observed killer whales, sea lions and a wide range of bird life, they also gained identification skills and spent time discussing how to communicate the ecological understandings they were gaining to young children.

On their return to Buffalo, the group concentrated on the mile-long Swallow Hollow Trail. This recently completed trail, with its new boardwalks and gravel trails, serves as a perfect place to introduce students to our regional wildlands. It passes through a variety of ecological zones, including evergreen plantations, mixed-forest wetlands and marshes.

I found a number of aspects of the student tour fascinating. The leaders had carefully planned and designed “stations” along the route at which the leaders stopped to invite students to notice special characteristics of where they were. “Why do you suppose that tree has fallen?” asked Horton. “What do you think will happen to it?” The student responses led to further questions about insects and mushrooms associated with the dead wood.

I was impressed with the students. Yes, like all kids they tuned in and out, but all of them gained much from their experience. After the tour and a picnic lunch, they played raucous games that were not just fun but also reinforced what they had learned.

I salute Noonan and his team for this important contribution to regional environmental education. So far 5,900 students have participated. This is a small number compared to the 57,000 children and adults his other student leaders have similarly educated at the Buffalo Zoo, but both programs serve this community very well.