MISSISSIPPI STATE – Students interested in the diverse world of natural resources, science and conservation can take advantage of four camps offered this summer by Mississippi State University.

The Natural Resources Summer Camp will be held June 5-9 at MSU. The $190 fee covers lodging, meals and all activities. Campers will spend time on campus, at Dorman and Choctaw lakes and the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge. This camp is open to those entering ninth grade or older or who have recently graduated from high school.

Among the activities and topics included are amphibians, reptiles and birds; canoeing; career options; conservation management and law enforcement; deer dissection; ducks and retrievers; paper and plywood manufacturing; soil erosion simulation; water quality testing; and wetland, forest and wildlife habitat management. This camp is offered by MSU’s College of Forest Resources and the MSU Extension Service.

To register, visit http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/summer_camp. Contact Leslie Burger at (662) 325-6686 or lburger@cfr.msstate.edu for more information.

Three other camps offered this summer are intergenerational conservation camps.

The popular Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Camp will be offered twice, June 12-16 and again June 26-30. Activities and topics at this camp may include archery and bow fishing; boater safety and hunter education; deer necropsy, edible wild plants; scuba diving; rifle and shotgun shooting; river ecology and fish trapping; seining and electro-fishing; skulls, horns and antlers; tomahawks; and tracking and radio telemetry.

The Basic Insect and Plant Ecology Camp will be held June 19-23 at MSU. Planned activities and topics include carnivorous plants; insect collecting; edible plants and insects; forensic and medical entomology; pest insects; and plant ecology.

Each of these latter three camps is being offered by MSU’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and the MSU Extension Service. These camps cost $350 per person and are open to youth and adults. The fee covers meals, lodging and all activities.

For more information on these three camps, contact Laura Andrews at landrews@cfr.msstate.edu or (662) 325-6694. Register online at http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/wildlife/conservation_camp/.

Acceptance to any of the camps is on a first-come, first-served basis, so camp organizers recommend that those interested apply as soon as possible to reserve a spot. Limited scholarships are available to those with demonstrated financial need.30