UF’s Wildlife Society chapter earned seven individual arts awards at Clemson University during the Wildlife Society Conclave last weekend.
Nineteen UF students attended the event, where they participated in activities such as a knowledge-based team obstacle course, a quiz bowl, field trips, individual art project competitions and the opportunity to network with peers and researchers.
They received four first-place awards in the categories of photography, free-form art, trail camera photography and orienteering.
Team members also received two second-place awards for drawing and manipulative photography and a third-place painting award.
Hunter Slade, a 21-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation senior, and Tiffany Oliver, a 20-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation senior, coordinated the event for the UF team.
Slade’s pottery sculpture of a turtle received first place in free-form art.
“It was a pretty simple design, but it was painted well,” he said, attributing his success to his attention to lighting and detail in the glazing process.
The highlight of Oliver’s experience, she said, was a field trip that displayed nuisance-animal trapping methods and solutions.
“We got to watch a beaver dam blow up,” she said.
Justin VanGorder, a 26-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation senior, said he enjoyed participating because he was able to display his knowledge in animal tracking.
The team wore matching jorts and T-shirts during the team challenge event to mimic the stereotype placed on them by out-of-state students at last year’s conclave, Slade said.
“Other schools always make fun of Florida for our jorts and scooters,” he said. “We got a lot of looks, but it was just funny.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 3/28/2014 under the headline "UF wildlife club wins seven awards at Clemson University"]
