Several St. Andrew’s-Sewanee students and two teachers recently enjoyed an educational trip to Yellowstone National Park where they participated in a research project.

SAS Academic Dean and science teacher Kelley Black and mathematics teacher Margot Burns traveled to Yellowstone National Park with 13 students in early June for a nine-day Wildlife Ecology Program with the Missoula, Montana-based organization Ecology Project International.

The group engaged in several field-science studies including collecting fecal samples from collared female bison for the Yellowstone bison team, conducting bear-safety surveys for Yellowstone park officials and collecting data on an amphibian presence in Custer Gallatin National Forest’s Casey Lake for the National Forest Service.

The main research focus was Yellowstone’s approximately 5,000 strong bison herd. Students used telemetry to track collared female bison in the park and then waited patiently to collect fecal samples, which are analyzed to determine which grasses and other flora bison graze and their nutritional content.

The research conducted by SAS students helps park biologists better understand the impact of bison on the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and informs management, conservation and preservation policies.

“Each day in Yellowstone National Park offered its own delights, whether working among herds of massive adult bison and adorable red dogs, the name given to bison calves, spotting wildlife, including 21 bears, on scenic drives through the park, or trekking on foot off the beaten path,” Black said.

Hikes in the Hellroaring Creek, Beaver Ponds, and Trout Lake areas provided expansive mountain vistas, tumbling water and sage and wildflower meadows as well as sightings of elk, mule deer, coyote, pronghorn antelope, marmots, muskrats, otters, osprey, hawks and cutthroat trout. The group ventured into the park in the predawn hours for wolf-watching in the Lamar Valley.

“Through scopes, the group was fortunate to spy two collared grey wolves on the move under Specimen Ridge and to hear some amazing stories on Yellowstone’s most famous wolves from wolf expert, advocate and author Rick McIntyre,” Burns said. “A trip to Norris Geyser Basin introduced us to Yellowstone’s amazing geothermal features — the bubbling, spewing, gurgling, steaming landscape quickly reminds one of Yellowstone’s origins as a super volcano.”

Home base at the Eagle Creek Campground in the mountains above Gardiner offered views of Electric, Sepulcher, and Bunsen Peaks as well as the travertine terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.

As a completely unplugged experience for the students, time at the campsite was spent cooking together, exploring the surrounding hills and streams, playing cards and games, reading books and enjoying connecting with one another.

“Rafting the picturesque class 3+ Yellowstone River was a fitting celebration on the final day of the adventure,” Black said.

This trip marked the third SAS student group to travel to Yellowstone. Research conducted in 2016 and 2018 by SAS students contributed to the National Park Service’s 10-year study of bison migration, which was published in 2020 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

SAS students have also participated in research projects on leatherback sea turtles in Costa Rica in 2017 and marine invertebrates in the Sea of Cortez in 2019.

“The Yellowstone field-science program gives students the opportunity to connect authentically with bison and other animals in America’s first national park,” Black said. “Knowing that their research matters … that the data they collect is actually being used to inform policy to protect and preserve this amazing landscape and its organisms is so rewarding. I love being able to provide this experience to our students.”