http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS Thursday, August 1, 2024 43
BY KATIE GERVASI
Michigan DNR
As part of their mission to protect the
state’s natural and cultural resources,
the environment and the health and
safety of the public through effec-
tive law enforcement and education,
Michigan Department of Natural
Resources conservation officers have
found innovative ways to deliver
science-based education.
It started during the 1940s, when
the DNR, then called the Michigan
Department of Conservation, hosted
higher education students at the Ralph
A. MacMullan Conference Center in
Roscommon.
For nearly 50 years, six Michigan
universities sent students there to learn
about conserving Michigan’s forestry,
fish and wildlife resources.
The program was eventually phased
out, but a new initiative was launched
in 2008 called the Academy of Natural
Resources – training for educators
to learn ways to incorporate natural
resources into the classroom.
During the weeklong training, edu-
cators lodge at the RAM Center and
spend each day learning about natural
resources and the laws that protect and
preserve them for future generations.
“The natural resources have a great
connection to science, technology,
engineering and math,” said Kevin
Frailey, education services manager
with the DNR. “Fisheries, wildlife,
forestry, law – these all apply STEM
concepts.”
Since 2008, more than 500 educators
have attended the academy.
On law enforcement day during the
training, educators have the opportu-
nity to become a conservation officer
(CO) for a day to investigate a fish and
wildlife crime.
Jon Gray, a retired eighth grade sci-
Juniors and seniors in a forensic science class at Portage Central High School
learned about personal protective equipment and how to collect tissue,
blood and hair samples from a deer that was struck by a car the previous
day. (Photo courtesy of Portage Public Schools)DNR officers teach wildlife crime scene investigation techniques
the premises and interview suspects,
with COs outfitted and acting as the
game violators.
The student COs pick their evi-
dence, document it, then return to the
classroom to apply the claim evidence
reasoning theory for an affidavit to
present to the magistrate to request an
arrest warrant.
“Our goal is to provide teachers a
creative and unique way to apply the
CER theory in the classroom, using
real life skills,” Papineau said. “The
day ends with a teacher presenting
their case in a mock courtroom setting
to a CO acting in the role of a judge.”
The day is a hit, and academy orga-
nizers are looking for ways to expand
the highly rated program to more edu-
cators.
“People are fascinated with crime,”
Frailey said. “There are millions of
crime shows, documentaries and inves-
tigation techniques. At the same time,
people are fascinated with wildlife.
There’s a link with teachers who see
how they can use the fascination of
crime and wildlife and apply it in the
classroom.”
With an existing DNR presence
at the Michigan Science Teachers
Association annual event in Lansing,
the event was the perfect opportunity
to host a wildlife crime scene.
In 2023, COs set up their first wild-
life crime scene in a 40-square-foot
indoor space.
“We created a self-guided tour where
teachers received a handout with
information to conduct an investiga-
tion,” Papineau said. “They’re a CO on
patrol and dispatched to a trespassing
complaint where a landowner wit-
nesses a violation.”
Papineau added, “The teacher then
walks around an 8-foot-by-8-footence teacher and police officer, was
operating a program similar to the
DNR’s academy, through the Safari
Club International Novi Chapter.
Gray teamed up with the Academy
of Natural Resources coordinators as
an SCI representative and sponsor, and
eventually became involved in acad-
emy programming.
“Combining my classroom experi-
ence as a science teacher with the
experience of the conservation officers,
we tied it to scientific standards and
principles,” Gray said.
DNR Sgt. Mark Papineau also talked
about tying together concepts educa-
tors are teaching with the DNR’s law
enforcement work.
“We looked at school curriculums
and compared them to how we use
the claim evidence reasoning theory,”Papineau said.
Educators become the students and
learn about the history of COs, who
they are and what they do.
“We teach them essential functions,
including field observations, with
objects that COs look for every day- essentially, training your eyes and
brains to look for different things that
aren’t common in nature, especially in
the fall,” Papineau said.
Following the classroom portion of
the academy training, educators are
split into groups, where they become
conservation officers and receive a
mock complaint from the DNR’s
Report All Poaching hotline.
Upon arriving at one of two scenes - either a fishing violation along the
shores of Higgins Lake or a deer viola-
tion in the woods – educators secure
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