Tracking Wolves with an All-Terrain Wheelchair

posted on Jan 24 by Roseanne in the Disability News, Technology, Wheelchair Accessibility, Wheelchair Technology category

On a glacial ridge overlooking 1,400 acres of forest and wetlands of Treehaven in Tomohawk, WI, Meg Lynch and several other University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students are out and about in the snow-covered forest, learning to identify and preserve wolf tracks. In the past, Meg would likely not have been able to participate in the field study portion of her biology program. But a grant has made possible the purchase of a new, all-terrain wheelchair with four-wheel drive that easily tackles the brush and snow.

“I’m grateful to have this chair, because I wouldn’t be here without this chair,” stated Meg, who playfully calls herself “Megatron” when she is in the all-terrain wheelchair. In the past, Meg had to rely on walkers and wheelchairs that just could not handle the field and forest requirements of her biology program.

UW-Whitewater is proud of being accessible to all students. Last year an annual two-week field trip to Yellowstone National Park included several wheelchair users. Whitewater faculty and staff utilized portable walkways and other adaptive equipment so the students could participate outside with their fellow students.

In Treehaven, the class is learning how to track and account for wolves in their natural environment. Wolf expert Dr. Jim Halfpenny is assisting Professor Dr. George Clokey in giving the students an extraordinary opportunity to learn valuable field techniques. Dr. Halfpenny specializes in this type of work, and came from Yellowstone to help with the project.

After the training, the students will be helping the Department of Natural Resources with a wolf survey in Cable, WI to determine how many wolves there are in the state. “It’s certainly nice to have a young bunch of students from the university working on these. As we do go forward to delisting wolves, we know we’ll have a cadre of trained people out there,” added Halfpenny.

Meg is not quite sure she will pursue fieldwork post-graduation, but she is looking forward to reviving her “Megatron” role as she heads to Yellowstone for a similar ecology course this summer.

Source:
wjfw.com/stories.html?sku=20120104222342

Image sources:
wjfw.com
ylwstone.com