{"id":78380,"date":"2026-07-27T08:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=78380"},"modified":"2026-07-27T08:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:09:20","slug":"hat-ranch-summer-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/hat-ranch-summer-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Meanwhile, back at the ranch… science is in session"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of undergraduate students spent four weeks this summer at historic\u00a0<\/span>Hat Ranch<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>CEFNS 240<\/span><\/a>\u00a0field\u00a0course on interdisciplinary field methods invites students to design and conduct studies to better understand the Colorado Plateau\u00a0as they learn\u00a0practical skills in field research methodologies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Salvatore<\/span><\/b>, associate professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, said the course was developed in 2024 and\u00a0is\u00a0designed to give students a unique\u00a0place-based learning\u00a0experience\u00a0within\u00a0Coconino\u00a0National Forest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe landscape, the weather, the climate, the dirt, the grass, the bugs, everything in between\u2014this\u00a0experience is\u00a0unique,\u201d Salvatore said.\u00a0\u201cIt’s\u00a0not a typical classroom experience; students have this\u00a0great opportunity\u00a0to learn in a different setting, in a more professional and natural setting.\u00a0Students really learn the value of things like statistics here;\u00a0they see that the distribution of the trees is not random;\u00a0they develop a great understanding of these interdisciplinary and interconnected systems.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The course is designed for up to 24 students and is open to any major. Salvatore said\u00a0the class is focused more on the natural sciences,\u00a0but\u00a0students\u00a0with\u00a0majors such as art and English bring different perspectives and tools relevant to their disciplines, which helps everyone see the big picture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to see that every\u00a0discipline or field is connected to the next,\u201d Salvatore said. \u201cI want them to build lifelong partnerships and friendships with the students,\u00a0teachers\u00a0and instructors here as they learn valuable skills that will allow them to see the world in\u00a0a different way. This place provides\u00a0students\u00a0with openness and freedom.\u00a0The ability to wake up and go for an\u00a0hour-long\u00a0walk and\u00a0observe\u00a0the things that they just learned about in class yesterday is\u00a0unique, something the traditional classroom experience just\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0provide.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NAU Review talked to three students about their research at Hat Ranch.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/a>Elizabeth Lonsway<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Senior<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ecology and\u00a0evolutionary\u00a0biology<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m\u00a0looking at the composition of pollinator species that can be\u00a0observed\u00a0around the\u00a0Hat Ranch\u00a0house.\u00a0I’m\u00a0making these bee baths to\u00a0attract\u00a0the pollinators to one place so that\u00a0I can\u00a0observe\u00a0them.\u00a0I have been doing a lot of labs in\u00a0Flagstaff,\u00a0and it has been nice to see a different area and\u00a0live\u00a0with the students,\u00a0professors\u00a0and\u00a0TAs.\u00a0It is a great networking environment.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sookie<\/p>\n

Sookie Saccone<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Sophomore<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Biology\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am cataloging birds in two different sites at the ranch, by the cattle tank and\u00a0areas where you\u00a0can see\u00a0different types\u00a0of birds. I am using this app called Merlin that\u00a0identifies\u00a0them by sound,\u00a0and then I am doing\u00a0a visual\u00a0identification and\u00a0taking\u00a0pictures of all the types of seeds in the area. I have never done anything like this course before.\u00a0It has been great to learn about what is in front of you instead of being in a classroom and learning about it by seeing pictures.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Meaghan<\/a>Meaghan Dugas <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Senior<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Forestry<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am trying to see what moth species are out here. I have designed a bucket with ponderosa pine, Gambel\u00a0oak\u00a0and\u00a0alligator juniper\u00a0to\u00a0catch\u00a0the moths and see what species they are.\u00a0The bucket has egg cartons and a light to attract\u00a0them. They climb into the cartons for safety. I leave the buckets out for about an hour and come back to check\u00a0them out. I am neurodivergent,\u00a0so it is hard for me to visualize things without touching them. This type of class helps me learn with hands-on experiences.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are interested in supporting field-based learning opportunities at Hat Ranch and helping more students experience transformative programs like\u00a0<\/span>CEFNS<\/span><\/a>\u00a0240,\u00a0email\u00a0<\/span>Jill Stillwagon.<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of undergraduate students spent four weeks this summer at historic\u00a0Hat Ranch.\u00a0The\u00a0CEFNS 240\u00a0field\u00a0course on interdisciplinary field methods invites students to design and conduct studies to better understand the Colorado Plateau\u00a0as they learn\u00a0practical skills in field research methodologies.\u00a0 Mark Salvatore, associate professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, said the course was developed…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3019,"featured_media":78410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","category-student-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78380"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78411,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78380\/revisions\/78411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}