Elon's Center for Environmental Studies is hosting a Wildlife Tracking and Vertebrate Field Survey workshop that will be co-taught by Jim Halfpenny, a nationally-renowned wildlife tracker and carnivore ecologist from Montana, and Josh Kapfer of the departments of environmental studies and biology. The workshop starts Saturday, April 30 and ends Sunday, May 1.
At the workshop, Halfpenny will teach the basics of tracking mammals in the field, including species identification, reading trails to learn behavior and how to create track casts. Kapfer will instruct attendees in a variety of field methodologies to survey for vertebrates and the basics of radio telemetry equipment. The workshop will entail a significant field component, allowing participants to make use of the techniques learned.
Halfpenny is the president of A Naturalist’s World, an ecologically oriented company that provides educational programs, books, slide shows and videos about the natural history of North America. He has conducted research on many large North American carnivores, including wolves, cougars and bear. He has authored more than 20 books and numerous scientific publications. Some of his exploits were featured in The Beast In The Garden by David Barron.