Member Feature: Carol Andrews

Carol Andrews has been an instructor in the School of Environment and Geomatics (formerly Renewable Resources) at Selkirk College for about seven years.  She is a Registered Professional Forester (RPF) and worked as a private consultant for close to 20 years before joining Selkirk College.  Her educational background includes and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Bachelor of Science in Forestry, and a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Carol has been involved in environmental education for many years both as a consultant for environmental curriculum at the elementary level and as a guest speaker and guide on various field trips for local primary and secondary schools.  Working with older students at Selkirk College has been a wonderfully rewarding experience and Carol is encouraged by the deep commitment to the environment that her students demonstrate.

“The students that enter our program are students that love the outdoors.  They come from many different social backgrounds and from all over Canada.  We currently have students from Italy and Germany, and they are in awe of the spectacular natural environment of the Columbia Basin.  Our classes are made up of about 50 percent field work, and that field work takes place right out our backdoor, including a 600-hectare Woodlot managed by the College, the Skattebo Educational Forest (a 285-hectare private land area also managed by the College), and abundant public lands in close proximity to our school. Selkirk College offers 3 diploma program options for students: Forest Technology, , Integrated Environmental Planning, and Recreation Fish And Wildlife.  We also offer an Advanced Diploma in GIS and a Bachelor of GIS.”

Experience Selkirk is one of the College’s major recruitment initiatives that we hold every Spring at the Castlegar and Nelson campuses. During this event, high school students from throughout the region are invited to get a taste of what we have to offer in terms of our courses and programs. The date for Experience Selkirk this coming year will be May 17, 2012.

The School of Environment and Geomatics will be offering innovative workshops designed to appeal to this particular cohort of students (mostly grade 10 level), and encourages all students with an interest in our programs to check this out or simply go to www.selkirk.ca and see what Selkirk College has to offer in the way of environmental education.