Farms, forests and fish: Agricultural Science & Conservation Law Enforcement

In this episode, we will find out the details of the Agricultural Science program and the Conservation Law Enforcement program at Athens Tech. 

 

Achieve More with Athens Tech, the official podcast of Athens Technical College.

A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia. Equal Opportunity Institution.

 

Welcome to Achieve More with Athens Tech, the official podcast of Athens Technical College. This is where you'll discover how the programs at Athens Tech can connect you with in-demand and high paying careers. Today, we're going to hear about the agricultural science program.

Because of Athens tech. I am happier and healthier than I have been in a long time.

As well as the Conservation Law Enforcement Program.

Our instructors bring a wealth of experience and a lot of really good networking opportunities, especially with our other instructor.

Let's begin by hearing what a student has to say about the agricultural science program at Athens Tech.

So my name's William Taylor Johnson. I go back to England, been studying poultry production and in agricultural science, Athens tech. And I'm currently working in the industry. And, you know, I've been in this for less than two years now. And what you know, I've been I've really did it so that I could really expand my knowledge as well as, you know, find something that kept me active in life. You know, it's a farm, or at least the industry itself is very active. So if you try to find something that that helps, you know, help you feel good about yourself. And that's where I ended up with the poultry side of things. So it's it's worked out quite well, actually.

Not every path to the program is the same. Taylor took a journey to get where he is.

Short, short and long of it. I was in the military. I joined when I was in my early twenties when I got out. You know, I was trying to find jobs, trying to find, you know, you know, come back to civilian life. And then I ended up at Athens Tech simply because I wanted to change up my career a little bit. Coming from the maintenance side of things. So I wanted to get in something again, more active for, you know, just to keep my life now a bit more interesting. But I ended up having. You go into Athens Tech. Simply because it was close to home, close to everything I wanted to do. And it offered. You know, small, selective, I shouldn't say selective, but small, smaller class sizes so that I could get more individual learning. And and that really, really drew me in right there was having the idea that there were going to be more individual learning.

So from the classroom to the field, the agricultural science program prepare students for the job.

I've I've actually worked in a in the industry style so I've worked on production side as well as breeders in the poultry industry. What what I found quite amazing was both sides of it. I've used all, if not everything that, you know, some, if not everything of what they have taught me in the classes. So agriculture is a very hands on, you know, field. We you you have to be there, you know, to get some of that experience. It's some things you just don't catch so simply off of a of a PowerPoint. So it, it came in handy to have that hands on experience and then go into the industry. And I was able to use that experience that I got there from Athens Tech. And this courses.

As Abbie will tell you, agricultural science can take you to places you might not expect that.

My name is Abbey Baker. I went through the Agriculture Science Program at Athens Tech. I was in the program from August of 2020 until I just finished. I am now was the I worked through the program as a legal secretary, and I'm doing that full time now. Also, the Hart County chair for the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. And I've been doing that for almost a year now. I'm always kind of in

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:00):
Welcome to achieve more with Athens Tech, the official podcasts
of Athens Technical College. This is where you'll discover how
the programs at Athens Tech can connect you with in-demand
and high paying careers. Today, we're going to hear about
the agricultural science program.

S2 (00:16):
Because of Athens tech. I am happier and healthier than
I have been in a long time.

S1 (00:21):
As well as the Conservation Law Enforcement Program.

S3 (00:24):
Our instructors bring a wealth of experience and a lot
of really good networking opportunities, especially with our other instructor.

S1 (00:33):
Let's begin by hearing what a student has to say
about the agricultural science program at Athens Tech.

S2 (00:40):
So my name's William Taylor Johnson. I go back to England,
been studying poultry production and in agricultural science, Athens tech.
And I'm currently working in the industry. And, you know,
I've been in this for less than two years now.

(01:03):
And what you know, I've been I've really did it
so that I could really expand my knowledge as well as,
you know, find something that kept me active in life.
You know, it's a farm, or at least the industry
itself is very active. So if you try to find

(01:23):
something that that helps, you know, help you feel good
about yourself. And that's where I ended up with the
poultry side of things. So it's it's worked out quite well, actually.

S1 (01:38):
Not every path to the program is the same. Taylor
took a journey to get where he is.

S2 (01:44):
Short, short and long of it. I was in the military.
I joined when I was in my early twenties when
I got out. You know, I was trying to find jobs,
trying to find, you know, you know, come back to
civilian life. And then I ended up at Athens Tech

(02:08):
simply because I wanted to change up my career a
little bit. Coming from the maintenance side of things. So
I wanted to get in something again, more active for,
you know, just to keep my life now a bit
more interesting. But I ended up having. You go into

(02:31):
Athens Tech. Simply because it was close to home, close
to everything I wanted to do. And it offered. You know, small, selective,
I shouldn't say selective, but small, smaller class sizes so
that I could get more individual learning. And and that really,
really drew me in right there was having the idea

(02:55):
that there were going to be more individual learning.

S1 (02:58):
So from the classroom to the field, the agricultural science
program prepare students for the job.

S2 (03:06):
I've I've actually worked in a in the industry style
so I've worked on production side as well as breeders
in the poultry industry. What what I found quite amazing
was both sides of it. I've used all, if not
everything that, you know, some, if not everything of what

(03:28):
they have taught me in the classes. So agriculture is
a very hands on, you know, field. We you you
have to be there, you know, to get some of
that experience. It's some things you just don't catch so
simply off of a of a PowerPoint. So it, it

(03:49):
came in handy to have that hands on experience and
then go into the industry. And I was able to
use that experience that I got there from Athens Tech.
And this courses.

S1 (04:02):
As Abbie will tell you, agricultural science can take you
to places you might not expect that.

S4 (04:09):
My name is Abbey Baker. I went through the Agriculture
Science Program at Athens Tech. I was in the program
from August of 2020 until I just finished. I am
now was the I worked through the program as a

(04:29):
legal secretary, and I'm doing that full time now. Also,
the Hart County chair for the Soil and Water Conservation Commission.
And I've been doing that for almost a year now.
I'm always kind of in a save the Earth type person,
and I felt like getting into something with agriculture, especially

(04:53):
like I have, I got the ornamental horticultural production certificate
with mine. So things to do with the plants. I
love to be around plants. I looked into doing things
like hemp farming after I graduated. So anything that just
brought me closer to nature I thought was a good idea.

(05:13):
So I felt like agriculture science was a great way
to put myself back into that. So the first agriculture
class I took was Intro to Agriculture. And I remember
when I spoke with Dr. Morgan about it, he said,
If you took an intro to agriculture class in high school,
it's pretty much the same thing just on a college level.

(05:35):
So I went in very happy about that with the
description he gave me, and I think it was a
perfect description because it was just a very good introduction
to everything that you're going to learn, because in that
class you'll learn about plants and soil and water and
different kinds of animals and their digests, digestive systems and

(05:57):
other things like that. And then the next class that really,
really stuck out in my mind was our agronomy course,
which I'm not sure if everyone is required to take it,
but I know I had to. And it focuses more
on the sciences and soil and water and. Plant science

(06:20):
type things and why you would feed certain types of animals,
certain types of plants and things like that. And that
was my favorite class I think I've ever taken. And
then we also something else that sticks out in my
mind is that we take several business classes that are
required to graduate. And I feel like, you know, is

(06:41):
someone who with a degree will probably hold a managerial
position at some point. Those classes are very, very helpful.

S1 (06:50):
Gabe would probably agree.

S2 (06:53):
So my name's Gabe Carver, finished the program in 2019,
I think it was. There might have been 18, it
was somewhere around there. But anyway, after I graduated there,
I got a job at Jackson County Agricultural Facility with
David Burton. He was a adjunct instructor there for the program,

(07:14):
so he was kind of my professor. And then he
hired me right out of the box to come work
with him. I was just kind of laying out my options.
I didn't know if I wanted to, you know, go
ahead and jump right into a whole four year school.
Because I was working at the time and I really
didn't want to get into a bunch of student debt.
And I heard that Athens Tech had just started up

(07:35):
an agriculture program. So I went down there and I
talked to Dr. Morgan and we just kind of sat
there and kind of weighed out my options and figured
that would be a good way for me to transfer
until I figured out exactly what I wanted to do.
I learned a heck of a lot of stuff from Dr.
Morgan and Dr. Burton. I feel like if I were

(07:55):
to win anywhere else, I wouldn't have learned a lot
of the content and plot lessons that I would have
learned somewhere else. You know.

S1 (08:03):
We've heard from a student and graduates. Let's let the
program chair take a deeper dive into the agricultural science program.
My name is Chris Morgan.

S2 (08:13):
I'm the program chair for Agricultural Science at Athens Technical College.
I've got a background in agricultural education, agriculture and agriculture
in general. My first degree in horticulture, and I have
subsequent degrees in agricultural education. I've been at Athens Technical
College since 2014. There was no program here at the
time regarding agriculture. And so I started it from the

(08:38):
ground up, developed several courses that are in use now,
and in fact they're in use at other colleges as well.
So agricultural science encompasses a lot of things. Our focus
at our at the program is poultry science, animal science
and horticulture. And the reason we focus on those three

(08:58):
aspects of agricultural sciences, because those are the three focuses
in this general area. All the technical colleges have to
prepare students for jobs in their service area. And our
service area is an 11 county service area in northeast Georgia.
And those are the agricultural industries that are most predominant

(09:19):
in that area or in our area.

S4 (09:21):
So all the courses.

S2 (09:23):
Are taught face to face, although currently we're going through
a transition because we're moving into our new campus in Alberta,
in Georgia, and which will start teaching classes full time
there in the fall. So although most of our classes
are face to face, we're also offering the lecture component
online and I expect to continue to do that into

(09:45):
the future in an effort to try to meet the
needs of some of our students that have a longer
commute to Alberta than maybe to the local county people
within our program. We have we have a strong emphasis
on business, and then we ask the students to choose
one of the tracks. So let me just try to
explain what we have here. They associates of science and

(10:10):
agricultural science degree includes several general education courses like math, English,
a science, chemistry or biology. And then we also have
several courses that are agricultural agriculturally related. So that includes

(10:30):
what we call our agricultural core courses, which we have
six courses that are included there, including Introduction to Agriculture
and several business courses, leadership management, finance, because we expect
our students to be leaders and to be in a
management position. You know, I don't I'm not training students
to be laborers. I mean, obviously, labor may be part

(10:51):
of it, but that's not what I'm training students to do.

S1 (10:55):
What's wonderful about Athens tech is the number of programs
they can offer you. Let's hear from Mark McKinnon to
begin to learn about the conservation law enforcement program.

S2 (11:05):
Okay. My name is Mark McKinnon. I am the public
affairs officer for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law
Enforcement Division. And what I do is, is I assist
the game wardens in handling media relations and in dealing
with the public. Also, I teach at the Academy of
that exact thing and also I help them in the

(11:28):
field when they need help with those promotional type things
or their trade shows. And I spend a lot of
time with them. And so I know a lot about
what they do. And and I promote, you know, what
they do because they do great work. And and that's important.
And I think people need to know the great work
that they do. I think a lot of people think

(11:50):
that a game warden goes out and does nothing but
fishing license and hunting licenses all the time. But they
do way more than that for their communities and for
the state in general. And that's what that's the message
I'm trying to get out there, because I think it's
important for the taxpaying public to know where their dollars
are going for for Georgia game wardens and the great

(12:12):
work they do here. Here are a few things that
the game wardens do, and I will not be able
to tell you everything they do. That is just so
much fun. But their primary responsibilities are enforcing hunting laws,
enforcing fishing laws, and also enforcing boating laws. And then
they they as an extra thing they do all the

(12:35):
time is providing public safety. They are peace officers, just
like a state patrol officer or a deputy sheriff. They
are all peace officers. They have full arrest powers. And
so they enforce the laws. They can enforce any law.
But their primary responsibility is fish. Fish and game laws

(12:58):
and boating enforcement.

S1 (13:01):
So, Mark, what are some qualities that make a great
game warden.

S2 (13:06):
A good candidate for a conservation law enforcement professional would
be someone certainly who enjoys being outdoors. It's not someone
who wants to be behind a desk. It's not someone
who wants the same routine every day. You've got to
be very flexible because there are such a wide variety

(13:27):
of duties that you may be called to do. And so,
you know, every day doesn't look the same. And you've
got to have someone who can who can move with
that and who can it can do that without having
a problem. You know, a lot of people need real
strict structure as far as their everyday duties. That's not
the case here. One day you might be on the

(13:48):
water in a boat doing boating enforcement. The next day
you might be in court testifying in a case that
you were involved in enforcing the law. And so, you know,
it's back and forth. A lot of flexibility, a flexible schedule.
You know, sometimes you may have to work at night,
you may have to go out and do a night

(14:08):
hunting detail. You know, it's against the law to hunt
deer at night in Georgia, and sometimes they have to
go out and enforce those things. So that's the type
of person it is. But, you know, and you've got
to be very a person who can talk to people
very easily because you're going to talk to a lot
of people every single day. And and, of course, we

(14:29):
want people who have good character. We, of course, can't
accept people who who have been convicted felons. You know,
those that's a problem. You know, obviously. So someone who's
looking to get into this program, you know, those are
the things they need to prepare their lives a little earlier,
you know, to get the education, which, of course, is

(14:50):
what Athens, Turkey is is providing. If someone wants to
jump in there, it's great program and. So that's that's
kind of the way you prepare yourself. But it is
it's got to be someone who's flexible and who who
enjoys being with people. And also, keep in mind, you know,
it is a law enforcement job. You know, law enforcement

(15:13):
is not for everyone. And so it needs to be
someone who wants to be in the law enforcement community
and wants to to provide law enforcement. And so that
that's the type of person.

S1 (15:26):
To round out our conservation law enforcement program conversation. Let's
bring in the program chair.

S3 (15:33):
So my name is Lexi Goodman. I am the program
chair of the Conservation Law Enforcement Associate Degree Program here,
Athens TEC. I graduated from UGA in 2018 with a
wildlife biology degree, and then I went to the vet
school at Tufts University and got my master's degree there

(15:58):
and decided that I wanted to work in a technical
community college setting, teaching wildlife biology. And so then I
ended up here I was interested in wildlife biology in general, really? Really.
So my dad started taking me fishing where I pretty

(16:18):
much could walk. And so I've been interested since then.
And I think that we have a lot of complicated
or complex conservation issues right now climate change, habitat fragmentation,
you know, environmental justice issues, inequity issues in the environmental field.

(16:43):
And so I think that those really complicated and complex
issues are what drives me to, you know, and. You know,
increase the field or increase the expertise in our field
and kind of pursue the. Complex issues, too. That's complex questions,

(17:06):
I guess. Our program is a interdisciplinary program with a
combination of classes from our criminal justice program or the
Criminal Justice Department, and some new courses in Fish and
Wildlife Management. And so our program aims to give the

(17:29):
future conservation officers and game wardens in Georgia a well-rounded
education so they get a background in criminal justice and
Fish and Wildlife Management. The people who go through the program,
the goal is to start them in a game warden

(17:50):
or Conservation Law Enforcement Training Academy. But if that for
some reason doesn't work out, or if that isn't what
they decide to do, hopefully we're getting to where our
courses will transfer to a four year university. So that's
one of my goals for the program. Or they could

(18:11):
go on to do a number of things with their
associate's degree so they could do some technician type jobs
in conservation biology or something like that. A lot of
our courses are they have a lecture component and then
they have a hands on laboratory or field work component.

(18:34):
And those are obviously my favorite things to teach. We
spend at least one day outside every week doing something.
For example, this week we'll be putting out some game
cameras on the Alberton campus to see what wildlife we
have on campus and use those as a tool for

(18:56):
our students to learn how to process, gain camera photos,
and as an outreach tool to show the other members
of campus kind of what wildlife we're co-existing with here.

S1 (19:11):
So finally, who should go into the conservation law enforcement program?

S3 (19:16):
I think that just because of the nature of the
job itself, so going out and you're doing a lot
of your a lot of your even your police work,
essentially it's police work. If you're a game warden, you're
doing it usually in a kind of rural setting or

(19:38):
in an outdoor setting. A lot of the stuff that
they do is besides, you know, enforcing conservation laws and
natural resource laws is doing like rescues and recoveries and
things like that. Working on our beautiful bodies of water

(20:00):
that we have in Georgia. And so if you don't
enjoy being outside too much, I don't know if this
would be the best thing for you. But, you know,
you never know.

S1 (20:17):
You might be considering taking on the agricultural science program
or perhaps conservation law enforcement sounds more interesting. The fact is,
no matter which program you choose, Athens Technical College will
prepare you for future success. Thanks for listening. To achieve
more with Athens Tech, the official podcasts of Athens Technical College.
For more information, visit Athens Text Edu.