Les M. Lynn, Biology Discipline, Bergen Community College, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ 07652, USA

A three credit college-level wolf study course has been taught by Bergen Community College (BCC), Paramus, New Jersey, in conjunction with the International Wolf Center (IWC) in Ely, Minnesota, for the past four years and has been an unqualified success.

Students receive a traditional college-level science course in an untraditional setting-the IWC. Lectures are presented during the morning sessions and laboratory/field experiences in the afternoon and evening sessions. For the past two years, students from schools throughout North America have participated by coming to Ely.

Students participate in aerial and ground telemetry, wolf necropsies, snowshoeing in wolf country, examinations of kill sites and abandoned dens, howling for wolves as well as observations of the captive pack at the IWC. They have attended the delisting hearing held in Ely and seminars presented by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Students enroll in the course for a variety of reasons. While they all have keen interests in wolves in general, two-year college students enroll to get a better focus on their career goals. Juniors and seniors from schools other than BCC enroll to experience a course dealing with a single species, include the course in their resumes and further their career aspirations. Many students enroll simply to experience something they would not normally be exposed to.

Bergen Community College students have, after taking the course, transferred to local four-year institutions as well as out-of-state schools. One was accepted to the State University of New York's School of Environmental Science and Forestry. Others have transferred to the University of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania State University and others. One student moved to Ely as a result of taking the course. Some simply, after experiencing the North Woods, went back to business as usual. All of them will be able to look back fondly on this course and have that experience for the rest of their lives.

Four-year students come away with with a better understanding of wolves, decide to pursue wildlife ecology at their respective schools as well as graduate schools. One student, from the University of Saskatchewan, received an internship studying wolves in Banff National Park. Others received internships studying other organisms and still another, became a seasonal forest ranger in Montana. This course has changed many lives. It has brought into focus the career aspirations of students and in itself is unique in its scope and presentation.