THE MAGAZINE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE UNIVERSITY spring 2013

Monadnock Institute of Nature, Place & CultureJennifer Bell ’13 writes about her work with the Institute:Jennifer Bell '13 maps the Gates Farm Trail.uring my junior year (2011-2012)at Franklin Pierce, I worked on aproject with the Monadnock Instituteof Nature, Place & Culture designed toencourage students to get outside andto promote environmental educationand sustainability. The campus trails onFranklin Pierce’s 1,200-acre, ecologicallydiverse property provide ideal opportunitiesfor students to learn about succession,New England history, phenology, wetlands,and wildlife, as well as opportunitiesfor fun and relaxation.Because many old cross-country ski trails,carriage roads, and logging trails crisscrosscampus woods, I recognized that a detailedmap would be important for safety and sothat more students could enjoy these trailswithout the fear of getting lost. Using ahandheld GPS unit, I walked the markedroutes of the Serenity Trail, Gates FarmTrail, Place Trail, and newly developedPond Trail. After transferring the GPSpoints into GIS map layers for ease ofaccessibility and adaptability, I transposedmy data onto an aerial photograph of thecampus property.As a final step in the process, the Universityinvested in a kiosk, which features the mapas well as grab-and-go trail brochures thatinclude the map, trail descriptions, andsafety information.As president of the Ecology Club, I havebeen inviting the campus on weekly trailwalks, where students share knowledgeabout our environment, look for animalsigns, identify plants, exercise, and have fun!I plan to graduate from Franklin Piercethis spring with degrees in EnvironmentalScience and Chemistry, and hope to builda career studying ecology. After graduation,I am scheduled to attend graduateschool to study wetland ecology.www.franklinpierce.edu 17