Nature more comfortable place to be for student
Beyond Lee College, Emily Blumentritt plans to study wildlife biology.
“I’ve always really loved nature, and especially animals. That’s been a fascination for me. My dad goes canoeing and he likes the outdoors. So I was exposed to that, even if it was just a little bit at a time. And we had pets growing up. I loved our cats. I loved seeing animals at the zoo. To be honest, I’m not always that great with people. But I feel really comfortable being outside, being in nature.
“I’d really like to do research because I love learning more about animals and how they interact with each other and with the environment. I like wild animals because they’re connected to all of these systems that are so interesting to me. I’d love to contribute to scientific knowledge about wild animals, and I’d love to maybe even do something that would help preserve habitats for them or help preserve the environment for people.
“I became a Texas Master Naturalist during my first semester of college. Going through that program really expanded my knowledge of what was going on locally and connected me to so many other people who are passionate about nature. So I’ve been doing a lot more volunteering since then.
“There’s a project in Clear Lake called Exploration Green. It’s revamping an old abandoned golf course to become a park and nature conservancy. I’ve been working a lot with that. Every once in a while they have tree plantings and wetlands plantings. I also help with prairie plantings and prairie tours, and I go on Christmas bird counts where we collect data. It’s really opened my eyes to a lot that’s going on here with local environmental issues.
“On the Christmas bird count in Clear Lake, we were touring new urban development in that area. We passed what seemed like mile after mile of new neighborhoods and new shopping malls coming up. They pointed to one house in a new neighborhood and said, ‘This is the last place we saw sandhill cranes in Clear Lake. They’ll fly over, but they don’t stop anymore.’ That’s kind of startling.”
— Emily Blumentritt
In her spare time, Emily enjoys writing and painting. Check out some of her artwork.
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