November Chapter Meeting, Nov. 19, 6:30 Speckled Trout B&B

Post date: Nov 08, 2014 12:47:49 AM

The SVTU November chapter meeting will be held on November 19th at 6:30 at the Speckled

Trout Bed & Breakfast, 607 Oak Ave., Waynesboro. Use the side entrance on the right side of

the house and park on 14th street or in the Eggleston parking lot on the corner of 14th and

Oak. (It annoys the neighbors to park on Oak St in front of the house).

Our guest will be Dr. Kirk Smith and a group of high school students who will be explaining how they do very simple watershed assessments. Kirk works to get students out of the classroom and into the field doing "actual" science instead of just learning about science. The goal of his program is to replicate what we do here in VA as the national model for second generation TIC. He is hoping one or two schools in the Waynesboro area would be interested in piloting the model this year.

Kirk Smith Bio

B.S. Biology, VA Tech

M.S. Biology, JMU

Ph.D. Environmental Science, GMU

From 1978 to 2000, in addition to obtaining much of his education, Kirk was employed by various government agencies from around the country to include the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Utah Wildlife, Washington State Department of Ecology and the United States Coast Guard. The vast majority of his experience was in the actual forests, streams, lakes, etc. he has spent much of his life studying and protecting. He grew up fishing for brook trout in Difficult Run, just 15 miles west of Washington, D.C. The trout are no longer there which has inspired Kirk to be an active lifetime member of Trout Unlimited. Since 2000, Kirk has dedicated much of his time passing on his knowledge and wisdom to future generations. He teaches a variety of science subjects (certified in every high school science discipline taught in VA) at Madison High School, Vienna, VA and at Northern Virginia Community College. Kirk is also a sustainable beef farmer, owner of Five Angels Farm in Levels, WV (fiveangelsfarm.com).