The OHS Envirothon team is currently preparing for their upcoming competition season which lasts from March to July of this year. They compete at the regional, state and national evels. There has been a lot of work put into getting the team ready to compete this season.
“To prep we have weekly training sessions and also go to a regional training session that is held in Jackson,” senior Sneha Majumdar, a member of the envirothon team, said. “At the weekly practices we have guest speakers come in and explain different concepts within forestry, aquatics, wildlife, and soils. We learn many different identification methods through presentations and books.”
Envirothon is a club where members of the team learn about different aspects of the environment then compete at competitions testing their understanding of the different categories.
“At Envirothon competitions there are 5 categories: forestry, wildlife, aquatics, soils, and current events,” Majumdar said. “Each team has a section leader, but the group works together to take an informational test on a paper exam as well as on-site identification of various things like trees, skulls, pellets, etc. at each competition. At state and at nationals there is also an oral presentation about a current event topic where the group creates a visual and script to present.”
On an envirothon team there are five people that compete and one alternate. Oxford usually will have two teams, an A team and a B team.
“This year people joining the team picked a specialty that they were interested in,” junior Alex Ritchie, an envirothon team member, said. “Then they studied some material about that subject before taking a test to see who would get to be what specialty.”
Practicing for each different category of an envirothon tournament can look different. It all depends on who the specialist is and what they are teaching about.
“We will have an expert from the different categories come and talk to us,” Ritchie said. “For example, during the wildlife trainings there are usually items there that we can practice identifying, and during the forestry trainings we will usually go outside and practice identifying trees.”
Ritchie joined the team her sophomore year and specialized in aquatics and soils. This year her specialty has switched to forestry because of the difference in the team’s strengths compared to last year.
“This is my second year participating in Envirothon and I have had a great time,” Ritchie said. “My favorite part is traveling and competing with the team, whether it is for competitions or trainings.”
These members have put in hard work to get the team to the point they are at with only a couple of weeks left until their first competition.
“It’s really cool seeing people excited to learn more about the environment,” Majumdar said. “Being a senior feels unreal because now I get to help new members find their specialty and guide them through learning so many fun facts about nature. The team has gotten so strong because of the dedication each person has put in by attending the meetings and putting in effort to study and memorize so many different niche facts.”
