Get Outside: Wildlife Research and Education Initiative
The mission of "Get Outside" is to inspire appreciation of wildlife, natural resources, and the outdoors through strategic and innovative research and education initiatives
Vision statement: Take participants out-of-doors to encourage appreciation of wildlife and research by making unprecedented use of the potential of web-based content, classes, online curriculum, information, and materials (video, audio, interviews, animations, etc.), and public presentations (via TV, print, and speaking engagements) and other outreach to guide and encourage people of all ages appreciate the outdoors. Business plan: Organizational structure: Director: Raymond S. Matlack, Ph.D.,
Role: Oversees all aspects of "Get Outside" including budgets, fundraising, personnel selection, content and delivery, and serve as chief photographer and videographer and personality in videos, TV, etc. Project Manager: Naima J. Montacer, M. S. Role: Serve as content and curriculum specialist for high school and other non-college curricula, logistics coordinator, field crew and researcher, videographer and photographer, public relations, social media specialist, and personality in videos, TV, etc. Graduate Assistants: To be determined
Role: Conduct ecological and natural history research in support of the Director and Project Manager, assist with maintenance of field and other equipment, serve as field assistants when available, and sort, edit, back-up and organize digital images, audio and video Field Assistant: To be determined
Role: Travel on all field trips with Director and Project Manager to assist with driving, camp chores, cooking, locating wildlife and sites of interest, care for equipment, assist with trapping and other sampling Introduction: Today many people do not have the great fortune of growing up with wildlife related recreational activities as part of their lives. A greater number of people are growing up in an urban environment and this has been shown to le ad to a public with a poor understanding and therefore, little appreciation of our wonderful wildlife resources. The impacts to wildlife are many and include the reduction of funds to manage and conserve wildlife and purchase important lands and an uninformed voting majority.  As an associate professor of wildlife biology, I strive to instill an appreciation and understanding for all things wild. However, I seek to reach beyond my classroom to a broader audience and have already taken steps to do so. I have started a blog that focuses on wildlife in Texas and beyond, I have a weekly show on Amarillo’s News Channel 10’s Early Show (also available on their web site; I film and edit my own video), and I use technology to enhance my current wildlife classes. However, I see clearly a way to reach a much broader audience and make a larger impact and have developed the Get Outside: Wildlife Research and Education Initiative (Get Outside).
Get Outside seeks to make use of digital materials and outreach to impact people’s perception and understanding of wildlife and research through education. This initiative will be based out of West Texas A&M University’s (WTAMU) Wildlife Biology Program and will make use of graduate students to support the program while providing financial support to these students to complete their Master’s degrees. Get Outside is a multi-faceted initiative designed to serve a broad spectrum of individuals, including wildlife biology, zoology, general biology, and environmental science students at WTAMU and at colleges and universities across Texas and the United States, high school, junior high and elementary students, groups like the Texas Master Naturalists, and anyone interested in or with questions about wildlife, research, and the outdoors.  Get Outside will engage students and others by making use of high definition video and high quality photographs of wildlife they can find outside their homes, in local parks, and in their state. It is our belief that there is a paucity of information on local species on Television, in zoos, and other information outlets. Additionally, the quality of content and message delivered by many of the popular "wildlife" programs is lacking. We will provide information based on the most relevant and recent research available and will include interviews with experts in the field of wildlife biology, ecology, conservation, and other relevant disciplines. What is equally important is that Get Outside will provide conflicting viewpoints from various stake holders to demonstrate the human dimension of wildlife biology issues.
While many "popular" television programs lack substance from an education and scientific perspective, they are engaging. We seek to similarly engage students and others by providing "full contact" biology. In addition to high definition video and quality photographs of wildlife, plants, and habitats, we will wear head-mounted cameras while conducting our activities including capture of various species of wildlife, hiking to research sites, and other activities. This allows observers to see the world of a wildlife biologist from our view point. And it is not always pretty; we fall, get swarmed by insects, catch reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals by hand, get trucks stuck, blow out tires, etc. Additionally, based on casual polling of my current students, outtakes would be a great way to encourage visits to our sites.  We will initially focus on Texas and divide the state by ecoregion. Each ecoregion will be researched and a plan will be developed to visit important sites, collect photographs and video of representative species of plants, animals and habitats, and visit lands managed for wildlife. We will interview members of governmental organizations including Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service and non-governmental organizations like The Nature Conservancy, Bat Conservation International, and Texas Audubon. The result of these activities will be a plethora of information and digital media that will then be distilled down and utilized where appropriate in our educational efforts.
Additionally, we will also encourage people to physically Get Outside by providing a travel log and information about places to visit and activities for people of all ages and abilities. This we hope will combat the growing number of individuals, including children, in this country that are dealing with obesity and other health related ailments associated with a sedentary life style.
Structure of Get Outside:
Classes will focus on natural history, ecology, biology, conservation, and management approaches and philosophies for various representative and important (e.g., threatened or endangered) species. Examples of courses we plan to offer at the college level:
• Texas ecoregions: characteristic plants and animals (1000 level; ~100-150 students per semester)
• Wildlife conservation (2000 level; ~80 students per semester)
• Wildlife management (3000 level; ~80 students per semester)
• Animal behavior (3000 level; ~ 100-150 students per semester)
• Urban ecology (4000 level; ~80 students per semester)
• Fire ecology (6000 level (graduate level); ~30-50 students per semester)
• Additionally, this would generate resources for existing courses on campus
• Potential for certificate program for interested members of the public and groups like the Texas Master Naturalists, Texas Master Gardeners, Audubon, etc. Public access to resources will be provided through various means including:
•Videos and photographs, text, question forum, distance learning, etc.
•We will develop TEKS (STARR) aligned curriculum for use in public schools
•PUP college classes for high school students
•On-line courses for students at community or junior colleges that are interested in wildlife biology or natural resource management
•Public outreach through social media (Facebook, Twitter, blog, etc.) and public presentations
•Continue to produce "West Texas Wild", a weekly segment on News Channel 10 in Amarillo
•Investigate the possibility of a 30 minute weekly program on Public Television
•Author popular articles in outlets like Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine
•Produce a college-level book "Wildlife Management in Texas"
•Produce popular books on wildlife viewing in Texas (many exist but their focus is generally on birds; ours will include specific activities for people of all ages and especially children). There is also potential of writing a popular book regarding our travels, challenges, and triumphs in developing this initiative and a book on Texas by Ecoregion 
Goals:
•Enrollment of >2,500 student in on-line classes over 5 years following completion of courses
•Continue to increase growth in WTAMU’s on-campus wildlife program (current growth is 5.5 majors per year with a new goal of > 15 new majors per year)
•Use revenue generated from increased enrollment to fund new faculty lines in wildlife biology
•Reach > 25,000 people through on-line resources, school curriculum, social media, television segments, and popular publications over next 5 years
•Develop a network of supporters including Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, The National Park Service, Bat Conservation International, Texas Master Naturalists, Texas Audubon, and others.
•Become financially self-sufficient in 10 years from revenues generated from on-line and on-campus classes 
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