More than 100 “Wildos” are this weekend going back to where it all began at The University of Queensland’s (UQ) Gatton campus to celebrate 25 years since the first students graduated from the State’s first dedicated environment program.
Set up in 1978 at the request of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) to meet emerging demand for qualified park rangers, the Associate Diploma in Wilderness Reserves and Wildlife yielded its first graduates in 1979.
Affectionately known as “Wildos” those graduates were the first of hundreds who have since studied either the wilderness program or subsequent environmental programs at Gatton including forestry, nature conservation, protected area management and marine resource management.
Reunion spokeswoman Dr Manda Page, a Gatton postgraduate now lecturer in Natural Systems at UQ, said many of the graduates had gone on to make a major contribution to nature conservation in Queensland and throughout Australia.
“An enormous proportion of park rangers and environmental managers within agencies such as the QPWS and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) are Gatton graduates. TV personalities "Ranger Stacey "and "Ranger Tim" and documentary-maker Tina Dalton are also Gatton products,” Dr Page said.
“As part of their education, most of them cut their teeth out in the field doing the hard work to support some of Queensland’s earliest conservation programs.
"For example, not many people know that it was Gatton’s Wildo students who constructed the viewing tower and tree-top walk in Lamington National Park in 1982-3.”
To be held in conjunction with the annual “Back to College Weekend” tomorrow (December 4), the graduates will balance reminiscing about the old days with an open forum on the future of conservation.
“25 years on, the environment is now an established area of tertiary education and of growing importance to the wider community,” Dr Page said.
“At UQ we’re constantly working to improve our environment program offerings to ensure their relevance through the introduction of international study tours, research projects such as the repopulation of bilbies in Currawinya National Park, and the establishment of a wildlife enclosure and environmental precinct at the Gatton campus.
“Tomorrow`s forum on the future of conservation will provide a great opportunity for us to tap into the expertise of our graduates to ensure our programs continue to meet the needs of the community, environment agencies and today’s students.”
More information about the Wildo Reunion can be found at www.nrsm.uq.edu.au/wildoreunion.
More information about the UQ Gatton Past Students’ Association “Back to College Weekend” can be found at: www.uq.edu.au/gatton/index.html?page=3487&pid=3567.
For more information, contact Dr Manda Page, (07) 5460 1182 or 0413.182.799, or Brad Henderson, Marketing Coordinator, Faculty of NRAVS, (07) 5460 1229 or 0409
