FNR Field Report - Ava Hoskins

Ava Hoskins, a double major in aquatic sciences (fisheries concentration) and natural resources and environmental science (watershed management), spent her summer as a nature instructor at the Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana camp.

The Carmel, Indiana, native attended the camp as a camper for seven years before acting as a junior counselor the past two years. This summer she moved into the role of nature instructor, which involved facilitating and leading all programming in the nature center as well as planning and leading all lessons while maintain a fun and safe atmosphere. Ava had to come up with lesson plans that were adaptable for campers from ages 7 to 15.

“I learned a lot about being adaptable around different situations,” the sophomore shared. “Sometimes the plans for the day would change because of the weather and I would have to come up with a new lesson and prep my materials very quickly for a new activity. I also learned a lot about how to interact with different ages while exploring the natural world. The way that I talk about trees and wildlife with 7-year-olds is different than how I discuss them with 15-year-olds. That took some work to make sure I could switch up the way that I taught so they could all enjoy it.

“I also learned to how to be patient. It was challenging to be flexible to varying attitudes and enthusiasm levels among campers. It required a lot of patience and group management to get campers excited and involved in the activities while keeping everything super positive. There were some days where campers didn’t want to go on a nature hike, while other campers were all about it. I learned how to slow down and make sure that I could get them engaged and not force my love of nature onto them.”

While Ava is still early on in her FNR coursework, she was able to incorporate some of the foundational lessons from her biology classes into lessons about food webs and ecosystems. Additionally, she said her involvement in the Student Chapter of Environmental Education (SCEE) was very helpful.

“More than my coursework, my involvement in SCEE was a big factor in this position,” Ava noted. “I learned so much about lesson planning, how to keep engagement going and how to make an inclusive environment through SCEE and was very grateful for those experiences in this job.”

Ava said her interactions with the campers and watching them learn were highlights of the position.

“My favorite parts of the job were seeing the campers enjoy learning about the things I was teaching,” she explained. “I loved seeing how they lit up when they knew something or when they figured it out. It was so rewarding to see the campers be engaged in the lessons and to be genuinely interested in the outdoor world. I also enjoyed the moments where campers would stop by to bring me an injured bug or toad that they found around camp. I got a wide variety of critters and it made me happy that they had started to take interest in their surroundings to the point that they could find different creatures around them. I think just seeing the kids be so excited to show up, get messy and enjoy spending time in nature really made it rewarding.

“Some of the experiences that stood out to me from my summer were doing creek walks with campers. There was one time where I ran a bonus time creek walk to allow campers to go to the creek during their free time. I only had two campers show up, but we had a blast. We spent time looking for crawdads and insects near the water. It was amazing to see their curiosity grow. Another amazing moment was when a camper was nervous to hold a crawdad and I used skills I learned from a conference (Environmental Education Association of Indiana) to help her overcome that fear.”

While Ava still has plenty of time before making career decisions, her summer as nature instructor at the camp has changed her perspective on future positions.

“This position helped me realize that I want to keep environmental education and extension as a part of my academic journey,” Ava said. “It brought me so much joy to spread my knowledge to a younger generation and I want to keep doing something like it alongside research.”

In the meantime, Ava will fill her schedule gaining hands-on experience as an independent researcher under Dr. Tomas Höök and Dr. Les Warren in the Höök lab, looking at predatory zooplankton in the Great Lakes. Previously, she served as an aquaculture outreach assistant with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, providing outreach to fish farmers about fish health diagnostic testing.

She also serves as a College of Agriculture Ambassador, the sophomore representative for FNR’s Student Council, the Diabetes Link Purdue outreach chair and the EEAI board liaison for SCEE.

She is a member of the Purdue Wind Ensemble, an Honors College member and a College of Ag Dean’s Scholar. Ava also is a member of the scuba club and was able to travel to Roatan, Honduras, and earn her advanced open water, night diver, navigation and deep diver certifications over the summer.