Tim Kimmel

Through an internship with the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Southwest Regional Office in Ligonier, Pa., California University sophomore Tim Kimmel is rapidly building many career opportunities.

The internship was arranged through Cal U biological and environmental sciences faculty member Dr. David Argent, who has had six of his students serve internships with the Game Commission since arriving at Cal U in 2000. Kimmel's internship is under the auspices of Joe Stefko, Wildlife Education Supervisor of the PGC's Southwest Region.

This past summer, Kimmel trapped five different bears himself, ranging from a number of different weights. Besides bears, Kimmel has done deer fetus studies where he took road kill deer and opened them up to remove the fawns. He and other interns then weigh and measure the fawns to gage the mating season. Kimmel has also participated in controlled burns, where parts of a forest are burned to bring up undergrowth. A considerable amount of Kimmel's efforts this summer were spent performing and teaching others about radio telemetry.

"This is how we track the bears during the winter months while they're hibernating," Kimmel said. "Radio telemetry is pretty much giving the bears their own radio station is how we explain it. They each have their own radio frequency, so when we dial in, and we're in their area, that particular signal will beep, because the bears have collars with transmitters around their necks. That signal will beep, and then we can go find that bear and see if she is doing okay. We only collar the females."

While the fieldwork provides invaluable hands-on experience unattainable in a classroom setting, Argent believes the internship strengthens other attributes essential for a successful career. "Certainly there is no better training for life than life, but this is a very public field," Argent said. "Having the ability to interact with the public one-on-one is tremendous, and I believe it is a very valuable skill to learn.

Kimmel is already arranging an internship for next summer with a corporation called Delta Water Fowl in North Dakota and is also a committee member with Whistling Wings of Western Pennsylvania, a branch chapter of Delta Water Fowl, located in Greensburg.

"This internship is already the best thing I have ever done, and I cannot tell you how many different people I have met and have contacts with now," said Kimmel. "I believe in my field it is going to come down to who I know to get into these different places. I don't want to wait and do things my junior and senior year.

Oftentimes it is said that it's never too late to change or start a new career. Cal U's Tim Kimmel is proving that it's never too early either.