Turnbull ticks | Don't Blink

A unique characteristic of Eastern Washington University is that we are only one of three universities in the country with a research facility on a national wildlife refuge. Just six miles from campus is Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, a 15,500-acre “playground” of beauty and nature.

Lucky for me, I finally had the opportunity to visit.

My team is currently working on a student profile of an accomplished individual, Jeff Schell, who will wrap up his undergraduate career at EWU next month. A differentiator at Eastern is that undergrad students actually do real research and Jeff took full advantage of this perk. In order to tell his full story, we went with him to the location where he conducted fish research—Turnbull!

Our team setting up a shot with Jeff Schell where he tosses a net into one of the Turnbull ponds.

On Tuesday afternoon, I accompanied four members of my team to Turnbull. We followed a group of grad students and Jeff to some cool spots so we could document hands-on learning in action.

Now, to be completely honest, there was some minor anxiety in our group. During the spring and summer months, ticks are very active at Turnbull. In fact, research is ongoing at the site centering on the various species that are thriving there. So, if you notice in photos that some of us have our pants tucked into our socks, we weren’t trying to make a fashion statement—we were just trying to keep the ticks at bay. But lucky for us, we had absolutely no issues or encounters with the creatures while we were there (or when we got home and checked our clothing one last time).

I promise, my socks are pulled up like that for a reason! Meet some of my team members (l-r): Emily Ausere (graphic designer/art director), Ali Saragoza (digital content strategist), me, Aaron Weer (intern), and Luke Kenneally (multimedia specialist).

Turnbull is such a gem. Beauty is visible with every step you take. Gorgeous wild flowers, calm ponds, fascinating birds, and picturesque hiking trails surround you. Perhaps even better than the visual stimuli is the symphony of nature that pleasures the ear. If you ever needed a place to escape and close your eyes to soothe your soul, make a trip to Turnbull.

Turnbull is so relaxing. In this photo, our multimedia specialist Luke captures a headshot of Jeff.

What a treat it was to take a work “field trip” to this nature sanctuary. Jeff was amazing to work with! As for my team, they brought their “A games” as they collaborated to generate the b-roll footage that will make the final product something that prospective students will want to watch over and over again. Special thanks to Luke Kenneally (multimedia specialist), Emily Ausere (graphic designer/art director), Ali Saragoza (digital content strategist), and Aaron Weer (intern) for working hard and making the afternoon so enjoyable.