My name is Lance Beecher, and I have enjoyed being part of the EELI program and the people I have met so far at our gatherings. Being a part of EELI, I hope to expand my leadership approaches, strengthen my networking contacts, and leverage my passion for being an exceptional specialist and effective mentor of the Clemson Extension Service. Since becoming a Clemson University Extension member, I have individually managed an aquaponics, aquaculture, and fisheries program. Executing this program has been a challenge; however, I feel these are essential disciplines to explore natural resource conservation and produce an alternative, sustainable food source. I offer knowledge and advice for these disciplines in various methods such as educating adults through workshops, college students through the Creative Inquiry program, and youth through multiple programs. One such program I am involved with and genuinely enjoy participating in every summer is the South Carolina Commissioner’s School for Agriculture (SCCSA). SCCSA, a partnership between Clemson University and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, is a program that provides a challenging and enriching college-based experience for rising 11th and 12th-grade students. The programs offered provide experiences from a variety of related disciplines in areas of agriculture and natural resources. I offer various specialized lessons for the students in aquaponics and fisheries; however, there is one experience, called stream surveying, that I enjoy participating the most in with the SCCSA students. The students arrive streamside, are taught all of the indicators to explore for sampling a stream, then each group is given a bucket and two nets and sent out to gather invertebrates and any other organisms found in the stream. The exploration is the most exciting and sometimes challenging time because of the students’ enthusiasm for returning with all kinds of exciting stream organisms. They then separate, count, and identify various organisms and follow charts to determine how healthy the stream is now and what can be done to improve stream health in the future. It’s a special time for all and gives me a chance to provide the students with the knowledge to make choices to improve the future for all.
