Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology offers four sessions of hands-on field courses during the summer. The wetland ecology course may be one of the best courses offered, by far. It is a hands-on exploration that guides students through the biological processes below- and above-ground within most of the major wetland types. While classes in the city are confined to desks and chalkboards, this course, like all the others offered at PLE take students into the mucky outdoors. It is a not a class for those with an aversion to mud.

Especially when you take it with me. Seriously. I dare you to tell me you don't like mud.

Ok, ok. Well, responsible teaching mandates that I not throw mud at you, but I may or may not come to your defense if the other students throw mud at you...

In 2012, I was privileged to TA for the course with professor Robert Booth from Lehigh University. I'll just throw this out there. This many must be one of the coolest field instructors out there. He is also the only five and a half foot tall man I know that can lift a solid metal canoe above his head and load it onto the top rack. No joke.

Anyway, we took the class out on more than dozen trips to nearby wetlands, had them run transects, identify plants, take water table measurements, ignite methane, swim in a glacial relic river, dipnet for critters, and take soil cores in a peat bog.

At least one person got stuck in the mud each day. Half of the time it was me. But hey, that's what a TA is for. You know, to laugh at.

If you ever get a chance to take the course, don't think twice. But be prepared to get dirty.