September 2021 – For their introductory field session, EMME M2 students spent a week in Levier, about an hour away from Besançon, at the “Les Fauvettes” resort. Students from three other master’s programmes also joined for this week: DyCoB (Dynamique et Conservation de la Biodiversité) from the university of Burgundy, BGS (Biogéosciences) from the universities of Neuchâtel and Lausanne, and ASA (Archéologie, Sciences pour l’Archéologie) from the universities of Burgundy and Franche-Comté.
All students were divided into groups mixing all specialties in order to combine their respective skills while working on the week’s topics which, among others, included:
- Studying the role of peatbogs in carbon sequestration
- Examining the effect of forest management on biodiversity
- Using theca amoeba or sediment cores as proxy to assess the past and present functioning of peatbogs
- Assessing the use of the rodenticide Bromadiolone on the fitness of the red fox depending on its habitat
The week started with an educational visit to two examples of key ecosystems in the Jura, the Frasne peatbog and a local pasture. Over the following days, the different groups dedicated their time to field work, sampling, analysing collected data and preparing for an oral presentation that took place at the end of the week.
The teaching unit of Introductory Field Session is always accompanied by an intense workload as the students rush to present their subjects by the end. However, it’s also an opportunity for them to get to know one another and bond over delicious regional meals.
