New environmental field study class at Burrell gets students in the elements

In high school, Chad Clair was told that “he could do so much” by pursuing a career in biology.

Now, the second-year Burrell High School teacher is showing — not just telling — his students what those paths could look like.

“All the knowledge I gained over the years of being in the field, I wanted to bring that into the classroom,” said Clair, 34.

Clair teaches biology and, this year, started a new course, Environmental Field Study, which has 14 upperclassmen enrolled.

The course, Clair said, is focused around getting students more hands-on learning experiences outside of school and exposing them to various career opportunities related to environmental science.

Already, students have been to Burrell Lake Park to discuss the algal bloom occurring there, and K-9 Officer Derek Kotecki Park to learn about stream measurements and macroinvertebrate identification to determine the quality of water.

“I always want to have a piece of this class revolve around the local community,” he said. “So much impact can be made from an environmental standpoint locally.”

The class took a field trip to Greensburg to learn about the Westmoreland Conservation District and stopped at Westmoreland Cleanways, a recycling center. Clair plans future assignments with professionals in the air quality field, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and the state Fish and Boat Commission.

A Hempfield native, Clair originally planned to major in biology secondary education but dropped the education part, because he said he liked being in the field so much.

He enjoyed working as an environmental scientist in the public, private and nonprofit sectors but that required a lot of travel, which was not conducive to starting a family. So, after a lot of thought and discussion with his wife, Lauren, things came full circle and Clair decided to pursue teaching again.

He was a student-teacher at Greater Latrobe High School and saw its “capstone” environmental field study program in action, led by teacher Patrick Roberts. The Latrobe program launched in 1995, and Roberts said it’s rewarding for students to take in and learn more about their environment.

“Getting out and doing actual science is important to me,” Roberts said.

The Burrell and Latrobe students have collaborated this year to go on a field trip to a park in Latrobe, to put on bee suits and get experience working with bees and apiaries. Roberts said he hopes the collaboration with Burrell continues.

Being exposed to new things and learning about possible career paths makes the course worthwhile to Burrell senior Jillian Barbiaux.

“I get to learn things I didn’t know much of before,” she said.