Matt Wilfong, assistant professor of environmental studies, along with the students in his Ecology of Fly-Fishing class, were published in the Sept. 3 issue of Flylords magazine. Wilfong immersed his students in the scientific and ethical dimensions of angling, while exploring hydrology, aquatic ecology and conservation. Their work product in Flylords emerged from the class, which included a symposium, “Angling for Conservation,” with a film viewing and discussion of “A Journey Upstream” by Andrew Braker ’17 and Eric Braker; a panel discussion with Maryland conservationists Jonathan Bland ’17, Kate Fritz ’04 and Kirk Marks; a fly-tying workshop and field trip to Western Maryland to try some catch and release angling for trout.
A fly fishing enthusiast since graduate school, Wilfong says in the article, “I saw fly fishing as a way to engage with the sciences—a way to put the theories and ideas I had covered in the classroom into practice. With this newfound connection and puzzle to solve, I quickly became obsessed with fly fishing, implementing the scientific methods of observation, research, and experimentation into learning all aspects of fly fishing—from the physics of the cast, to the ecology of matching the hatch, to the hydrology of reading the water and finding trout.”
