March 28, 2026. The STEAM Room at ULM’s Hanna Hall was the perfect venue for the classroom portion of our Louisiana Master Naturalists – Northeast Mammals Workshop with ULM Biology Professor Dr. Ana Couvillon. This was an extremely good introduction to mammals at large, and NELA’s mammals in particular!
We began with a deep dive into what defines a mammal, how different species live and adapt, and the conservation challenges they face. From evolutionary origins to hands‑on examination of pelts, skull physiology and dentition, the presentation built a strong foundation for anyone curious about Louisiana’s wildlife or working toward Master Naturalist certification.
After lunch, the workshop shifts outdoors to Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area—one of northeast Louisiana’s richest habitats—for an immersive field experience. Dr. Ana and her graduate students will demonstrate camera‑trap setups, guide small‑mammal survey techniques, and walk participants through real‑world data collection and species identification. It’s a rare chance to pair scientific insight with boots‑on‑the‑ground exploration, wrapping up with announcements in the field as the day winds downWe were blessed with a dynamic introduction to mammalogy; beginning with a very well-paced, engaging, and informative illustrated lecture with opportunity for Q&A that explored topical subjects of our interest. Then we learned principles of scientific identification and anatomical measurement and observation through a set of practical activities that she arranged for us. These included a guided introduction to identifying mammals with a dichotomous key of distinguishing characteristics, the techniques for measurement of mammalian skulls to explore their anatomical physiology, and real samples of Louisiana mammals for hands-on observation of physiology and fur quality.
After lunch, we gathered at Monroe’s magnificent Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area for some field work with Ana and her wonderful team of Grad student volunteers! They introduced us to the equipment and techniques that they use in their field research for live trapping and safe mammal handling, radio tagging, camera trapping and tracking with radio telemetry and specialist software.
It was the perfect weather for our sorties into the woods where we located and examined live traps, saw some fine Monarchs, skinks, fungi and wildflowers on the way. We were shown proper placement of paired wildlife cams and looked through the cards in teams for a taste of the recent mammalian comings and goings, of which there were very many. Some glorious posers were among them! We saw: numerous White-tailed deer, pigs, coyotes, Virginia Opossums, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, even an owl!
It was a very nice window into their world! As a finale, teams returned to the woods to use the surprisingly heavy telemetry tracking system to locate targets. I think we were all impressed by what the professional study of mammalogy entails and what it reveals!
It was great to hear the grad students explain their projects too!
Their work is answering important questions about behaviors, populations, ranges, predator -prey dynamics and much besides!
