This spring semester, ABAC’s Wildlife Society went to the University of Florida and competed in the 2026 Southeastern Conclave Conference. The conclave is split into two areas of competition, individual and team competitions.
ABAC’s team placed second in team competition, first in obstacle course and first in drawing. This was the result of hours of student-driven preparation and studying. Wildlife Society President Ethan Stark says, “We don’t practice as a club for really any of the individuals that’s left off to the individual person, but we do have Quiz Bowl practice every week.” This success is the result of individual students taking the initiative to prepare themselves.
The Wildlife Society’s Quiz Bowl section prepared akin to Jeopardy contestants, with Stark saying at practice they will “buzz for the question, and if you get it right there is a bonus question for the entire team to work on.” The Quiz Bowl practices are conducted with advisors, and with specific items to prepare in mind. The questions asked depend on the region the team will be competing in, for example, this year the competition was in Florida, so the team prepared with Florida specific terms.
Another point of pride for this year’s team was ABAC having a competitor in every category of the competition. This allowed for maximum points to be earned. There were two aforementioned first place finishers; ABAC placed fourth in taxonomy, field measurements, and archery. Additionally, two fifth place finishers in canoeing and bait casting. Each of these skills take hours of preparation to develop, and to receive so much success in competition with larger schools is a huge accomplishment.
The types of competitors ABAC faces when going to the Southeastern Conclave Conference are the likes of Auburn, UGA, Clemson, and UT. Entering a competition against nineteen other schools, and those schools being larger than ABAC, can be intimidating. To prepare in the best way, Stark established a good culture for the team. “We took a more ‘try out best and have fun approach to it last year, and it was very competitive and we wanted to win. But I wanted to let everybody kind of relax and just have fun when we got to Conclave this year.”
Conclave isn’t just a competition; it’s a networking opportunity. As Stark puts it, “With it bringing in all these different colleges now, you meet a lot of different people that you’re gonna see in the workforce because the wildlife career is a smaller one. You recognize people and make connections.” This can be a huge asset when thinking about graduate school, particularly with the professor connections from the larger institutions that go to compete.
The ABAC Wildlife Society has established a strong team culture that allows students to pursue their individual interests while benefiting the overall team, being student-led and committing the appropriate amounts of time to prepare well for the competition. Thus, the team saw great success against large institutions, bringing a shining light on the Wildlife Program, and ABAC as a campus overall.