Crisafulli, who lives in Yacolt, has spent 30 years studying the fast-evolving landscape in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens. Through the applications of post-graduate students interested in working with him, he’s watched as students have migrated into increasingly complex fields of scientific research. They’ve become adept at using GIS to catalogue data over vast landscapes, and they’ve zeroed in on the characteristics of life down to the molecular level. Applicants came in with highly specialized studies in botany, ornithology, ichthyology — “all of these ‘ologies,’” he said — but lacking in experience in basic field work.

“They know all these tools and gadgets, but they’re not experienced in the natural organisms,” Crisafulli said. “You need to know the players in order to really understand them.”

That’s where the Battle Ground program comes in.

The Center for Agriculture, Science, and Environmental Education, better known as the CASEE Center, includes an 80-acre site that includes the two ponds, an old-growth forest and streams. It draws students for 2½ hours a day from both Prairie and Battle Ground high schools.

“This is kind of our outdoor lab,” Catlin said, adding that students benefit from the longer classes. “We don’t have the time constraints they have at the high schools.”