Environmental Studies News
Aubrey Shaw and Graham Hetland
Rocky Mountain Biological Lab, Upper East River Valley,
Gothic, Colorado
Summer 2009
ES MAJORS WORKING IN NATURE THIS SUMMER
Environmental Studies majors Graham Hetland and Alyssa Grove along with sociology major Aubrey Shaw are working this summer as interpretive park rangers for the National Park Service at Crater Lake National Park. Their goals are "to provide meaningful and memorable interpretive moments for the many visitors who make the trek to the deepest lake in the United States," in hopes that they leave with an appreciation for Crater Lake National Park and their natural world. They will be guiding various hikes, giving talks about the National Park at the lodge, campground, and various outlooks over the lake, guiding the boat tours on the lake, guiding the bus tours around the lake, and leading the Junior Ranger Programs for younger visitors to the park. They will also answer questions in popular areas of the park and increase the visitors' awareness and knowledge of the history, pre-history, geology, biology, and volcanology of the park and the area.
Environmental Studies major Sarah Rudeen is working this summer for the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, Colorado located at over 9,000 feet in montane wilderness. RMBL is one of the leading biological field stations in the country and Sarah is working full-time in an administrative role that supports critical ecological field research and teaching in high-elevation ecosystems. Sarah is from Fort Collins, Colorado and has played a critical role at Southern Oregon University to promote more effective recycling efforts and community based learning in environmental studies.
New Environmental Studies Courses
The Environmental Studies Department has completed an exciting overhaul of the ES curriculum. The new curriculum has been approved and will be in place starting Fall 2009.
You can see the new curriculum here.
The New ES Major includes an expanded Core and five new Concentrations (options). The Core provides foundations in Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and allows students choices to tailor their coursework to their interests. It also includes skill courses in geospatial technologies (Geographic Information Systems, Global Positioning Sysytems, and Remote Sensing) and data analysis.
ES Majors choose a concentration in Cultural Resource Management, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Conservation, Land Use Planning, or Sustainable Development.
- Freshman year: Three courses introducing Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, and Social Sciences, each tailored to the needs of ES majors and meeting University Studies Explorations (General Education) requirements
- Sophomore year: Seminar courses applying foundational knowledge from the Freshman year to local and global environmental issues.
- Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years: Courses in key environmental areas such as ecological economics, environmental policy, environmental geology, geography, environmental biology, and others.
- Senior year: Project-oriented capstone experience.
The ES Department has a policy of working with students to tailor their personal curricula by substituting courses from other areas, study abroad, internships, and practica.
Our intent is to better integrate the curriculum, combining the knowledge of the sciences and the process tools of the social sciences into a package that gives our graduates the ability to address increasingly complex environmental problems.
