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Environmental Studies [clear]
Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
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Dylan Fischer, Pauline Yu, Carri LeRoy, Abir Biswas, Erik Thuesen and Alison Styring
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | V | V | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Rigorous quantitative and qualitative research is an important component of academic learning in Environmental Studies. This independent learning opportunity is designed to allow advanced students to delve into real-world research with faculty who are currently engaged in specific projects. The program will help students develop vital skills in research design, data acquisition and interpretation, written and oral communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills—all of which are of particular value for students who are pursuing a graduate degree, as well as for graduates who are already in the job market. studies nutrient and toxic trace metal cycles in terrestrial and coastal ecosystems. Potential projects could include studies of mineral weathering, wildfires, and mercury cycling in ecosystems. Students could pursue these interests at the laboratory scale or through field-scale biogeochemistry studies, taking advantage of the Evergreen Ecological Observation Network (EEON), a long-term ecological study area. Students with backgrounds in a combination of geology, biology, or chemistry could gain skills in soil, vegetation, and water collection and learn methods of sample preparation and analysis for major and trace elements. studies plant ecosystem ecology, carbon dynamics, and nutrient cycling in forests of the Southwest and western Washington. This work includes image analysis of tree roots, molecular genetics, plant physiology, carbon balance, nitrogen cycling, species interactions, community analysis, and restoration ecology. He also manages the EEON project ( ). See more about his lab's work at: . Students participating in this program work closely with ongoing research in the lab, participate in weekly lab meetings, and develop their own research projects. conducts research on linkages between terrestrial and aquatic environments. She is trained as a freshwater ecologist and primarily studies in-stream ecosystem processes and aquatic communities. She and her students study leaf litter decomposition in streams as a major input of organic material to aquatic systems. In addition, she conducts research on aquatic macroinvertebrate community structure, aquatic fungal biomass and standard water quality and hydrology measurements in stream and river environments. studies birds. Current activity in her lab includes avian bioacoustics and avian monitoring and research in Evergreen’s campus forest and other nearby locations. Bioacoustic research includes field monitoring of local birds using audio recordings and microphone arrays, and editing and identifying avian songs and calls from an extensive collection of sounds from the campus forest as well as tropical forest sites in Borneo. Local research projects in the campus forest and nearby locations include Pacific wren mating and life-history strategy, cavity formation and use by cavity-nesting birds (and other cavity-dependent species), and monitoring long-term trends in bird populations and communities using a variety of standard approaches. conducts research on the ecological physiology of marine animals. He and his students are currently investigating the physiological, behavioral, and biochemical adaptations of gelatinous zooplankton to environmental stress and climate change. Other research is focused on the biodiversity of marine zooplankton. Students working in his lab typically have backgrounds in different aspects of marine science, ecology, physiology, and biochemistry. studies the developmental physiology and ecology of marine invertebrates. She is interested in the biochemistry of the seawater-organism interface, developmental nutritional biochemistry and metabolic depression, invasive species, carbonate chemistry (ocean acidification), and cultural relationships with foods from the sea. Students have the opportunity to collaboratively develop lines of inquiry for lab and/or field studies in ecology, developmental biology, physiology, marine carbonate chemistry and mariculture. | Dylan Fischer Pauline Yu Carri LeRoy Abir Biswas Erik Thuesen Alison Styring | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Abir Biswas
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Research | JR–SRJunior–Senior | V | V | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Abir Biswas | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||||
Alison Styring
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Research | JR–SRJunior–Senior | V | V | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Alison Styring | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||||
Carri LeRoy
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Research | JR–SRJunior–Senior | V | V | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Carri LeRoy | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||||
Dylan Fischer
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Research | JR–SRJunior–Senior | V | V | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | plant ecology and physiology, field ecology, restoration ecology | Dylan Fischer | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Pauline Yu
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Research | JR–SRJunior–Senior | V | V | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Rigorous quantitative and qualitative research is an important component of academic learning in Environmental Studies. This independent learning opportunity is designed to allow advanced students to delve into real-world research with faculty who are currently engaged in specific projects. The program will help students develop vital skills in research design, data acquisition and interpretation, written and oral communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills—all of which are of particular value for students who are pursuing a graduate degree, as well as for graduates who are already in the job market. studies the developmental physiology and ecology of marine invertebrates. She is interested in the biochemistry of the seawater-organism interface, developmental nutritional biochemistry and metabolic depression, invasive species, carbonate chemistry (ocean acidification), and cultural relationships with foods from the sea. Students have the opportunity to collaboratively develop lines of inquiry for lab and/or field studies in ecology, developmental biology, physiology, marine carbonate chemistry and mariculture. | Pauline Yu | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Robert Smurr
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | This program will examine the history, development, and business policies of the adventure travel and ecotourism industries. The United States introduced this new sphere of tourism to the international community in 1969, when three American climbers created the world’s first adventure travel company, Mountain Travel which took eager clients to the Himalayas. This company, and the thousands that soon followed worldwide, tapped into many tourists’ desire for more adventurous trips. Trekking, rafting, and climbing—most often in foreign countries—all became hallmarks of this new type of tourism. Exploring distinct cultures and diverse peoples in more natural settings, especially those far removed from cities, created an explosion of opportunities in the tourism business worldwide. In addition to learning the history and economic power of these industries, we will also examine specific business models in the program. All students, for example, will create at least two plans: the first will be a dream adventure travel destination; the second will be a dream ecotourism destination. Since each student will be the “owner” of a new adventure travel or ecotourism business for a period of this program, dream trips will need to make economic sense. You will need to understand your client base, their income, their desires, and your company’s special skills. Several guest speakers with long histories in adventure travel and ecotourism will give us added insight, as will numerous field trips. | Robert Smurr | Tue Wed Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Erik Thuesen
Signature Required:
Fall
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | In the 19th century, well-known European scientists such as Darwin, d'Orbigny, and Bonpland traveled in Argentina and brought their knowledge of the flora and fauna back to Europe. The marine, desert, and alpine environments of the Southern Cone harbor flora and fauna are very different from similar environments in North America. In this two-quarter program, we will carry out intensive natural history studies of the unique organisms and ecosystems of Argentina, focusing on those of Patagonia. After an introductory week in Olympia at the start of fall quarter, the study-abroad portion of the program will commence with a four-week intensive study of Spanish language in Buenos Aires, which will prepare us for our travels and studies in Argentina during fall and winter quarters.We will read primary literature articles related to the biodiversity of Argentina, and each student will be responsible for presenting different topics during weekly seminars. We will begin to study the flora and fauna of the Southern Cone through preliminary readings, lectures, and classwork in Buenos Aires. We will take a short trip to the subtropical province of Misiones, then move to the coastal and mountain regions of Patagonia where we will study the area's natural history, beginning with field studies on the Atlantic coast, and then moving to the Andean Lakes District, taking advantage of the progressively warmer weather of the austral spring. Students will conduct formal field exercises and keep field notebooks detailing their work and observations.During winter quarter (summer in the Southern Hemisphere), students will reinforce their language skills with two weeks of intensive Spanish studies in Patagonia, examine montane habitats, and then work in small groups on focused projects examining topics of biodiversity. It will be possible to conduct more focused studies on specific ecosystems or organisms, including those of southern parts of Patagonia. Clear project goals, reading lists, timelines, etc., will be developed during fall quarter in order to ensure successful projects in winter quarter. Examples of individual/small group projects include comparisons of plant/animal biodiversity between coastal, desert, and alpine zones; comparative studies on the impacts of ecotourism activities on biodiversity; and examining community composition of intertidal habitats along a gradient from north to south, among others. | Erik Thuesen | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Andrew Brabban and Abir Biswas
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | This upper-division science program will examine the interplay between the biological and chemical processes of the Earth's hydrosphere and lithosphere. Many environmental processes occur as a result of specific microbial processes that are intrinsically controlled by the substrate (geology) and the geochemical parameters (redox, pH), making these studies inherently interdisciplinary.Over the quarter, we will investigate biotic and abiotic controls on the cycling of important elements (specifically key biological and chemical elements of carbon, nitrogen, iron, etc., and elements we often consider toxic such as arsenic and heavy metals) in both "pristine" and polluted systems, and in aerobic to anaerobic systems. Students will cover topics in environmental microbiology examining the roles microorganisms play in the environment, their metabolism, and the broad diversity of the ecosystems they occupy. Likewise, students will cover topics in geochemistry and geobiology examining the role of microbes in element cycling at the Earth's surface. Laboratory work will focus on both classical microbiological methods, as well as newer biochemical and molecular procedures to determine the biodiversity of soil and water samples and the activity of specific organisms within an ecosystem. In addition, students will learn field sampling techniques, collect soil and/or water samples in the field during day trips, and conduct relevant geochemical analyses in the laboratory to elucidate element cycles. Weekly seminars and student presentations discussing recent research from the primary literature will be important components of the program. | Andrew Brabban Abir Biswas | Mon Mon Tue Wed Wed Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Marja Eloheimo
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12 | 12 | Weekend | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Working as a project team, this program has a mission. Students will continue to tend and refine habitat and theme areas in the Longhouse Ethnobotanical Garden, including the Sister Garden (patterned after a medicinal garden we created on the Skokomish Indian Reservation) as well as create valuable educational resources that contribute to the Evergreen community, local K-12 schools, local First Nations, and a growing global collective of ethnobotanical gardens that promote environmental and cultural diversity and sustainability. Our work will also contribute to the new Indigenous Arts Campus. During , we will become acquainted with the garden and its plants, habitats, history, and existing educational materials. We will begin to engage in seasonal garden care and development, learning concepts and skills related to botany, ecology, Indigenous studies, and sustainable medicine. We will also establish goals related to further developing educational materials and activities, including a Web presence. Students will have the opportunity to select and begin specific independent and group projects that include learning knowledge and skills pertinent to their completion. During , we will focus on the garden's "story" through continued project work at a more independent level. Students will work intensively on skill development, research, and project planning and implementation. We will also be active during the winter transplant season and will prepare procurement and planting plans for the spring season. During , we will add plants to and care for the garden, wrapping up all of the work we have begun. We will establish opportunities to share the garden and our newly created educational materials, effectively enabling the garden to "branch out." This program requires commitment to a meaningful real-world project and strongly encourages yearlong participation. It also cultivates community within the program by nurturing each member's contributions and growth, and acknowledges the broader contexts of sustainability and global transformation. | Marja Eloheimo | Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Lalita Calabria
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | The Pacific Northwest (PNW) supports one of the world's most diverse assortments of bryophytes and lichens. Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) are the earliest land plants. Lichens, are not plants at all- they are a diverse group of symbiotic organisms composed of a fungal partner with an algae and/or cyanobacteria. Together, bryophytes and lichens occur on nearly every continent and ecosystem in the world and are among the most sensitive indicators of environmental change. In the ecosystems where they occur they work to stabilize soils, reduce water and nutrient run-off and provide habitat and nesting material for invertebrates and vertebrates. Moreover, lichens and mosses represent ~30% of the world’s eukaryotic biological N-fixation and peat-moss alone stores nearly 33% of all global terrestrial carbon.This upper-division science program focuses on bryophytes and lichens- their taxonomy, ecology and biology. Field trips will emphasize life history of these species as well as the sight recognition of major groups and proper collection methods. Lab activities will involve identifying collected specimens to species using dichotomous keys and developing proficiency in techniques for the identification of mosses and lichens, such as thin-layer chromatography and chemical thallus testing for lichens, dissection and slide-making techniques and use of compound and dissecting microscopes. Many of these lab skills can be applied broadly to other taxonomic groups of plants and fungi. Lectures and seminars will focus on readings from bryology and lichen textbooks as well as a variety of essays and scientific papers relating to the evolution, systematics and ecology of these taxa. Students will conduct quarter-long group research projects, which may include herbaria-based taxonomic studies and field-based floristic studies. | Lalita Calabria | Mon Mon Tue Tue Wed Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Tyrus Smith, Peter Boome, Dee Dunn, Suzanne Simons, Frances Solomon, Peter Bacho, Barbara Laners, Arlen Speights, Anthony Zaragoza, Paul McCreary, Mingxia Li and Gilda Sheppard
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | This program will focus on developing strategies for creating and navigating change as we look toward the future. The goal is to enhance students' capacities to respond to and promote change on personal and institutional levels. Within this context, students will study historical trends and contemporary practices that will shape and impact their future endeavors. By analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of existing models, students will develop proactive interventions to address pressing community problems.The topic of change will be approached through studies in philosophy, history, sociology, psychology, political economy, scientific inquiry, environmental studies, law, literature, visual/media arts, mathematics, and logic. Students will enhance their knowledge with skill development in the following areas: writing, mathematical reasoning, media literacy, multimedia technology, statistics, public speaking, and organizational and community development.During the fall, students will explore historical and philosophical traditions that inform efforts to design pathways for future possibilities. This includes investigating personal and societal notions of the natural and social worlds as portrayed through arts and humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.During the winter, students will utilize an interdisciplinary approach to explore and understand contemporary models of change. This includes researching specific community-based problems and identifying proactive strategies that address such concerns.During the spring, students will investigate successful models of change to extrapolate how such models might be useful, but also might be limited in their capacity to address future possibilities, and to propose proactive community-based interventions tailored to specific community concerns. | Tyrus Smith Peter Boome Dee Dunn Suzanne Simons Frances Solomon Peter Bacho Barbara Laners Arlen Speights Anthony Zaragoza Paul McCreary Mingxia Li Gilda Sheppard | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Kenneth Tabbutt and Carrie Parr (Pucko)
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | Landscapes are the result of complex interactions between geological and biological processes. Due to the dynamic nature of geomorphology and ecology, landscapes are constantly changing. While many of the changes are driven by natural processes, others are, at least in part, the result of human activities. This program will examine earthquakes, landslides, lahars, tsunami, floods, fires, disease outbreaks and storm events and their impacts on landscapes and ecosystems. We will also explore how climate has influenced historic changes in the landscape and, using climate models, we will consider its role in shaping the future. The program will focus on the Pacific Northwest, incorporating field trips, field research, and case studies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be used to analyze and display spatial, geological and biological data. There will be a four day field trip around the Olympic Peninsula that will allow students to examine a range of changing landscapes, including the dam removal project on the Elwha River and provide an opportunity to conduct some research in the field. Students will also work collaboratively on a specific landscape, conducting research and assessing the effectiveness of regulatory oversight to reduce or mitigate change. Although the focus of the program will be on the science associated with landscapes, the program will provide a framework for understanding how regulation, land management and land use planning can mitigate environmental disasters. | Kenneth Tabbutt Carrie Parr (Pucko) | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Peter Impara
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | How do we conserve endangered animals? These are complex species, often with specific habitat needs. They interact in elaborate ways with members of their species, other species, and with the landscape as a whole. A detailed understanding of what kinds of habitats species need, and how these habitats are distributed across landscapes, is crucial to managing landscapes to ensure future survival of particular species.This upper-division program will focus on examining and analyzing the habitat needs of endangered species. Students will learn, develop and apply an intricate interdisciplinary suite of knowledge and techniques that include spatial analysis; ecological modeling; integration of scientific, legal and political information; and computer tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to develop habitat conservation plans for threatened and endangered species as listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. Students will apply a rigorous approach to collecting and analyzing biological, ecological, and habitat data, using GIS to develop habitat suitability models and cost surface maps. Students will learn the importance of developing spatial analyses that communicate ecological information for decision making and planning. They will integrate information into species habitat conservation plans (HCPs), learning to effectively communicate goals, objectives, actions and options while following federal guidelines.Habitat analysis will be conducted at the landscape scale, integrating the disciplines of landscape ecology with wildlife habitat analysis, wildlife biology, and habitat conservation planning. As a final project, students will develop and present a formal HCP for a threatened or endangered Pacific Northwest species. Students will be required to understand and apply legal concepts associated with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and develop an understanding of stakeholders’ concerns and related issues surrounding resource users that may or may not come into conflict with the conservation of their selected species. Lectures will cover the areas of landscape ecology, island biogeography and meta-population theory, spatial analysis, GIS, wildlife habitat analysis, and habitat conservation planning. Guest speakers will present recent case studies and approaches to conservation planning. Field trips to locations where wildlife management and conservation are occurring will expose students to methods of habitat assessment, conservation and restoration. | Peter Impara | Tue Tue Wed Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Martha Rosemeyer, Thomas Johnson and Carolyn Prouty
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | More than three-quarters of the arable land mass of the planet is influenced by human needs and desires for food and fiber. There are competing visions for the future of our agriculture and food systems. A global, fossil-fuel-based system provides large quantities of inexpensive food along with significant environmental and social impacts. Another vision is a local, community-based system that produces higher quality, but more expensive, food while seeking to minimize environmental and social impacts. Critical questions that will inform our inquiry include: Can we grow high-quality food that is available to everyone? How did we get into this current agricultural predicament of industrial production and a global population that is simultaneously both “stuffed” and “starved?” How can an individual make a difference?This program will provide an interdisciplinary study of agriculture in the context of food systems. We will explore competing ideas while developing ecological and holistic thinking, which will be applied in hands-on laboratory and field exercises, expository and scientific report writing, critical analysis of film, and quantitative reasoning. Seminar will examine history, policy, and socioeconomic and political contexts of agriculture and health.In winter, we will focus on soil science, particularly soil ecology and nutrient cycling in lecture and lab. We will also examine food and agricultural policy at the national, state and local level, as well as the prospects for creating more sustainable food systems. Our learning will be supported by an extended field trip to the Ecological Farming Conference in California and visits to a number of rural farms and urban agriculture projects. Seminar will examine U.S. agricultural history, food system policy, economics, and moral and ethical dimensions of food production. In spring, we will combine the topics of global farming systems, public health, and the health of agricultural workers. We will study basic ecological principles and practices involved in sustainable agriculture, indigenous agriculture, and permaculture. Farming intersects with larger questions of occupational health, including health-related burdens of workers in agriculture broadly, and specifically in migrant laborers in the United States. Integrating scientific and political population-based analyses, students will examine public health principles, tools, and policies related to pesticide exposure and other chemical, biological, and physical risks faced by agricultural workers. Seminar will focus on understanding structural history of agriculture, exploring the common roots of both malnutrition, hunger, and obesity. A three-day field trip and three-credit independent project or in-program internship will complete in-class learning. | Martha Rosemeyer Thomas Johnson Carolyn Prouty | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter Spring | ||||
Ralph Murphy
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | This advanced social science program examines the methods and applications of ecological and environmental economics for environmental problem solving. The major goal of the program is to make students familiar and comfortable with the methodologies, language, concepts, models, and applications of ecological and environmental economic analysis. The program does not assume an extensive background in economics; therefore it begins by quickly reviewing selected micro economic principles. We will study the models used in natural resource management, pollution control approaches, and sustainability as an empirical criterion in policy development. We will explore externalities, market failure and inter-generational equity in depth. Examples of case studies we will evaluate include: natural resources in the Pacific Northwest; management and restoration of the Pacific Salmon stocks and other marine resources; energy issues including traditional, alternative, and emerging impacts from hydraulic fracturing (fracking), oil trains and climate change; selected issues of environmental law; wetland and critical areas protection and mitigation; and emerging threats such as ocean acidification and low oxygen zones. We also will develop a detailed consideration of the theory and practice of benefit cost analysis. The program concludes by critically evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of using ecological and environmental economics to develop solutions to environmental problems.Program activities include lectures, seminars, research and methods workshops, field trips, quizzes, exams, and a research assignment. | Ralph Murphy | Tue Wed Thu Fri Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
EJ Zita
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | This interdisciplinary program will study how energy is harvested and transformed, used or abused by humans. We will explore interactions between natural systems and human systems to understand global changes currently affecting the Earth system. What is the evidence for, what are the consequences of, and what can be done about global warming? How can we find our personal roles in addressing the challenges facing Earth and its inhabitants?We will study solutions ranging from renewable energy to sustainable farming and (insert your idea here). Our approach is based in natural science, with an emphasis on critical thinking. This challenging and rewarding two-quarter program will include lectures and workshops by faculty and guest lecturers; seminars on books and articles; inquiry-based writing and peer feedback; qualitative and quantitative reasoning and problem solving; and hands-on research projects in spring, to engage our inquiry and learning together.In fall, our work will include research planning for students interested in more advanced studies in spring. Every student will write several short inquiry-based essays, and will respond to peers' writing, in addition to participating in face-to-face seminars. Small teams will meet at least twice weekly to discuss readings and prepare for class together. Students will make presentations in class on current topics of interest, and teams will facilitate discussions. No mathematical or technical design texts or prerequisites are required in winter quarter.Our efforts in winter will include more challenging quantitative work, including research projects. Every student will write several short inquiry-based essays, and will respond to peers' writing, in addition to face-to-face seminars. Students will build on quantitative problem solving begun together in the classroom. Small teams of your choice will meet weekly to discuss readings and prepare for class together. Students will do research projects, make presentations in class and at regional meetings, and write research reports. Research projects typically range from greenhouse gas reduction projects to sustainable energy, agriculture, building, or urban planning. | EJ Zita | Tue Thu Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Rebecca Chamberlain and Nancy Parkes
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | The Pacific Northwest is home to pressing environmental issues, including coal and oil exports, loss of habitat, water quality, fisheries, and effects of global warming. The coal industry wants to use Northwest ports for shipping to Asia, which could result in 100 million tons of coal being shipped through the region by rail. A dozen oil pipelines are proposed, and trains carrying oil have derailed in other regions. Will these projects, as opponents contend, endanger both Northwest peoples and the environment? Or as proponents--including many labor unions--argue, would they bring critical jobs to economically dislocated and disadvantaged areas? What entities have the power to decide whether these projects will be built? What methods can be used to get clear information to those who are affected? What are the human health and environmental risks from coal dust, train wrecks, and potential oil spills? How do citizens become engaged? What is the role of indigenous communities? What are the roles of advocates, allies, and supporters--on both sides--and how do these positions grow out of environmental and other histories?In engaging with these issues, we will ask, how do we speak meaningfully about our relationship to the natural world? We will learn how stories and ethnography empower individuals and communities to understand their connection to place. Through a practice of writing, and study of both eco-criticism and natural history literature, we will examine concepts and values around wilderness and the human connection to the natural world. We will consider the traditional division between labor and environmental interests, its roots, and whether these two groups may be able to foster collaborations that address both jobs and environmental protection. Our work will include analysis of disparate views and values, and common ground among environmental groups, tribes, | Rebecca Chamberlain Nancy Parkes | Mon Mon Wed Wed Sat Sun Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Ted Whitesell
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12 | 12 | Day | Su 16 Summer | – | ecological restoration, sustainable agriculture, conservation, resource management, environmental health, climate impacts analysis, environmental justice, environmental advocacy, environmental education, and much more! | Ted Whitesell | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||
Russell Lidman and Carrie Parr (Pucko)
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | How do we make health a public priority? How do we respond to potential hazards? This introductory program considers problems related to public and environmental health in a broader context of the key frameworks of population, consumption and sustainability. We will explore the broad conditions that shape environmental health, both for humans and for ecosystems. Examining the workings of non-governmental organizations, we will be moving across and between questions of science, public policy (from municipal to international) and social justice. The program goal is to understand emerging strategies and solutions for ecological sustainability - from regional monitoring to UN negotiations. We will examine models, evidence and debates about the sources, causal connections and impacts of environmental hazards. We will be learning about existing and emergent regulatory science in conjunction with evolving systems of law, and a broad array of community responses.In the fall, we will dedicate ourselves to bridging scientific, policy and social perspectives by means of lecture, seminar, workshops and field trips. In the winter, students will engage in small group, quarter-long research projects on a topical issue to further investigate the chemical, biologic and physical risks of modern life, with an emphasis on industrial pollutants. Throughout the program, students will engage in a range of learning approaches, including computer-based collaboration with regional experts, officials and activists. | Russell Lidman Carrie Parr (Pucko) | Tue Wed Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Heather Heying, David Phillips and Bret Weinstein
Signature Required:
Fall
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Why are there so many species on the planet? Why are there more species nearer the equator than at the poles? This program seeks robust, meaningful explanations for these complex phenomena. In parallel, it approaches human cultural variation in a biotic context, addressing the questions: Where have humans traditionally fit in relation to biological nature, and how has our unparalleled within-species diversity been shaped by nonhuman forces? This program will introduce students to a unique and broadly applicable set of analytical tools, and apply them across a range of settings and scales that would be impossible in a traditional academic context.We will study patterns across space and time, revealing the selective forces that shaped the distribution, form, behavior, and interaction of organisms from all extant branches of the tree of life. From mycorrhizal fungi that live in the roots of trees to bats collecting fruit high in the moonlit canopy, organisms are best understood embedded in the context of the forces that gave rise to them.Though all sciences share a method of inquiry, the theoretical toolkit necessary to understand complex biological systems is different from the more familiar tools of the fundamental sciences, such as chemistry and physics. When an insect extracts nutrients from a leaf by detoxifying compounds built to deter herbivory, both the insect, and the plant whose leaf is consumed, have invested resources in an objective, and their gains and losses can be evaluated in terms similar to those in economics and engineering. We will apply concepts such as sunk costs, zero-sum game, and adaptive landscapes across systems and taxa.We will compare Pacific Northwest rainforest to the Ecuadorian Amazon, witnessing ecology’s most extreme, ubiquitous, and mysterious species-diversity pattern: the latitudinal diversity gradient. We will compare the Amazon at Earth’s most species-rich location—Yasuní—with equatorial montane, cloud forest, and altiplano habitats, revealing dramatic predictable reductions in species diversity that occur at a given latitude, with increases in elevation. And we will compare the high-diversity Amazonian habitat in the humid lowland east to the comparatively low-diversity habitats of the arid Andean rainshadow to the west.In tandem with our study of habitats, we will seek to understand indigenous cultures that have historically inhabited these biomes. We will consider the impact of glaciation and the role it played in initiating the diaspora of New World populations which diversified across the entirety of the Americas before Europeans arrived in the 15th century. Where there is archaeological evidence, we will interpret it in the context of the precolonial world.In fall, we will focus on logical tools, concepts, and language needed to understand evolutionary patterns. We will investigate levels of selection, and grapple with the relationship between genes, cultural memes, and epigenetic markers. We will take several field trips within Washington to experience relevant phenomena (e.g., Hoh rainforest, indigenous fishing on the Klickitat River, the channeled scablands). In winter and spring, we will travel to Ecuador, visit several sites, and spend extended field time investigating patterns across a tropical landscape of unparalleled diversity. | Heather Heying David Phillips Bret Weinstein | Mon Wed Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||
Clarissa Dirks and Carri LeRoy
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | Some organisms have adaptations that allow them to survive in extreme environments such as those with high temperatures, high salt concentrations, extreme cold, or without water. This program will focus on the biology, ecology, and physiology of microorganisms, fungi, plants, and animals which call extreme environments home. Specifically, we will be interested in the various behavioral, physiological, and morphological adaptations organisms have developed that allow them to live in places we would not expect to find life. In this program, we will undertake an exploration of extremophiles across the globe. We will explore organisms that dwell in deep sea vents, hot springs, polar regions, vast deserts, clouds, lava fields, caves, salt flats, and other extreme habitats. We will also explore the unique environments parasitic organisms inhabit and their interactions with host species. We will engage in the study of some of these environments with laboratory exercises and spring field trips to locations harboring these organisms.We will pair our studies of extreme organisms with studies of climate instability and how humans will need to adapt to changing environmental conditions. We will engage in these topics through readings and other media. Seminar discussions of these readings along with readings in the primary literature will provide us with a deep understanding of the range of responses humans and other living things have to extreme environments. We will engage with topics in evolutionary biology and natural selection and discuss assisted migration and ecosystem restoration.By taking this program, you will have an opportunity to earn all credits for a year of college-level General Biology. The program will also give you an introduction to basic skills including introductory statistics, experimental design, and math skills needed to solve problems in biology. Through this program, you will also have an opportunity to undertake group research projects and focused study in a related area, thereby developing important skills. These are skills that are useful broadly in the life sciences and will help you apply your hands-on experience to understanding morphological and physiological adaptations and designing scientific experiments. | Clarissa Dirks Carri LeRoy | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Freshmen FR | Winter | Winter | |||
Dylan Fischer and Erik Thuesen
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | This program is designed to provide a premier hands-on experience in learning how to conduct field science in ecology at the advanced undergraduate level. We will focus on group and individual field research to address patterns in ecological composition, structure, and function in natural environments. Students will participate in field trips to local and remote field sites and will develop multiple independent and group research projects in unique marine and terrestrial ecosystems from the Puget Sound to the east side of the Cascades (in Washington).We will work as a community to develop and implement field projects based on: 1) workshops in rapid observation and field data collection; 2) participation in large multiyear studies in collaboration with other universities and agencies; and 3) student originated short- and long-term studies. Students will focus on field sampling, natural history, and library research to develop workable field-data collection protocols. Students will implement observation- and hypothesis-driven field projects. We will learn to analyze ecological data through a series of intensive workshops on understanding and using statistics in ecology. Students will demonstrate their research and analytical skills through scientific writing and presentation of all group and individual research projects.Specific topics of study will include community and ecosystem ecology, plant physiology, forest ecology, marine ecology, ecological restoration, riparian ecology, fire disturbance effects, bird abundance and monitoring, soundscape ecology, insect-plant interactions, disturbance ecology, and statistics in biology. We will emphasize identification of original field research problems in diverse habitats, experimentation, statistical analysis, and writing in journal format. All students will be expected to gain competency in advanced statistics and scientific writing. | Dylan Fischer Erik Thuesen | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Martha Henderson
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | Martha Henderson | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||||
Paul Przybylowicz
Signature Required:
Spring
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Contract | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | Individual study offers students the opportunity to study subjects or do projects not typically available through the regular curriculum. It also offers opportunities to learn about their own learning process: the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn how to manage a personal project, and/or to learn how to learn technical material outside of the classroom. Students interested in a self-directed project, research, or course of study in outdoor leadership, ecology or agriculture are invited to contact the faculty. Groups of students interested in studying a subject together are strongly encouraged as well. | Paul Przybylowicz | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Ted Whitesell, Krishna Chowdary, Rob Cole and Alison Styring
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | This two-quarter program is designed to introduce the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies. This field employs the tools of natural and social sciences as well as the humanities to understand and effectively address the enormous environmental challenges of this generation. The program will use a variety of teaching styles, including field trips, films, guest speakers, case study and research projects, as well as lectures and seminars on a wide array of critical environmental issues. Readings will include classics of environmental literature that have inspired and informed citizens for generations, notable contemporary books in the field, textbooks, scientific articles, and a novel. A central goal of this program is to advance students' ability to think critically and in-depth about environmental challenges and solutions. The program will expose students to the following range of topics: climate change; pollutants in our air, freshwater, oceans, and soils; the mass extinction of species; sustainability and sustainable development; ecological restoration; environmental justice; protected areas; sustainable energy; human population and the environment; science and advocacy; and threats to Puget Sound, along with efforts to protect it.Focusing on ecosystems and environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest, the fall quarter will emphasize development of the skills and tools necessary to pursue environmental studies at a more advanced level. This means instruction and practice in using the following: systems-thinking; the principles of population, community, ecosystem, and landscape ecology; ornithology; the study of landscapes and soundscapes; urban ecology; social science principles essential for understanding sustainability and conservation; field research methods; introductory quantitative and qualitative analytical methods; and the general nature of biogeochemical cycles. Emphasis will also be placed on developing skill in analytical writing as practiced in the social and natural sciences, based on research using library databases of peer-reviewed journal articles, and demonstrating competency in formatting citations and references.The winter quarter will take a more global perspective on environmental studies. Students will be challenged to apply and more fully develop the skills and knowledge introduced in the fall quarter through in-depth research projects on critical environmental problems and associated solutions. Lectures and seminars will expose students to a more advanced and in-depth examination of critical environmental problems and solutions around the world. | Ted Whitesell Krishna Chowdary Rob Cole Alison Styring | Tue Tue Wed Thu Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Brandon Sackmann
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | Su 16 Summer | Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based systems for management, display, and analysis of geographic data. This is an introductory course designed to provide the student with an overview of the development and basic principles of GIS, practical experience in the use of ArcGIS 10.x (one of the most popular commercial GIS packages), and, finally, an understanding of the development of a GIS project. By the end of the course, students will be able to create GIS maps, explore and analyze the data behind the maps, and apply methods to easily communicate GIS-based information to others. | Brandon Sackmann | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
John Baldridge and Thomas Rainey
Signature Required:
Summer
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Program | FR–GRFreshmen–Graduate | 8 | 08 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 16 Session I Summer | This study-abroad program will explore two great cultural centers of Russia, Moscow and Kazan. Moscow is Russia’s Eternal City, the old and the new capital of all the Russias. In Moscow, the group will take guided tours of major historical sites, including the Moscow Kremlin, the Armory Museum, the Tretyakov Art Gallery, Novodevichi Convent and Monastery, and the Trinity-St. Sergei Monastery outside the city. Then participants will take a night train to Kazan on the Volga River, the very heartland and capital of Tatarstan, a semi-independent republic in the middle of Russia. Kazan was the capital of the last Tatar successor state, re-conquered for Russia by Ivan the Terrible, in 1552. It is where the Asian East meets the Russian West, the population evenly divided between the Volga Tatars and Russians. The Tatars are Sunni Muslims, and the Russians are Eastern Orthodox Christians. In Kazan, student travelers will receive lectures on the culture, geography, and environmental history of Tatarstan from the faculty of Kazan Federal University. They will visit several cultural sites in and around the city, including the Kazan Kremlin, the city art museum, and archeological exhibits. The primary activities of the group in Tatarstan, however, will be several ecological field trips to protected areas, such as the Volga-Kama Nature Preserve ( ). The group will then return to Moscow, where, time permitting before our flights home, we will perhaps stroll along the Arbat, pay our respects at the monument of Russia’s unknown soldier, lay some flowers at the foot of the statue of Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, or spend a few quiet moments in one of the city’s famous churches, listening to a Russian choir singing a sacred mass. And wherever we go, we will enjoy Russian and Tatar food, sights, sounds and hospitality. Application and $200 deposit are due March 1, 2016. You can find more information here: / | John Baldridge Thomas Rainey | Summer | Summer | ||||||
Lalita Calabria
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Day | Su 16 Session I Summer | This lab and field-based botany course is designed as an introduction to the evolution and diversity of land plants. In lectures, we will survey the major groups of the Plant Kingdom including bryophytes, seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. We will also draw on contemporary scientific journals articles to enrich our understanding of important biological concepts and to apply this understanding to current events. In labs, students will gain hands-on experience studying plants with microscopes as we examine the form and function of plant organs, cells, and tissues. On campus plant walks and field trips students will learn to recognize and identify some of the common native plants of the Pacific Northwest. | Lalita Calabria | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Dylan Fischer and Lalita Calabria
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | How do plants sense and respond to changes in their external environment? What are the chemical signals produced by plants in response to external stimuli (light, gravity, temperature) and how are these signals amplified within the larger plant community? This program focuses on these questions through the study of individual plants (autecology), the interactions among plants (synecology), and the physiological interactions of plants with their environment (ecophysiology). Students will learn field and laboratory methods for studying plant ecology and plant physiology including vegetation sampling methods, soil analysis and methods for measuring plant growth, photosynthesis and nutrient cycling. Lecture topics will include plant communities; competition and facilitation ecology; plant growth and development; plant hormones; water use; photosynthesis; rooting; and the potential effects of large-scale disturbances, such as climate change, on plant communities. We will apply what we learn about plant physiology to better understand current research in the broader fields of ecosystem and community ecology. Our readings will be divided between current widely used texts in plant physiology and ecology, historical papers of great importance, and current research papers from technical journals. Local day trips, workshops, labs, and a multiple-day field trip will allow us to observe field research on plant physiology, plant restoration, and the plant ecology of diverse environments, as well as conduct student-driven research on plant ecology and physiology.This is also a writing intensive program for technical science writing. Communication skills will be emphasized, particularly reading scientific articles and writing for scientific audiences. | Dylan Fischer Lalita Calabria | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Ralph Murphy and Jon Baumunk
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | This program will provide an interdisciplinary, in-depth focus on how land has been viewed and used by humans historically and in contemporary times. We will attempt to understand today’s built environments from a variety of perspectives and determine how they can they accommodate new challenges, including environmental, economic, financial and fiscal constraints. We will give special attention to the political, legal, economic, financial, and social/cultural contexts of land use. We will look at and evaluate efforts to regulate land uses and protect lands that have been defined as valuable by society.To understand the purpose of land use policy and regulation, the following topics and disciplines will be used to evaluate the human relationship to land in the United States: the structure and function of American Government; the history and theory of land use planning; economic and community development; public policy formation and implementation; contemporary land use planning practices; growth management; selected elements of environmental and land use law; regional economics; fiscal analysis; and accounting principles applied to the public sector and non-profit/non-governmental organizations. Selected applications of quantitative research methods will be developed throughout the program. Our goal is to have students leave the program with a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of issues surrounding land use planning, restoration, urban redevelopment, public sector accountability and resource management (eg. budgeting, accounting, annual reports).The program will include lectures, seminars, guest speakers, workshops, field trips, and individual and group research projects and presentations. Students will acquire professional writing skills through instruction and practice in formats such as policy briefing papers. Students will develop an understanding of the political and economic history that brought about the need for land use regulation. This will include understanding the political, legal, economic and financial context of the public sector. Students will apply these themes to contemporary applications and the professional world of land use planning, such as understanding the legislative and public policy processes in Washington State, major policies such as the Washington State Growth Management Act, The Shoreline Master Program, Historic Preservation, and economic development. During spring quarter, we will develop an in-depth understanding of budgeting and financial management in the public and non-profit sectors, as well as the increasing importance of fiscal impact analysis. Students will leave the program with credits for an emphasis in land use planning, public policy, accounting and public sector fiscal and financial management—an excellent preparation for potential professional careers and the prerequisites for many graduate programs in land use/urban planning, public administration, public policy and private sector work in consulting firms and non-governmental organizations. | Ralph Murphy Jon Baumunk | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||
David Muehleisen
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | Have you ever wondered what it takes to be successful at farming? The Practice of Organic Farming, formerly the Practice of Sustainable Agriculture, is a 3-quarter long program (spring, summer and fall quarters) that can help you answer this question and more. This program will explore the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in organic farming and food production systems using the underlying sciences as a framework. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of agriculture, the various topical threads (plant science, soils, horticulture, animal husbandry, organic regulations, business etc.) will be presented throughout all three quarters, and our primary focus will be on small-scale, direct market, organic production. We will emphasize the scientific underpinning and practical applications critical for growing food using ecologically informed methods, along with the management and business skills appropriate for small-scale production.We will be studying and working on the Evergreen Organic Farm through an entire growing season, from starting seed to the sale of farm products, to preparing the farm for winter. All students will work on the farm every week to gain practical experiential learning (1 day/wk. in spring, 2 days/wk. in summer and fall). This program is rigorous both physically and academically and requires a willingness to work outside in adverse weather on a schedule determined by the needs of crops and animals raised on the farm.The topics will follow the activities on the Farm throughout the growing season. During spring quarter, our primary focus will be exploring soil and plant sciences, gaining quantitative skills, and developing a working knowledge of the yearly planning documents that guide the Organic Farm. Beginning with the organic system plan and the farm crop plan, we will study the documents and recordkeeping systems needed to guide our work throughout the growing season. In summer, the main focus will be integrated pest management for insects, weeds, and diseases. Marketing, water management, irrigation system design, and regulatory issues will also be covered. Fall quarter's focus will be on farm and business planning and cover crops.The farm practicum provides students with the opportunity to integrate theory with the practice of farming. Students will learn the various elements and systems of the Farm and hands-on skills throughout the growing season. These skills and topics will include: livestock care, greenhouse management, crop establishment and management (seeding, transplanting, irrigating, weeding, harvesting, marketing), monitoring for pests/diseases, equipment maintenance/repair, and composting, Students will also learn how to market produce through a Community-supported agriculture (CSA), as well as a market stand.If you are a student with a disability and would like to request accommodations, please contact the faculty or the office of Access Services (Library Bldg. Rm. 2153, PH: 360.867.6348; TTY 360.867.6834) prior to the start of the quarter. If you require accessible transportation for field trips, please contact the faculty well in advance of the field trip dates to allow time to arrange this.Students planning to take this program who are receiving financial aid should contact financial aid early in fall quarter 2014 to develop a financial aid plan that includes summer quarter 2015. | David Muehleisen | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Emilie Bess and Christophor Looney
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | Su 16 Summer | Emilie Bess Christophor Looney | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||||
Karen Gaul and Zoltan Grossman
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | Karen Gaul Zoltan Grossman | Tue Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
Carri LeRoy and Lucia Harrison
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | This interdisciplinary science and visual arts program is focused on rivers, streams, and watersheds and is designed for beginning students in art and ecology. Students will explore the role of art and science in helping people develop a deep and reciprocal relationship with a watershed. We will study physical stream characteristics that affect the distributions and relationships among biological organisms. We will develop observational skills in both art and science as well as keep illustrated field journals that are inspired by a connection to a specific stream.The first half of the program focuses on the Nisqually River watershed. Through readings and field studies, students will learn the history of the watershed, study concepts in stream ecology, learn to identify native plants in the watershed, and learn about current conservation efforts. We will work with local K-12 schools to conduct water quality testing, identify aquatic macroinvertebrates, and provide environmental education to elementary school students. The study of freshwater ecology will include basic water chemistry, stream flow dynamics, primary productivity, organic matter and nutrient dynamics, aquatic insect taxonomy, ecological interactions, current threats to freshwater ecosystems, and ecological restoration. The program will focus on current research in riparian zones, streams, rivers, and watersheds. Students will have opportunities to be involved in small-scale group research projects in stream ecology. An overnight field trip will be organized to provide in-depth experiences in the field and study of rivers on the Olympic Peninsula.Students will develop beginning drawing skills and practice techniques for keeping an illustrated field journal. They will work in charcoal, chalk pastel, watercolor, and colored pencil. They will explore strategies for using notes and sketches to inspire more finished artworks. Through lectures and readings, students will study artists whose work is inspired by their deep connection to a place. Each student will visit a local stream regularly and, in the second half of the quarter, will create a series of artworks or an environmental education project that gives something back to their watershed. | Carri LeRoy Lucia Harrison | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Ralph Murphy
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | Su 16 Session I Summer | This class covers key statistical concepts at the conceptual and computational level with an emphasis on how statistics is used in research in natural and social sciences. Important elements of research design are covered in the class. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests are covered including scales of data, measures of central tendency, normal distributions, probability, chi square, correlation and linear regression, tests of hypothesis, and Type I and Type II errors. Students will develop a clear understanding of introductory statistics and the ability to correctly interpret findings found in journals, newspapers, books and your own research and data collection. The class meets the statistics prerequisite for MES and MPA programs at Evergreen and most other graduate schools with a statistics prerequisite. | Ralph Murphy | Mon Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Paul Przybylowicz
Signature Required:
Spring
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SOS | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | This program is an opportunity for students to do intermediate or advanced work in agriculture with the support of a peer group. Students will work independently or in small groups on their own in-depth research projects or topics. This work may include an internship if the student has already identified an outside agency and potential field supervisor for the internship. Priority will be given to students with well-defined questions or objectives.Students will meet weekly as a group with faculty to problem solve and support group members' work. Weekly meetings may also include seminar readings and discussion, along with workshops or support trainings. The exact content of the shared portion will be determined during the first class meeting. | Paul Przybylowicz | Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Steven G. Herman
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 16 Session II Summer | Summer Ornithology is a three-week bird course taught entirely in the field. We leave campus shortly after our first meeting, travel through some of the finest birding country in Oregon, camp the first night in a remote site about halfway to our target location. The next morning novices are introduced to the business of birding, including use of binoculars and the basics of bird identification. The next afternoon we are in our campsite on Steens Mountain, a 28 mile long fault block that rises to nearly 10,000 feet some 150 miles east and south of Bend. Based there, we study birds the majority of daylight hours for the remainder of the course. Our studies are built around banding birds after we have captured them in mist nets and taken them to a central location for processing. All birds are routinely released within a few minutes of capture. Typically we band between 400 and 500 birds of about 25 species, focusing on aspects of banding protocol including met placement, removing birds from nets, identification, sexing, ageing, and record-keeping. We balance the in-hand work with field observations, and take local field trips to provide instruction in the myriad aspects of natural history and local culture in the High Desert of southeastern Oregon. We focus in particular on the wildlife of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. This course has been taught for over 30 years; more than 24,000 birds have been banded in that time. The only prerequisites are enthusiasm for studies in natural history and a fascination with wildness in the American West. Entry level students are welcome. Upper Division credit is awarded for Upper Division work. Two links to photo essays describing aspects of the program are here: and a slide show through . | Steven G. Herman | Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Robert Knapp and Helena Meyer-Knapp
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | This program will bring together students with a variety of talents and backgrounds—visual, design-based, technical, psychological, organizational—in ways that develop their skills and enrich their understanding of how to use them effectively in real-world situations. Issues of management, energy, sensory perception, ecology, and politics all weave together to make the fabric of work and workplaces, and we will attend to all these strands. The program will be genuinely all-level, and will share some activities with the graduate elective, Brave New Workplace. The topic calls on personal experience, societal patterns, and physical arrangements in ways that are rarely studied at any level. The concepts and methods will require good thinking but not extensive previous background. All students will find challenge; they will also find that their previous work experience and future work intentions are relevant raw material to our inquiry. Between studio time and required research and readings, students should expect to spend a full 40 hours per week on program work, in or out of class.We will have a class schedule of a steady kind. There will be meetings on campus for a mixture of seminars, design labs, lectures, films and workshops. The studio will be open for student access outside class times, throughout the entire quarter. | Robert Knapp Helena Meyer-Knapp | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Dylan Fischer and Clarissa Dirks
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | Forested ecosystems are complex biogeochemical systems represented by a genetically diverse array of species. Forests are some of the largest carbon sinks on Earth, while hosting a complex array of ecological interactions linked to ecosystem processes. Further, genetic variation is poorly understood in these systems for both macro- and microorganisms. By focusing on genetic variation, evolutionary history, and biogeochemistry in these forests, we will learn about the interplay between biotic and abiotic phenomena. We will examine techniques for assessing genetic diversity, ways of understanding patterns in population genetics, and the potential for linkages between genetic variation in forest organisms and ecological processes in forests.Our lectures, laboratory work, and field labs will focus on forests across a range of elevations, latitudes, and climates. We will also have a multi-day overnight trip at the beginning of the quarter to see patterns in forest ecosystems and large-scale experiments firsthand. Laboratory work will allow students to learn about new methods and applications in molecular biology and ecological genetics. Students will also acquire experience with various sampling techniques that are used to measure nitrogen, water, and carbon in forested ecosystems. Weekly seminars will focus on understanding scientific articles from the primary literature. Students will develop scientific research projects throughout the quarter that require the development of research and quantitative skills. We will emphasize fundamental concepts in ecology and genetics, techniques in molecular biology and biogeochemistry, scientific writing, and communication skills. | Dylan Fischer Clarissa Dirks | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Sarah Williams, Steven Scheuerell and Abir Biswas
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | If you crunch on a carrot, savor a cacao nib, or sip a coffee while learning about with a geologist, a permaculturalist, and a cultural theorist, what will you taste? Often associated with wine, is a French word that distinguishes a food that is what it because of a taste of the place from which it comes. There are complex cultural traditions alongside the scientific factors we will explore for describing the effects of climate, soil, environment, and agricultural practices on our perception of flavor. We'll also explore the combined effects of smell and taste and their expression in terroir in relation to scientific and consumer objectivity. Throughout the year, we will focus on case studies of specific foods to explore terroir from a variety of methodologies and disciplinary perspectives via faculty lectures, readings, seminar, writing, field trips, films, community-based service learning, independent field studies, and an alumni lecture series. Fall quarter, we’ll focus on the terroir of coffee, chocolate, and wine. We’ll begin with chocolate and tea conferences during the Week 1 weekend, followed up by a 4 day program retreat (Week 4) to Washington-Oregon wine growing country to gain an understanding of the influences of climate, topography, soils, and bedrock on viticulture in the PNW. Faculty members will provide an introduction to their disciplines in relation to terroir's expression in coffee, chocolate, and wine through a combination of lectures and tastings (grapes in the case of wine). Students will study physical geology, focusing on the broader plate tectonics and volcanic processes. Likewise, students will investigate permaculture design and will study how the landscape properties of a particular place can be modified and combined to create a unique entity. Students will also explore how terroir is a relation of reciprocity between subject and object using poststructuralist theory infused with gender and colonial critique as well as ethnographic strategies. We will engage the complexity of terroir as perception history, place soil, molecules marketing. Winter quarter, we’ll focus on oysters, chocolate, and tea. Students will have the opportunity to travel through Oregon and California on a field trip to study geological and climatological influences on agriculture and food flavors, with the option to attend the EcoFarm conference. Over the quarter, students will study soil development processes and the effects of climate change on the terroir of place-flavored foods, including the effects of changes in ocean chemistry on the terroir of oysters.Spring quarter will begin with the study of terroir's expression in honey, chocolate, and potatoes. Students will gain hands-on horticultural/gardening training at Demeter’s Garden on Evergreen’s farm to facilitate student engagement in agricultural and permaculture fieldwork. During the latter half of the quarter, everyone will complete an independent or small-group, multiweek research project, community-based service-learning experience, or field study, and will share their learning progress via a structured online program forum. | Sarah Williams Steven Scheuerell Abir Biswas | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
Kenneth Tabbutt and Ulrike Krotscheck
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | Our understanding of the ancient past is based on physical evidence that has survived the destruction of time. Archaeologists and geologists strive to reconstruct the past with an incomplete record of artifacts and evidence from the rock record. Theories are developed, refined, or discarded as new evidence comes to light or analytical tools enable new information to be gleaned. Reinterpretation is an ongoing process and paradigm shifts are common. This program will introduce students to the fundamentals of archaeology and geology, focusing on the deductive process that these disciplines employ and the interpretation of the evidence of past events. Students will learn and apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and explore current theories in geology and archaeology. Geologic processes, in particular catastrophic events, have allowed the preservation of artifacts from past cultures, and past cultures have, in some cases, had a profound impact on the earth. Time will be a critical dimension in this program: hundreds, thousands, millions, and even billions of years before the present.During fall quarter, students will learn the fundamentals of physical geology. In addition, students will learn the methods and practice of archaeology, with a particular focus on the history of the Pacific Northwest region. Data collection and analysis using quantitative methods will be integrated with the theory and Excel will be used as a tool for analyzing and displaying data. Field trips will provide an opportunity to observe geologic features and artifacts. A multi-day field trip around the Olympic Peninsula will take place early in the quarter. Students will be expected to critically analyze texts and academic trajectory and discuss them in seminar.During winter quarter, the focus will turn to environmental geology, in particular geologic hazards such as earthquakes, volcanism, tsunamis, and debris flows. These geologic processes are only considered hazards when they impact human health, transportation, and property. The focus will be on those events that were catastrophic to past civilizations. In this quarter, the archaeological component will expand globally and include examples from the Mediterranean to the South Pacific. Students will learn to use GIS to display and assess geologic hazard data. | Kenneth Tabbutt Ulrike Krotscheck | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
Anne de Marcken (Forbes)
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
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Research | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | V | V | Day, Evening and Weekend | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | This is an opportunity for students to work with faculty from a diverse set of disciplines on creative and scholarly projects. Students will come away with invaluable skills in library and archival research practices, visual arts studio practices, laboratory practices, film/media production practices, critical research and writing, and much more. Critical and Creative Practices is comprised of a diverse group of artists, theorists, scientists, mathematicians, writers, filmmakers and other cultural workers whose interdisciplinary fields of study sit at the crossroads between critical theoretical studies and creative engagement. uses creative writing and digital media as methods of narrative inquiry into questions of presence and absence, disappearance and emergence, loss, survival, and memory. Her process-based work results in short stories, personal essays, moving image narratives, sometimes web environments, and often hybrids of these forms. Her current areas of inquiry include climate change, the interactions of place and identity, and the experience of survival. She is presently working on a multimedia narrative installation and a feature film. Students working with Anne will have opportunities to work on one or both of these projects. Depending upon project phase at the time of enrollment as well as individual students’ strengths and interests, activities may include research, installation design and construction, text-based work, and/or audio-video post production. | Anne de Marcken (Forbes) | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Anne de Marcken (Forbes) and Peter Impara
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | The shapes of coastlines and glaciers, the migratory paths and distribution of species, the length and character of the seasons…climate change is visible in large and subtle shifts, but still it is hard to grasp and hard to communicate. We will spend spring quarter learning to see, interpret and represent our changing world using computer mapping, spatial analysis and presentation, visual storytelling, web development, creative nonfiction, and crowd-sourced narrative. Students will develop critical, creative, scientific and technical skills as they research, analyze and interpret ecological change through readings and seminars, in writing and computer workshops, and by using the landscape itself as a classroom.This program will emphasize creativity and hands-on learning. Students will spend extended time in the field conducting structured observations, practicing site and landscape analysis and collecting the data and images they will use to shape representations of climate change. There will be two all-program, multi-day field trips: one to study the shrinking glaciers of Mt. Rainier and the other to the Olympic Peninsula coast where sea level rise and warming, increased storm action, and acidification are having dramatic effects on the coastal ecosystem. In both places we will consider the geological, ecological, cultural and economic implications of climate change.These two extended all-program field studies will provide opportunities to practice skills and expand ideas gained in workshop and seminar settings and which will inform ongoing independent work leading to a cumulative web-based project employing maps and images to tell the story of climate change. | Anne de Marcken (Forbes) Peter Impara | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Ruth Hayes and Gerardo Chin-Leo
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | This program will examine marine environments and life from the perspectives of science and the visual and media arts, emphasizing animation. Marine life constitutes a majority of the biomass and diversity of life, and marine microorganisms play major, complex roles in global ecological processes. We will focus on these relationships and how human activity affects them. In the past century, humans have severely impacted Earth’s ecosystems, degrading habitats and over-exploiting natural resources. Some scientists have termed this period of human influence the Anthropocene. We will explore ways that science and art can increase understanding of natural phenomena and human impacts on them, contributing effectively to solving environmental problems. We will learn how artists and marine scientists use close observation, analysis, and integrative thinking to communicate important concepts and values. We will experiment with ways to represent the movements, behaviors, and functions of microorganisms, as well as the larger structures of marine environments. Artists routinely base their works on scientific findings; students will practice such research-based creative strategies to respond to and represent marine phenomena in their drawings and animation.Students will explore how marine sciences and visual arts inform each other. Lectures will present concepts and terms unique to each discipline and include creative works about and inspired by the natural world. Labs, workshops, and field trips will offer experience in marine environments and conceptual and technical skills with which to represent them in drawing and animation. Through readings, writing assignments, and seminar discussions, students will learn how scientists and artists can contribute to understanding complex natural phenomena, raising awareness of and mitigating environmental problems. Students will integrate their learning in polished thematic creative works.In fall quarter, we examine ecosystems such as estuaries, intertidal zones, and the deep sea, taking an ecological perspective and emphasizing the role of microorganisms in these habitats. Students will learn drawing and animation skills as they explore how to represent microorganisms and their activities in small- and large-scale environments. In winter, we shift focus to the diversity of marine life and how organisms have adapted to environmental changes. Students will pursue more ambitious approaches to creative representations of marine life, environments, and the challenges they face. A multi-day field trip to the Friday Harbor Marine Labs will provide hands-on experience and inspiration for students' creative projects. Both quarters, we will join with other programs in common activities focused on issues related to the Anthropocene. | Ruth Hayes Gerardo Chin-Leo | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
Aaron Kent
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Day and Weekend | Su 16 Session II Summer | Aaron Kent | Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer |