Senior Seminar Takes Students Back into Nature

Author: Venessa Wong

The 15 students of ES 401, the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar, do not sit idly in dim lecture halls and perfunctorily scribble notes. Rather, the class, divided into two groups. One researched the use of local Vermont wood and woodworkers for the Ross/LaForce building project with the help of Vermont Family Forests (VFF). The other undertook a clayplain forest restoration project with the Champlain Valley Clayplain Forest Project (CVCFP) on a plot of College owned land, engaging independent, hands-on research of environmental issues that they normally learn about only through textbooks.
Michela Adrian '03, who is working on the clayplain forest project, said, "This has been a great bonding experience for the group and has been fun so far ... working outside to achieve something that really matters and that is long lasting has been rewarding."
The group researching the Ross/LaForce building project examined the economic, community, and ecological impacts of the College's decision to collaborate with VFF, a non-profit family forest conservation organization, and to use local wood instead of Pennsylvania cherry wood as originally specified by the architect of the complex.
Alex Wang '03, who is investigating the community impacts of the project, said, "It has been rewarding to talk to people in the College and the community and see how they work."
The second group is working on a clayplain forest restoration project with CVCFP on a 10-acre plot of College-owned land just south of the modular homes off Route 125. Its assignment is to provide insights into the logistics of a restoration project and produce a restoration guide for landowners. The CVCFP is a local community organization that coordinates research, conservation and restoration and promotes the stewardship of the threatened clayplain forest ecosystem.
Said Environmental Teaching Associate Diane Munroe, "Since the clayplain forest is a native, yet threatened, ecosystem of the Champlain Valley, I think this lends some extra value and importance to their work. I think the students also learned quite a bit in grappling with the issue of restoration, for example humans stepping in to initiate a change versus letting nature run its own course."
Brian McCurdy '03 said, "I have enjoyed the implementation of the [clayplain forest] project, and not focusing solely on planning and ideas, which is the focus of much of our education."
"Getting experience in addressing and solving a real world issue fairly independently," according to Munroe, is precisely the goal of the class. "We hoped to have projects that address local issues and have the students look at these issues in a critical way. Integrating and applying their background knowledge certainly was another goal that I think we achieved.. ."
The topics of this year's projects are the design of Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies Chris Klyza, who runs this seminar with the assistance of Professor Diane Munroe. "Professor Klyza had some ideas for the community partners he wanted to work with," said Munroe, "So last fall we set up meetings with David Brynn of VFF and Marc Lapin of the Champlain Valley Clayplain Forest Project to discuss needs and ideas ... We selected the projects based on the fit with the course theme focusing on the life and work of [the conservationist and writer] Aldo Leopold, on projects that would integrate and have students apply their varied backgrounds, and on what seemed doable within the semester time-frame."

The Seminar invites outside participation in their planting activity running Thursday, May 1st through Sunday, May 4th, and their project presentations in Bicentennial 216 from 12:15-1:20 on May 8. Contact Munroe for more details.