ENVS
499 can be pursued in two major ways: as a one-credit preparation for
your senior thesis (required of all majors), and as a four-credit
accompaniment to overseas research.
One Credit ENVS 499: Senior Thesis Preparation
All
ENVS
students are required to take a one-credit ENVS
499 with their prospective thesis advisor as preparation for their
senior projects, typically one semester prior to ENVS 400. This process
is also strongly encouraged among those in the old major. All majors
are required to complete an ENVS thesis proposal as part of this
499, and to finalize a thesis advisor commitment. Visit the ENVS Thesis page for further information on the senior thesis.
Four (2 + 2) Credit ENVS 499: Student Research
You
can
potentially earn credit toward your concentration in the ENVS major by
completing a research project as part of your overseas and
off-campus program experience. This program will usually, but not
necessarily, be one of our six international ENVS research sites. Here is the process:
- When you propose your concentration via the ENVS Concentration Database (Moodle login required) on the Moodle ENVS majors page, make sure to include four credits of ENVS
499 as part of your 16-credit concentration (this assumes all the steps
below are successful). Note that these ENVS 499 credits are separate from
the 1-credit ENVS 499 you do as preparation for your senior
project.
- Before you go to your overseas or other
program, find a faculty member who agrees to advise your research
project and work with you in a 2-credit ENVS 499 Independent Study
prior to your departure. The goal of this independent study is for you
to do all the background work necessary to propose a research project
via our Research Projects Database (Moodle login required) for approval by the ENVS steering committee. You may also wish to
submit a proposal for SAAB or other funding if needed for your research
(the questions you answer are basically the same for our database and
the SAAB program). Once the steering committee approves your proposal,
you have our green light to earn further credit with this project.
- The
overseas programs selected as ENVS research sites each generally require some
form of independent research. This could be an opportunity for you to
complete your research project, or depending on the program you may
decide to complete the project immediately after your program has
ended. In any case, your task at this stage is to do the project!
- When
you return to Lewis & Clark, you then will produce a written report
on your research project, to be shared with other students by attaching
it to your Research Projects Database entry (Moodle login required). Based on the quality and
comprehensiveness of your report as evaluated by your faculty member,
you can earn up to two more ENVS 499 credits, or four total including those
you received prior to departure. We may also ask you to share your
project in other ways, e.g. via our brown-bag Sacagawea lunch series or a
poster at our end-of-semester celebration.
Remember that faculty members are generally busy, so the more
organized and motivated you are the more likely you'll get a faculty
member to agree to serve as project advisor.
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