Statement on Pedagogy

Here are some of the elements I have found valuable in my own pedagogy:

• Supported Risk Taking:  Growth occurs when students are encouraged and supported to step outside of their comfort zone and build capacity that they previously thought impossible.  It is crucial that these experiences follow a “challenge by choice” model where students ultimately have control - but are properly supported to succeed.

  • Examples:  These types of experiences are varied and can be found within many courses I teach.  In Agroecology students raise and butcher a chicken.  This experience often helps them connect to other food system experiences and grounds them in the ecological nature of agriculture and human existence.  As part of Organizing Communities for Change students undertake a 10 day canoe trip from our field campus to Lake Michigan, meeting community partners and stakeholders all along the way.  Students gain a deeper appreciation of the “watershed view” and cultivate a very practical appreciation of “downstream effects”!

• Coalition Building & Community Engaged Learning:  Field Trips and guest speakers provide students first hand perspectives on how diverse stakeholders are united to work on wicked problems. Students get chances to see how things really get done, see people like them working on environmental problems thus fostering a sense of belonging within the field, and build valuable professional networks that will serve them as they move into the job market.

  • Examples:  In Agroecology, students take weekly field trips to visit a wide array of practitioners in our area to (i) facilitate student learning about sustainability careers, (ii) help students visualize themselves as sustainability professionals, and (iii) develop diverse networks for career development and skills in coalition building. I regularly have students use their knowledge to help run programs for the general public as part of their coursework (Soil Life Exploration, Pruning Workshop, Farm-to-Table Dinner, Cheese Making, etc.).  In addition, as part of the Climate Change course with the MA in environmental education program, students work with local teachers to develop a set of three lesson plans on climate change to teach in local schools.  My Organizing Communities students each do a semester-long deep dive to understand how a certain goal was achieved (dam removal, piece of legislation, etc.) with specific attention to stakeholder collaboration.

• Place-Based Learning:  By paying attention and deeply getting to know a place, students come to a deeper appreciation of the systems and connections among them every day. Students become more engaged with their learning given their familiarity with local systems which engenders a sense of connection and responsibility (personal and corporate).

  • Examples:  This approach is present throughout much of my teaching.  In Restoration Ecology I take students to restoration projects within a 40 minute drive of campus each week.  Students get to know our local landscape (present and historically), the animals, plants, and people that have called this place home, and see real life examples of how we might restore crucial ecosystems.  During the Indonesian semester students are steeped in the local context, stay with host families, and learn to speak the local language.  Students also complete a 6 week community engagement project.

• Residential Learning Communities (when possible):  By living, studying, eating, and learning together students expand opportunities for sense-making and discussion.  When immersed in this way students make connections between their everyday actions and observations and their coursework. These communities also further a sense of belonging in the field and help students make connections across a broad range of experiences. 

  • Examples:  This is harder to achieve for regular semester courses but I routinely use this approach as part of our residential programs and international offering as well as my May minimester courses (Soil Science and Botany).  This requires more giving from the professor as well as the students.  Not only are we in class together, but I also hold daily “tea times” with the class as well as guided walks and other activities.  My work often includes crafting the schedule so that students spend time together and are available for ad-hoc discussions and out-of-class interactions.  Oftentimes what students are cooking for a meal may also be part of the lesson!

• Crossing from a Disciplinary perspective to a Transdisciplinary perspective:  Students approach complex irreducible systems by being flexible in gathering knowledge.  Knowing how to work with others across a range of disciplines enhances systems thinking, fosters innovation and new insights, and prepares students for the workforce.  

  • Examples:  Depending on the course I am regularly balancing between students’ need for disciplinary depth and their need for broader systems-based transdisciplinary knowledge and skills.  Recently I have started to employ the Food-Energy-Water Nexus framework in many of my classes as a way to introduce students to transdisciplinarity in a tractable way. I am part of the NSF National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW) as well as the Food, Energy, Water (FEW) Faculty Mentoring Network, offered by ESA's Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework initiative through its Transforming Ecology Education to 4D (TEE) project

• Developing Reflective Practices:  Because the nature of environmental science/studies and sustainability is cross-cutting and entangled, more time must be spent for sense-making.  This can come in the form of discussion, reflective writing, and other contemplative practices.

  • Examples:  I tend to synthesize student knowledge from across the entire semester.  In Agroecology students are asked to weave together pieces of experiences from multiple weeks and in Restoration Ecology students are asked to evaluate different restoration projects around a common theme (fragmentation, genetics, etc.).  This is also common for my international courses.  To help students build scaffolding to house their learning from these varied activities I will regularly review experiences in class and assign reflection assignments with prompts to help students organize their own experiences around course topics.

• Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE):  CUREs provide students with opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge, develop research skills, and contribute to solutions for environmental issues.  Integrating teaching with research is crucial at liberal arts colleges.

  • Examples:  I build my regular research activities into courses as much as necessary.  I have students sampling soils from prairie restorations in Restoration Ecology that I am also using as a long-term research project.  We spend multiple weeks learning about the project, taking samples, analyzing the samples, and running the stats.  Also as an NSF Biological Collections Ecology and Evolution Network (BCEENet) fellow I have been incorporating a semester-long digital collections CURE in my Restoration Ecology class on invasive species.  I have brought my Tanzania mycotoxin project into my GIS/Remote Sensing class for students to find the best climate data available for our study dates and location to determine if there is a relationship between climate variables and mycotoxin prevalence.  The NSF REU to Kenya is a crucial experience for many of our undergraduates and often is cited as a transformative moment in their academic journey.

• Technological Literacy:  New technologies and resources, such as big data, remote sensing, GIS, AI, and data analytics, are transforming environmental science/studies research and education. I strive to make sure my students are frequently using these tools - even when they might be a little intimidated!

  • Examples:  I focus on relevant technology throughout my courses.  In every course I work with students about helpful and useful use of generative AI.  In my Junior and Senior Research Seminar courses I work on coding in R or Python.  In GIS/Remote Sensing students use GUI and command line softwares.  Students learn Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS, QGIS, and others.

At the end of the day I want to facilitate my students to:

1. Develop a sense of belonging with the environmental field

2. Develop the tools (networks, technical skills, transdisciplinary perspectives, problem solving skills, etc.) to be successful in the “new economy” once they graduate

3. Feel that they have grown personally as part of their experiences in my classes

4. See their local place in a new light - a place full of possibilities that they are equipped to explore