Enhancing Cross-Disciplinary Learning Limnological Research in an Environmental Studies Program at a Liberal Arts College

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

GARVER 9809765 The Environmental Studies (ES) Program at Union College has a program-wide limnological focus, the Ballston Lake Initiative, which is designed to foster interdisciplinary teaching and cooperation among departments. This Initiative is scientifically sound, provides interesting and challenging problems, and uses a study area that is convenient to campus. This award addresses two fundamental issues of curricular development at Union College: lack of interdisciplinary teaching and research, and lack of a unified focus for the ES Program. The Initiative is designed to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration among faculty who, for the most part, have not been involved in interdisciplinary teaching or research. The Initiative gives the ES program focus by integrating a common limnological theme into many of the ES course offerings. By providing a framework for interaction, the Initiative will bring together faculty with a wide range of expertise and interests, thereby cultivating a more integrated approach to teaching. The award offers the best chance of getting the faculty to interact and to inject this common limnological focus into the ES curriculum is through a coordinated summer research program in which student projects are mentored by faculty from two or more academic departments. Faculty and student workshops are intended to maximize interaction between the faculty, and a winter seminar series is designed to give the program participants needed exposure to other scientific, political, and social aspects of lakes. The Ballston Lake Initiative focuses on Ballston Lake as an environmental system that has evolved through time. The Initiative includes an understanding of the formation of the lake basin, post-glacial sediment record geochemistry of spring waters, record of climate change in lake sediments, wetland ecology, predator and prey relationships between the fauna, recreational use, historical land use and housing development, and watershed hydrology. To accomplish the goal of fostering interdisciplinary teaching and cooperation between departments, six broadly defined interdisciplinary projects have been identified: 1) lake and wetlands flora and fauna; 2) watershed hydrology; 3) hydrology and chemistry of springs and spring communities; 4) lake sediment record in relation to lake evolution, climate change and land use; 5) historical land use, including development of camps and issues associated with water use; 6) monitoring instrumentation for climate, and lake water, and springs. Collectively, these projects could involve collaboration and interaction between the departments of Geology, Biology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Anthropology, and Sociology.