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

GARVER 9809765联合学院的环境研究(ES)项目有一个项目范围内的湖泊学重点--巴尔斯顿湖倡议，旨在促进跨学科教学和院系之间的合作。这一倡议具有科学依据，提供了有趣和具有挑战性的问题，并使用了方便校园的学习区域。该奖项解决了联合学院课程发展的两个基本问题：缺乏跨学科的教学和研究，以及ES计划缺乏统一的重点。该倡议旨在鼓励教师之间的跨学科合作，这些教师大多没有参与过跨学科教学或研究。该倡议通过将共同的湖沼学主题整合到许多ES课程中，使ES项目成为重点。通过提供一个互动的框架，该倡议将把具有广泛专业知识和兴趣的教师聚集在一起，从而培养一种更综合的教学方法。该奖项提供了最好的机会，让教师互动，并将这种共同的湖沼学重点注入到ES课程中，方法是通过一个协调的暑期研究项目，由来自两个或更多学术部门的教师指导学生项目。教师和学生研讨会旨在最大限度地增加教师之间的互动，冬季研讨会系列的设计是为了让项目参与者接触到湖泊的其他科学、政治和社会方面。巴尔斯顿湖倡议将巴尔斯顿湖作为一个随时间演变的环境系统来关注。该倡议包括了解湖盆的形成、冰川后沉积物记录泉水的地球化学、记录湖泊沉积物中的气候变化、湿地生态、动物之间的捕食者和猎物关系、娱乐用途、历史土地利用和住房开发，以及流域水文学。为了实现促进跨学科教学和部门间合作的目标，已经确定了六个定义广泛的跨学科项目：1)湖泊和湿地动植物志；2)流域水文学；3)泉水和泉水社区的水文与化学；4)与湖泊演变、气候变化和土地利用有关的湖泊沉积物记录；5)历史土地利用，包括营地的开发和与水资源利用有关的问题；6)监测气候、湖水和泉水的仪器。总的来说，这些项目可能涉及地质学、生物学、化学、土木工程、电气工程、人类学和社会学系之间的合作和互动。

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.