Undergraduate biology educators across the United States have recently recognized the need not only to focus on student-centered learning, but also to form educational partnerships with organizations outside the classroom. The Biology Department at Regis University, a regional liberal arts university with small master’s programs in Denver, CO, has recognized the need for similar changes in its own curricula. Consequently, department members have recently re-envisioned the curriculum at all levels to emphasize impactful experiences that engage students in science that matters. Consequently, we asked: How can local field-based experiences increase the impact of our ecological curriculum at the non-major, upper-division, and graduate levels at Regis University? To address this question we employed a case-study approach where we moved beyond the confines of the classroom to engage students in inquiry-based projects. Non-majors conducted a study to investigate microclimatic differences between green space and built space areas on campus, while upper-division undergraduates in ecology aimed to understand the abiotic controls on macroinvertebrate assemblages within the Lowell Ponds State Wildlife Area. Graduate students also conducted a research project at LPSWA where they investigated the influence of non-native tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) and Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) on native vegetative communities.
Results/Conclusions
In all three cases, students not only learned about the process of scientific investigation and its challenges, but also generated actionable results for stakeholders beyond the classroom. Our non-majors found that built spaces had 12.4°C higher average maximum daily temperatures (p=0.0006) than green spaces on campus, a result reported to campus sustainability and building design stakeholders. Our undergraduate ecology students found that the macroinvertebrate assemblages in riffle habitat at LPSWA were more diverse than those in pool habitats. While these results are not surprising, students were able to concretely examine the fundamental relationship between species composition and habitat. Finally, our graduate students determined that hypothesized effects of the two nonnative species on native vegetation were hard to discern given the high proportion of nonnative plants present at the site. Nonetheless, they wrote reports to LPSWA describing their results and future investigations. In these studies, students confronted the realities of ecological field investigations including re-envisioning study design, field logistics, and data analyses, and needing to explain counterintuitive findings. We conclude that “doing ecology” on campus and beyond campus forces students to rigorously engage with scientific content and provides reciprocal benefits to community stakeholders. Our future efforts aim to strengthen and expand these stakeholder connections.