ES 375 Case Studies in Environmental Sustainability

Spring 2009

Monday 2:20-5:30 p.m., Dana 285

Wednesday 2:30-3:30 p.m., Dana 285

Bob Turner Cathy Gibson

Ladd 315 Dana 178

bturner@skidmore.edu cgibson@skidmore.edu

Phone: x 5251 Phone: x 5213

Course Description:

ES 375 is a research-oriented capstone course required of all Environmental Studies (ES) majors during their senior year. During the course, teams of students conduct community-based research focused on a single, local environmental issue. Each team uses a different disciplinary perspective and approach to investigate the issue, and hence the class as a whole is immersed in an interdisciplinary exploration as they compare literature, methodologies, and findings. Through lectures, discussions, and the team research projects, students will:

develop a greater understanding of the breadth of theory, knowledge, and research methods that are required for environmental investigation.
develop a better understanding of the interrelationships of disciplines, and learn to look for the synergies among various disciplinary findings.
develop research skills for a particular disciplinary approach.
learn to more effectively communicate research findings both orally and in writing.
learn to more effectively place a particular research project in a broader body of research in the academic literature.
better understand the complexities of environmental issues and the challenges of designing and implementing sound environmental policy.
better understand the local community, local community dynamics, and the factors that might shape a community’s view of an environmental issue.

Community-Based Research Project for Spring 2009:

The Water Resources Initiative (WRI) is a major interdisciplinary curricular and research effort within our Environmental Studies (ES) program. WRI integrates coursework, team-based research, and engagement with local, regional, national, and international concerns for the availability, distribution, uses, and quality of water. Water has historically shaped human societies and culture, and, as our most limiting natural resource, continues to dictate development today. Through the WRI, we explore the complexities of human relationships to water in our community and also place local water issues in a global context. The focus of WRI is the Saratoga Lake watershed because it typifies the historical and contemporary weight of water on contemporary social structures. The Saratoga Lake watershed encompasses over 200 square miles of lands characterized by different geologies, ecologies, human-land use types, and histories. Saratoga Lake and the Kayaderosseras Creek, the largest feeder to Saratoga Lake, are historically and economically important to the region and yet have garnered little public attention or policy aimed at their conservation and preservation.

Expectations

ES 375 is the culmination of your academic career in Environmental Studies at Skidmore. You will be conducting original research on an important environmental issue in the Saratoga Lake watershed that will be presented to the Greater Saratoga Springs community at Academic Festival. You are expected to be self motivated, independent, creative, inquisitive, and rigorous in your research. In addition to being evaluated for your own work, you will also be evaluated by your contributions to your classmates’ projects for two reasons. First, learning how to work collaboratively across disciplinary boundaries is an important skill for Environmental Studies majors. Second, the credibility of your projects and the WRI and ES program as a whole is affected by the quality of all of the presentations.

Requirements

· Weekly Appraisal 20%

· Final Capstone Paper 25%

· Final Oral Presentation 20%

· Group/Peer Evaluations 5%

· Class Participation 10%

· Peer Review Critiques 10%

· Archival Quality 5%

· Research Op-ed 5%

SCHEDULE

Wednesday, January 21 Introduction

Peer Reviews Due
Discussion of how to do a good peer review

Monday January 26 Individual Team Meetings

Data collection begins
Make plans to “go into the field” with another team

Wednesday, January 28 Saratoga Lake Documentary

Discussion of strengths and weaknesses of project

Mon, Feb 2 Individual Team Meetings

Resubmit research design, email to reviewers.
Data collection continues
“Go into the field” with another team

Wed, Feb 4 Thinking about watersheds

American River, Stephanie Lindloff

Fri, Feb 6 Peer Critiques of Research Design are due via email.

Mon, Feb 9 Stories from the Field

Team presentations on research

Wed, Feb. 11 Thinking about watersheds

William Connolly- Guest speaker

Mon, Feb 16 Individual team meetings about data collection

Presentation of very preliminary data

Wed, Feb 18 Thinking about watersheds

Anne Ernst or Barry Baldigo, USGS

Mon, Feb 23 Group team meetings

Assignment: The analysis process inevitably cannot be as neatly planned as textbooks might have us think. Nonetheless, envision how the process of analysis might proceed once the data has been collected for your project. What would the data look like if you were correct in your hypotheses? If you were incorrect? Bring hypothetical correct and incorrect tables/figures to class. How would your analysis process proceed after an initial failure?

Wed, Feb 25 Thinking about watersheds

Chris Navitsky, Lake George Waterkeeper

Mon, Mar 2 Resume Critiques/ Group Team Meetings Presentations of Data Analysis

Bring 5 copies of your resume and a red pen
Present preliminary data analysis

Discussion of adventures in data collection

Wed, March 4 Group Team Meetings Presentations of Data Analysis

* Present preliminary data analysis

* Draft of data analysis due, email to reviewers.

March 7-15 Spring Break – Study water issues in warmer climate

Monday, March 16 Conveying your research to the masses

· Why Bubba Can’t Swim?

· Making an Elevator Speech

Wednesday, March 18 Interdisciplinary Thinking Workshop

Project Connectivity Web
Peer Review of Data Analysis due!

Monday, March 23 Individual Team Meetings

Wednesday, March 25 Writing Well – Michael Marx

C. Wright Mills. 1959 On intellectual craftsmanship. Appendix to Sociological Imagination.
Read previous year’s capstone project TBD

Mon, March 30 Group Team Meetings

Wed, April 1 Thinking about watersheds

Joshua Gorman, Watershed Coordinator for Battenkill

Mon, April 6 Individual team meetings

Due Peer critique of results section

Wed, April 8 Presentation Workshop

Reading: Edward Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

Critique of last year’s Capstone Presentation

Mon, April 13 Group dry runs of team presentations

Draft of final paper due

Wed, April 15, Speaking Loudly

Guest speaker, Carol Anderson
Final version of results section

Friday, April 17, Peer critiques of final paper due

Mon, April 20 Dry runs of team presentations

Wed, April 22 Feedback on presentations

* Due Peer review of presentation

Mon, April 27 Dry runs of team presentations

FINAL PAPER DUE

Wed, April 29 Final thoughts

* Due opinion editorial

The final presentations are scheduled for Thursday, April 30 as part of Academic Festival.

May 4, *Due Archive of Data