Perspectives, practitioners, and purpose: Infusing a pedagogy of place in an undergraduate watershed management course

Abstract:

Undergraduate geoscience and natural resource management students desire employable skills that can immerse them in jobs or graduate training related to their majors. Career trajectories for undergraduate Natural Resource Management majors at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) typically fall into four categories: tribal, state, and federal agencies; non-profit organizations; industries, and academia. Preparing students for each of these potential paths is possible through a central focus--place-based learning--and a fluid pedagogy that pairs student with practitioner. In the fall 2019 “Introduction to Watershed Management” course, eleven undergraduate students explored local watershed restoration and water quality monitoring efforts through four threads that mirror their typical career trajectories. Students toured a US Fish and Wildlife Service-led channel restoration project; planned and implemented a non-point source pollution education event with middle school students in partnership with a local non-profit; assessed stream bank erosion best management practices with a local environmental contractor, and designed and conducted semester-long Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) student research investigations with guidance from three faculty researchers in different geoscience fields. Through a “Meet-the-Scientist” session with a NASA hydrology researcher and K-12 students from an Alaska Native community, undergraduates served as role models while realizing how their local GLOBE science research data contributed to global models. We will share student learning outcomes and perspectives. Student co-author Will Samuel sums up the place-based pedagogy in this course and at the University of Alaska Fairbanks: “one of the things I love about UAF is the many opportunities for on-the-ground work that leads towards careers.”