Transcript Environmental Leadership Program Spring 2009

Promoting Civic Engagement in
Sustainability and Conservation:
Environmental Leadership Program
and Other Opportunities
Peg Boulay, Kathryn Lynch, and Alan Dickman
OUS Sustainability Conference
February 28, 2011
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Interdisciplinary
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Embraces complexity, root causes
Awareness to action
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physical, natural, and cultural environment
prepare & inspire students to contribute solutions —
humanistic, social, scientific, and political — that will
help protect and preserve our world
Civic engagement
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Community-Classroom Connections
Internships
Environmental Leadership Program
Classroom-Community Connections
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Goal: infuse civic engagement opportunities
throughout the ENVS/ESCI curriculum.
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Intentionally sequenced moments of service, building
level of engagement through majors
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Enhance and illustrate course concepts
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Inspire students to get involved
Classroom-Community Connections
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Design
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Appropriate for course level
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Tied to course content, includes reflection
Examples:
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Social Science (200-level) – email comments on issue, bike use audit,
attend City of Eugene’s climate change plan meetings
Natural Science (200-level) – restoration plantings, invasives
Humanities (200-level) – Food for Lane County gardens, oral histories,
interactive public art
Law (400-level) – submit comments on current issue through public
comments process
Communication (400-level) – create communications plan and
products
Resources & Opportunities
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Consulting and support
for faculty
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“How to” handouts:
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Writing letters to the editor
Writing OpEd pieces
Giving effective public
testimony
Finding your elected
representatives
Writing representatives letters
“How to stay involved”
Impact
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“I have previously not done
much environmental community
service work. It was very
fulfilling.”
“We devoted an entire lecture and an
out of class reading article on the
history of the Willamette Valley, and
here in front of me was an example of
the current status of just a small
section of this complex valley. This
just deepened my understanding and
concern for the area.”
“As I dug hole after hole, it reminded
me of our lessons on agriculture and
more specifically on soil…. All in all
the day was a success and I’m glad
for this assignment because it is
something I know I would never have
done myself.”
Successes and Lessons Learned
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Tie to class content, reflection
Preparation and logistics
Time
Internships
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Students
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Fulfills “Practical Learning
Experience” major
requirement
Requires initiative
~120 hours
Reflection assignments
Community Partners
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Needs to be collaborative
Optional proposal form
Current Interns (Winter 2011)
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17 students working on:
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Environmental education
Habitat restoration
Sustainable agriculture
Pesticide reduction
Alternative energy
Hydrology monitoring
Non-profit management/outreach
Transportation planning
Policy/advocacy (salmon conservation)
Environmental health
Environmental
Leadership Program
(ELP)
Mission & Audiences
Program Overview
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Integrated into majors
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Competitive
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Fulfills 1-2 major
requirements, including PLE
Interdisciplinary
Application & interview
process
Prerequisites
Focus on professional skills
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Leadership, communication,
collaboration, research
ELP Team Structure
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4-10 undergraduates (Jrs/Srs)
 120 hours of service each
 Role: complete project
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1 Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF)
 160 hours of service
 Role: project manager
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ELP Co-Director
 Role: develop, fund, and
supervise projects; train students;
support GTFs and team;
administration; quality control
Project Implementation - Timeline
Fall
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finalize plans w/partners
recruit teams
assign grad students to teams
develop projects for following year
fundraise
Winter
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preparatory methods course
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meet community partners
visit field sites
Spring
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teams in the field, produce
products
Environmental Leadership
Program- 2011
Preparation and Quality Control
Reflection and Evaluation
Partnerships and Funding
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Wide continuum
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Highly engaged to hands-off
Diverse funding
mechanisms
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University support (~1/2)
Joint grant applications
Gifts
Contracts for specific work
Challenges
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Funding
Coordination of complex partnerships
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Setting clear expectations
Establishing clear communication channels
Ensuring buy-in for the educational aspect
Scheduling! Logistics!
“ELP provided me with a unique and
valuable opportunity for me to get
real-world, real-life experience doing
actual field work that directly leads
into what I want to do with my career
after college.”
-Ben Teton, Turtle Monitoring’08
“Be prepared for a heavy workload,
however it is the most rewarding and
inspiring thing I have done here at
UO.”
-Daniel Soule, X-Stream Team ’08.
Questions? Ideas?
For more info:
Katie Lynch
541-346-5070
klynch @uoregon.edu
Peg Boulay
541-346-5945
boulay @uoregon.edu
Alan Dickman
541-346-2549
adickman @uoregon.edu