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Student Field Experience and Research
Each student in Environmental Studies takes three core
courses. Each of these courses makes learning outside the
classroom a priority. Here are some examples of what we
have done just in the last few years.
In Environmental Studies 100: Visions of Nature students have
- Hiked and backpacked along the Laurel Highlands Trail
- White water rafting in OhioPyle
- Visited Frant Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater
- Hiked the Appalachian Trail in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
- Canoed and water-tested on the Susquehanna River
- Gone out dredging on the Chesapeake Bay on a fishing boat
- Hiked old-growth forest in Cook Forest
- Observed Pennsylvania’s elk herd in Elk County
- Visited with bats at the annual Environmental Studies BBQ at Canoe Creek State Park
In Environmental Studies 200: Methods in Environmental Studies
- Students complete an annual team-building weekend at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center
- Students learn real-world skills such as grant-writing, statistical analysis and the interpretation of cultural artifacts
- Form student teams to complete a class research project and then present their findings to the entire class
- Create research projects that, each year, contribute to the ongoing “ecological footprint” to understand Penn State Altoona’s impact and influence on the environment
Environmental Studies 400 is organized around a different topic each year. During the last few years in this course, students have:
- Traveled to Bulgaria to study the implications and difficulties of creating global policies associated with global warming and sustainable development
- Traveled to the Chesapeake Bay to learn about our place in the Bay’s watershed
- Completed and partially implemented a watershed management plan for the Spring Run watershed, Blair County, PA
- Completed a feasibility study for the construction of a hiking trail up Wopsy Mountain, which is located just off the PSU Altoona campus
- Visited and analyzed new park policies implemented at the Gettysburg National Military Park.
Often, students have created their own field or research projects for additional course credit. Some of these projects include:
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT): monitoring turtle crossings, bat populations, conducting environmental assessments
- Clearwater Conservancy
- Assisting with research on the state endangered northern flying squirrel
- Ecology of eastern chipmunks in human modified environments
- Wetland delineation and monitoring on Penn State Altoona's campus
- Storm water discharge into Spring Run, Penn State Altoona
- Construction and maintenance of Water Garden, Penn State Altoona
- Field experience in Peru
- Culture and ecology of Pennsylvania deer hunting
- Charting the history of Altoona’s public water system
- Transportation and the development of Central Pennsylvania
- Study of
invasive species in the Great Lakes
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