�� - NREM

Service Learning Trip to Uganda - Spring Break 2025

sfine — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 13:13:13 +0000

Currently Unavailable

Uganda

Program Director(s):

Program dates are tentative and subject to change

This spring break service learning program to Uganda will offer students the opportunity to become familiar with the ISU programs and enable students to directly contribute to improving the quality of life of the people of Kamuli, particularly women and children. Students will spend several days working at primary schools and with local communities in the Kamuli District on agroforestry - establishing woodlots, creating school gardens, working with mothers and children on nutrition and health at Nutrition Education Centers, with livestock farmers on feeding and housing, and with post-harvest handling programs on food preservation and storage at schools.

3 credits of GLOBE 4960 or NREM 4960A during spring semester

This program is typically offered every spring break.

Important Note Regarding Missing Classes
Please note that participation on some travel courses require you to be away from campus for some school days. The College of Agriculture & Life Sciences tries to minimize the number of days missed for this purpose, but in some events, the inflexibility of the travel schedule prevents us from working completely within our breaks. Should you choose to enroll in a travel course that requires missing some class(es) on campus, you will need to contact your instructor directly to inquire whether or not arrangements can be made to make up this class work and/or exams. The CALS �� office can provide you with a letter explaining the dates of the trip. However, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor to determine the potential impact on your grade before signing up for a �� program. The instructor is responsible for determining the impact of any absence from class.

Thursday, March 13, 2025 to Monday, March 24, 2025

Department:

NREM, GLOBE

Type of Travel:

Travel Course

Application Deadline:

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Semester:

Spring

Learn more!

Year:

2025

Into the woods: Ethics class immerses students in conservation

mmgrant — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:46:05 +0000

Students participating in the SOC 234: Conservation Ethics & Values Study USA trip have the opportunity to learn about conservation in an immersive atmosphere.

By Madelyn Ostendorf

When you think about taking an ethics class, how do you picture it? Are you in the middle of the woods, sitting around a campfire, discussing the writings of environmental authors like Wallace Stegner or Sigurd Olsen? In Shawn Dorius’ SOC 234: Conservation Ethics & Values class, that’s exactly what your classroom looks like.

During the two-week summer session, students get an up close and personal view of the history of conservation in America and contrast conservation in the Midwest and Mountain West. Using the Rod & Connie French Conservation Education Camp as a home base, students in this Study USA field course travel all over the state of Montana and the surrounding region.

Montana is a great place to consider the ethical dimensions of conservation, as students explore some of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in the state and two of the most popular parks in the national park system. In addition to daily readings and hikes, the course has several service-learning days where participants can actively contribute to conservation efforts in a national forest. Students also camp in Yellowstone National Park, backpack in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area, and explore the Great Burn Wilderness Study Area.

The course aims to take students to over 10 national and state forests, wilderness areas and parks as they road-trip to and from the French Conservation Camp, nestled deep in Lolo national forest.

“Signing up for the trip to Montana was pretty impulsive, but it was one of the best decisions I have made during college,” said Sydney Pottebaum, senior in environmental science. “People from different majors across the university signed up. The class size was small, just seven students, one teaching assistant and Dr. Dorius, allowing us to form good relationships and really get involved in all the activities.”

All students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences must take an ethics course, and Dorius, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice, saw an opportunity to offer students a somewhat different engagement with ethics.

“As I look across the list of college ethics courses, most are delivered on campus and in the conventional classroom setting, with great reading material and student discussion,” Dorius said. “What is underrepresented in our ethics offerings are experiential courses that move students into the contexts where ethic issues are most apparent and challenging. It’s one thing to read about water conservation in the Mountain West, and another entirely to see desert ecology and the vast network of reservoirs and canals developed and administered by the Bureau of Reclamation. Experiential learning is a wonderful way to enable students to engage in the ethical dimensions of conservation.”

Students choose a project topic that aligns with their major, career plans or their personal interests, and use the course readings and field experience to develop that project into something meaningful and impactful. To develop their project, students consult field notes that captured their thoughts, feelings, observations, interviews and experiences while on the trip. The course is flexible in its requirements, allowing students to highlight any topic of interest and to present their findings in a variety of formats.

“The conservation space is quite large,” Dorius said. “The students’ backgrounds are quite diverse. I had one physics student who was really interested in astronomy. He did an excellent policy brief on the night sky, the loss of access to light and the dark sky movement. He dove into the impacts of overexposure to light on wildlife and human health and produced a number of actionable recommendations to bend the curve toward protection of night sky.”

Another student created an engaging infographic about pikas, an endangered species which have lost more than a third of their natural North American habitat. Another project focused on Native Americans and their access to public lands. The goal of these projects is to help students create something meaningful they can take with them, beyond great memories and photographs.

“Many of the challenges we're trying to tackle in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences converge around the concepts of sustainability and conservation, extending to farming practices, wildlife management, land policy, and the human dimensions that weave through it all,” Dorius said. “Stepping outside of the classroom for just a few weeks and leaving behind the hum and hustle of modern urban life enables students to connect to the natural world and develop what Aldo Leopold referred to as an ecological conscience. That’s a magical part of the undergraduate experience at Iowa State.”

Students from any college or major are welcomed to enroll, and applications are due by April 14 for this year’s travel course.

Original story posted, https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/2024/woods-ethics-class-immerses-stude....

Tags:

Conservation Ethics & Values

Sociology 234 - Conservation Ethics & Values

Montana

Shawn Dorius

Author(s):

Hiking Tour of Chile: Cultures, Forests, Volcanoes, and Wildlife - Spring Break

nicolerh — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 17:23:02 +0000

Currently Unavailable

Chile

Program Director(s):

Kevin Roe

Program dates and itinerary are tentative and subject to change

This course will focus on the unique natural and cultural history of the Lakes and Volcanoes district of south-central Chile, including unique volcanic and coastal landscapes, endemic forests and wildlife, hot springs, and the indigenous Mapuche people and their customs.

During the Spring Break visit, we will hike and observe how recent volcanic eruptions have shaped landscapes and forests. We will also visit Truful-Truful Canyon and its beautiful waterfalls. Other stops include hikes to several mountain lakes and national parks formed by volcanic and glacial activity.

On several of these trips, we will have excellent chances to observe animals and plants along our hikes that are endemic to this region, such as the Magellan Woodpecker, old-growth Araucaria forests (i.e., monkey puzzle trees), and ancient alerces forests (i.e., Patagonian cypress up to 2000 years old).

We will tour other natural sites and learn about the indigenous Mapuche people and their ancient traditions, including cooking on an open fire and dinner in a teepee (ruka). The trip includes a visit to soak in geothermal springs, a walk through caves formed from ancient lava tubes, and the ascent of an active volcano. While hiking along the Pacific coast, you will tour the Valdivian Coastal Reserve developed with the help of the Nature Conservancy, and dine on local seafood.

This program is tentatively being planned for spring break in 2026. The last program was offered in spring 2024.

Thursday, March 12, 2026 to Sunday, March 22, 2026

Department:

Natural Resource Ecology and Management

Type of Travel:

Travel Course

Application Deadline:

Saturday, November 1, 2025

Semester:

Spring

More Details Here

Year:

2026

Informational Meeting: Natural History of Antarctica

nicolerh — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 14:04:11 +0000

Monday, January 30, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location:

541 Science II

Tags:

Natural History of Antarctica

Alternate URL:

/programs/natural-history-antarctica

Informational Meeting: Natural History of Antarctica

nicolerh — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:56:00 +0000

Tuesday, January 24, 2023 - 10:00am to 11:00am

Location:

541 Science II

Tags:

Natural History of Antarctica

Alternate URL:

/programs/natural-history-antarctica

Informational Meeting: Natural History of Antarctica

nicolerh — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:54:00 +0000

Thursday, February 2, 2023 - 5:00pm to 6:00pm

Location:

541 Science II

Location: 541 Science II

Tags:

Natural History of Antarctica

Alternate URL:

/programs/natural-history-antarctica

Natural History of Antarctica - Winter Break

sfine — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 15:33:57 +0000

Currently Unavailable

Antarctica

Program Director(s):

Stephen Dinsmore
Julie Blanchong

Students will travel to Antarctica through Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. They will spend 12 days on a ship exploring the Weddell Sea, Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. Throughout the duration of the trip, while on the ship and during daily excursions to the continent, expedition leaders and lecture staff will guide students in viewing wildlife like whales, a huge variety of seabirds, penguins, and seals. Students will explore the icebergs, mountains and waterways of Antarctica's geography.

This program travels every 3 years. The program was last offered in fall 2023 with travel taking place over winter break 2023-2024. Program is tentatively planned for fall 2026 with travel during winter break 2026-2027.

Saturday, January 2, 2027 to Saturday, January 16, 2027

Department:

NREM

Type of Travel:

Travel Course

Application Deadline:

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Semester:

Fall

More Details Here

Year:

2026