Community Based Learning
Public engagement and the classroom need not operate independently - in fact, we believe that community engagement enhances academic experiences and contributes to creating the active citizens and principled leaders of today and tomorrow. That's why we work with the McKeen Center to identify public engagement themes in our curriculum. Through courses that involve students directly in partnerships with community organizations, students learn to analyze and understand public issues and to place their commitments to service in context. As lines between the classroom and community become blurred, students see that learning is not static and that knowledge is the key to creating thoughtful change.
Fall 2008
- Watershed HydrologyCourse DescriptionProjectsGeology/ES 276 Watershed Hydrology initiated studies of the Androscoggin Lake and Dead River watersheds in Leeds and Wayne, Maine, which receive back-flooded water from the Androscoggin River during periods of high flow. The class investigated the flow dynamics of this complex system, as well as sources of nutrients and other pollutants to Androscoggin Lake, in order to provide additional information for adaptive management by governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders.
- Water Quality and Land Use in the Androscoggin Lake Watershed with Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Androscoggin Lake Improvement Corporation
- Water-Quality Dynamics Along the Dead River with Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Androscoggin Lake Improvement Corporation
- Flow Analysis of the Dead River with Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Androscoggin Lake Improvement Corporation
- Marine Environmental GeologyCourse DescriptionProjectsStudents conducted a series of studies investigating the water quality, sediments, and currents in Harpswell Sound. Harpswell Sound is an estuary in eastern Casco Bay known to have both early and especially toxic harmful algal blooms (red tides).
- Sediment Traps (Lumbos Hole) with Friends of Casco Bay, Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Sediment Traps (Bowdoin Buoy Facility) with Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Temperature, Salinity, & Density (southern Harpswell Sound) with Friends of Casco Bay, Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Temperature, Salinity, & Density (northern Harpswell Sound) with Friends of Casco Bay, Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Nutrients, Chlorophyll, and Dissolved Oxygen (southern Harpswell Sound) with Friends of Casco Bay, Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Nutrients and Chlorophyll (northern Harpswell Sound) with Friends of Casco Bay, Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Dissolved Oxygen (northern Harpswell Sound) with Friends of Casco Bay, Bowdoin Buoy Facility
- Developing Low-Tech Current Drifters with Friends of Casco Bay
- The Ecology and Environmental History of Merrymeeting BayCourse DescriptionProjects
Students collected data on anadromous fish in Merrymeeting Bay, and complemented this biological research with place based historical research. Their results are being made available for use by the Department of Marine Resources, The Nature Conservancy, and the Kennebec Estuary Collaborative with the goal of contributing to an ecological status report on the bay.
- Anadromous Fish Research Merrymeeting Bay with Nature Conservancy
- Environmental Policy and Politics Course DescriptionProjectsStudents in this course explored the role of recreation as one component of the environmental management of the Androscoggin River. Over the past four years, students in ES202 have engaged in community based research focusing on the river. This work has ranged from researching the status of regulations governing the river to assessing public perception of the river’s water quality. Through this research, students identified recreational assets as playing an important role in both forging connections to the river and as a facet of economic development for communities bordering the river. Building on this work, this semester’s class analyzed and assisted efforts to enhance recreational opportunities along the river corridor. Projects include assisting with the development of trail systems in Brunswick, Topsham and Lisbon, evaluating the possibility of implementing a water quality alert system, and assessing current users of recreational resources along the Androscoggin as a means of understanding how to better educate the public about these recreational resources.
- Brunswick Riverside Trail with Brunswick Planning Department
- Topham Androscoggin River Trail with Topsham Planning Department
- Dams and Recreation with Androscoggin Land Trust
- Lisbon Papermill Trail with Lisbon
- Recreational Use of the Androscoggin with Androscoggin Land Trust, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments
- Water Quality on the Androscoggin with Androscoggin Land Trust, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments
Find more Community based learning courses from previous semesters and in other disciplines on Bridges.
