Design, Implementation, and Assessment of an Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory

Abstract

In 1999 Shippensburg University established the Burd Run Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory. The Laboratory uses a local watershed to provide intensive undergraduate field training in the collection and analysis of environmental data, which are then compiled into a comprehensive statistical and spatial watershed database. Geographic information systems serve as the project's organizational focus, providing a powerful tool for data display, analysis and snaring. We emphasize a systems approach that links disciplinary perspectives across courses in geology, geography, biology, and teacher education. Important linkages among watershed characteristics, water quality, and aquatic ecology are emphasized over several semesters, allowing students to build and integrate scientific skills throughout their education using the watershed as a common case study. The Burd Run Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory provides an easily adaptable conceptual model for improving environmental science education at teaching-oriented institutions nationwide. Its success is largely attributable to three factors: (I) the project is student-centered and goal specific; (2) the selected watershed is accessible, diverse, and at a manageable scale; and (3) the 17-member Laboratory Advisory Board provides for continuous revision, adaptation, and improvement.