Campus Ecology Examination: Exploring the Environmental Impact of Academic Settings
In the heart of Princeton University, Artemis Eyster '19 is leading a unique and insightful course, GEO 90_F2017, titled "Analyzing Ecological Integrity: An Assessment of Princeton's Natural Areas." This self-designed course is a shining example of the University's commitment to engaging students deeply with academic research methods and critical analysis within specific fields.
The course, which is part of the "Research-based Courses" section, follows a standard model that involves five key components:
- Identifying a Specific Research Theme: The focus of GEO 90_F2017 is on ecological integrity, an interdisciplinary subject that requires a nuanced understanding of ecological systems and metrics.
- Curating Scholarly Readings: Artemis has selected key academic articles, data sets, and reports that provide foundational knowledge as well as contemporary research issues, allowing students to engage with current scientific discourse critically.
- Establishing Research Skills Emphasis: The course is designed to teach not just content but research methodologies — for example, statistical analysis, ecological sampling, and data interpretation — often supported by resources like Princeton’s Social Science Research Center (SRC) that offers guidance on study design, instrument development, and data processing.
- Facilitating Research Discussions and Projects: Students discuss readings in seminars, develop their own research questions, analyze data, and often produce their own research outputs or papers, applying the skills learned.
- Faculty Mentorship and Integration: The course is typically guided by faculty who have expertise in the field, integrating their own research insights and mentorship. In this case, Artemis is assisted by GEO Professor Adam Maloof and WRI Professor Amanda Irwin-Wilkins.
Artemis finds the experience of creating and leading this course to be uniquely rewarding, empowering her to identify something important and then go make it happen. The class aims to record baseline measurements and design methodologies so that future student researchers have a strong framework they can expand upon either in classes or independent work.
Eight students are enrolled in the course and are working on field research projects such as measuring the bathymetry of Lake Carnegie, gauging water-quality in campus streams, and surveying invasive plant species in campus woodlands. Artemis finds the class going well, but finds it hard to let go of the feeling of personal responsibility for its success.
Alec Getraer, Natural Sciences Correspondent, shares Artemis' experience as a lesson for all students. Reflecting on what makes research meaningful to oneself can help identify academic goals and make the Princeton experience more rewarding.
However, setting up the reading course was relatively easy with a good idea and faculty support, but compiling University data for comparison to current fieldwork measurements was challenging and time-consuming, requiring a significant amount of personal effort. The article does not provide any new information about the purpose or goals of the AEI course or any new specific projects or findings from the class.
The purpose of AEI is to better understand Princeton's natural areas through rigorous scientific research and to articulate relevant land-use recommendations to the University. The course centers around geological and ecological field research on Princeton's campus, with the hope that as the final product comes together, they will feel better about the class's success.
