The Northfield Environmental Community:
Scientific Expertise, Local Knowledge and Collaboration
in Environmental Decision-Making

This capstone seminar examines the ecological implications of environmental decision-making. To do so, we focus on the connections between scientific expertise, local knowledge and collaboration as communities such as Northfield seek to address environmental problems.

Our analysis of environmental problems and problem-solving is vigorously interdisciplinary, drawing on our knowledge in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Identifying and understanding ecological problems is an important aspect of our study of the environment, but this course demands that we continue to address one more question: How do we—experts, citizens and policymakers—come together in a democratic society and find workable solutions?

Collaborative Research Projects

Holly Brown: God, the Environment and Community Perspectives on Urbanization in Northfield

Tim De Chant: Northfield Habitat Corridors

Katie Harrod: Building Community in Northfield

A.J. Hatch: Rice County Development and the Fate of Wetland Survival

Emily Hestness: Shifting the Balance between Urban and Rural Northfield: The Role of the Northfield News as a Forum for Community Discussion of Commercial Development Issues from the 1970s to 1990s

Caleb Kasper: Northfield, MN, and Development: The Roadmap of a Changing Community

Kenny Knight: Land Use and Cultural Eutrophication of Surface Water in Rice County, MN

Aaron Peterson: Northfield Environmental Resources

Chris Stillion: Community Vision Quest: Wind Energy and Community-Building in Northfield

Peter Streit: An Introduction to Agriculture from the Farmers' Perspectives

Patrick Thomas: Building Bridges: St. Olaf College Environmental Studies Program as an Internship Resource for the Northfield Community

Senior Portfolios

An important part of our senior capstone seminar is an electronic portfolio that illustrates our learning and development as environmental studies majors/concentrators. This portfolio encouraged us to examine what we have done and how have we changed, both intellectually and personally, through our studies of the scholarship of the environment across the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences disciplines. The portfolio assignment asks us to pursue two intertwined goals:

• Integrative thinking, which encourages us to notice and construct coherent relationships among the different parts of our work within this major/concentration.
• Reflective thinking, which urges us to re-examine our intellectual and personal growth through the unfolding of our environmental studies major/concentration.

If you are on a computer connected to the St. Olaf local area network, then continue on to the portfolios.

Front (left to right): Tim De Chant, A.J. Hatch and Kenny Knight. Back (left to right): Caleb Kasper, Katie Harrod, Patrick Thomas, Aaron Peterson, Peter Streit, Holly Brown, Chris Stillion and Emily Hestness.

Course instructor: Sheri Breen, Department of Political Science

Please note that all original work residing on St. Olaf servers is © 2003 St. Olaf College.

Web page designed by Tim De Chant, May 2003