2. Expand the teaching of environmental literacy.

Britt Carlson '04

The curriculum is where we formally teach ecological literacy. For the first 100 years of St. Olaf's existence, there were plenty of environmental studies, but nothing as formal as Environmental Studies. St Olaf's interdisciplinary program started in the 1987-88 school year, offering a concentration for our students. During the mid-1990s, student demand and faculty interest resulted in conversations that resulted in an Environmental Studies major, first offered in 1999-2000. In Spring 2004, the St. Olaf faculty awarded departmental status to Environmental Studies.

Students majoring in Environmental Studies can choose from three different tracks: Environmental Science, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities. All Environmental Studies majors build on a strong foundation of science (natural and social), arts and humanities, but they use cognate courses and electives to develop their own interests in Environmental Studies. All majors include an experiential component. And majors conclude their program with a topical capstone seminar, which explores contemporary environmental issues, and publishes their findings in web portfolios. Environmental Studies majors are ecologically literate, well-acquainted with the major environmental challenges of their time, and prepared to do something about them.

Environmental Studies offerings have been popular with St. Olaf students, as this table suggests (click to open in a new window).

During the 2003-04 school year, the college introduced a new course on Campus Ecology, and some new topics in existing courses. The Campus Ecology course was taught by Jim Farrell and senior student Elise Braaten as American Studies 210. Working with Charles Umbanhowar, Jr. and the Environmental Studies Department, we've established this offering in the curriculum as Environmental Studies 222. During the Interim, Paul Jackson's Environmental Chemistry class focused on green building materials, and students wrote reports that can be found here. Sheri Breen's Environmental Studies senior seminar explored the Cannon River watershed, and students presented their research on St. Olaf's local network here. Throughout the year, Gary Spessard and 30 students launched a new program in green chemistry, developing experiments for the Chemistry 253 (Organic Chemistry) that introduced students to environmental issues in chemistry with hands-on examples of imaginative scientific thinking. Experiments are designed to use water-based and non-toxic chemicals in a more efficient process that generates less waste, and limits exposure to hazardous fumes associated with conventional chemical experiments. A great success, the environmental practices were used the following semester in all sections of Chemistry 254, and are now standard practice in all sections of Chemistry 235 as well. In the short run, this program will teach St. Olaf students the principles and practice of Green Chemistry. In the long run, results are almost incalculable. Green chemistry reduces the need for fume hoods in laboratories, and will reduce costs of construction and maintenance for St. Olaf's new Science Complex. In the long run, thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Keck Foundation, it could influence the practice of chemistry in college and university labs, and in industry as well. Spessard, Bob Hanson and Paul Jackson are principal investigators for a grant that will communicate results to the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute, and Chemistry departments around the country. According to Katherine Reed, 3M's vice president for environmental, health and safety operations, the project will also prepare students in the workforce to "positively influence their organizations and the world." ¹

In addition, St. Olaf students completed independent studies on a variety of environmental topics: Landscapes of the Southwest, Natural History education, Forest Ecology, Cannon River Water Quality, Lake Sedimentation , Wren Research, Gene Flow of Fish, Nature and Faith, Advanced Nature Writing, Environmental Traditions, Ecotourism Ethics, Environmental Organizing, Environmental Philosophy, Ecological Psychology, Humans and Nature, Religion and Nature, and Ecotheology.

So far, there's no requirement for ecological literacy in the St. Olaf curriculum, and there's no coordinated effort to use the campus itself as a teaching text. Many classes, especially in Biology, use the college's natural lands. Often, students who travel in search of a global perspective also return home with ecological perspectives. But sometimes St. Olaf students still graduate with the same high level of environmental ignorance as people in the general population. And that's not good.

Extra-Curriculum

Elise Braaten '04 teaching the Campus Ecology course

Students can learn a lot about environmental issues outside formal classes, but the college hasn't emphasized extra-curricular activities with an environmental focus. In conjunction with the Campus Ecology class and the Sustainability task force, we used a one-time grant opportunity to bring a series of speakers to campus in Spring 2004. David Orr, author of Ecological Literacy , Earth in Mind and The Nature of Design came to share stories from Oberlin College . Nan Jenks-Jay came to share stories from Middlebury College in Vermont . St. Olaf Regents Larry Rasmussen and Tom Boldt came to add their perspectives on the theory and practice of sustainability at a church-related liberal arts college like St. Olaf.

Student organizations have also contributed to extra-curricular education about campus ecology. The Environmental Coalition, for example, has been a focus for some of these concerns, but it hasn't impacted most of our students yet.

We haven't yet introduced all our first-year students to campus ecology. We haven't emphasized their environmental responsibilities as members of the St. Olaf community. And we haven't tried to coordinate clubs and/or speakers to offer all our students a good introduction to ecological thinking.

¹ David Gonnerman, "New Grants Will Help St. Olaf Implement `Green' Science," at http://fusion.stolaf.edu/news/index.cfm?/
fuseaction=NewsDetails&id=2446