Interdisciplinary Watershed Studies Provide Science-Society Links
Abstract
Environmental issues typically occur at the intersection of traditional disciplines such as biology, geology, economics, public policy, and sociology, but many undergraduate students possess neither the tools nor the required interdisciplinary skills to effectively work together to address these complex issues. Our REU program--Interdisciplinary Watershed Studies at the College of William and Mary--with its common watershed theme, improves our students' independence as scientists, increases environmental science literacy across disciplines, and contributes to the educational development of undergraduates as environmental spokespersons. The cohort of students work with W&M faculty mentors on aquatic and associated upland habitats under increasing pressures from urbanization, posing questions integrated across disciplines to address relevant management issues identified by local government agencies and NGOs. Investigations of current hydrogeologic and ecological status in watersheds are completed by analyzing riparian corridor impacts associated with channel incision, stormwater management effectiveness, spatial variation in water quality, lake-wide budgets for water, sediment and nutrients, and population/community structure in aquatic and terrestrial portions of the watershed. Because the status of any watershed system is the result of historical changes in land use, sociologic and economic surveys of residents' perception of development, environmental protection and water and property rights are used to determine the current direction and strength of population and market forcing functions. Students work on each other's projects and develop an understanding of research approaches among fields. In addition to presenting their work at scientific conferences, many students give presentations at local meetings and agency workshops to enhance science-society links. Watershed analysis provides a comprehensive approach to environmental instruction that strengthens the synergy between undergraduate research and education and enhances environmental literacy.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUFMED31A1196C
- Keywords:
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- 0439 Ecosystems;
- structure and dynamics (4815);
- 0496 Water quality;
- 0810 Post-secondary education;
- 1860 Streamflow;
- 1879 Watershed