Tag: Katie Lynch

Environmental Leadership Program: Restoring Connections

Presenter: Armon Ashoubi − Environmental Studies

Co-Presenter(s): Riley Roefaro, Emily O’Brien, Kaylie Smith

Faculty Mentor(s): Meredith Jacobson, Katie Lynch

(In-Person) Oral Panel—Covering Covid

The COVID-19 lockdown has caused children to look at their iPads instead of their local environment, creating gaps in their outdoor education. Through a combination of field trips and in-class lessons, our leadership team brought environmental education to over 200 elementary students in Eugene. Our lessons worked to dismantle barriers that prevented students from fostering stewardship and discovering the magic of nature. Field trips included games that introduced students to focal species and animal senses. Students were also given individual journaling time, which connected person to place and encouraged deep reflection on the surrounding environment. Our desire to create awareness and knowledge of the environment and its associated problems has been met. The outcomes of our lessons show that students built a relationship with the outdoors and established a sense of care toward nature. Students showed empathy for wildlife by constructing fairy houses and removing invasive species from the area. We also saw students identify motivating species and distinguish between various habitats within an ecosystem. Throughout lessons this term, we made a difference in our community while strengthening our own environmental education skills. In this technological era, it is important for youth to have access to the outdoors so that care and concern for the world can be established. With this, there is hope the advocation of nature will increase and create positive environmental action.

Environmental Leadership Program: Youth Climate Science/Climate Justice Education and Discovery

Presenter: Max Arquilevich − Environmental Studies

Co-Presenter(s): Kira Domzalski, Naomi Meyer, Sydney Aston

Faculty Mentor(s): Katie Lynch

(In-Person) Oral Panel—Learning from the Environment

Immersed among ancient trees deep in the Cascades lay the teachings of climate science and justice. The Climate Team in the Environmental Leadership Program introduced environmental education to middle school students by facilitating hands-on outdoor experiences in H.J Andrews, a world-renowned experimental old-growth forest. We discussed and showcased climate change evidence via four lessons: Phenology, Forest Plots, Microclimates, and Climate Justice. Through these lessons, students developed an understanding of the intersectional ways in which they can study climate change, and participate in solutions. As the seventh graders gained knowledge on plant identification, data collection/analysis, environmental inequity, and impacts on microclimates, we acquired experience in teaching, lesson planning, communication, and teamwork. By conducting hands-on research in the Forest, the middle schoolers gained applied science skills and basic climate change literacy, all while working as a team to analyze scientific data, graph, and draw conclusions about climate change’s impact on the forest and the world around them. By empowering young students with these skills and knowledge, the Climate Team paved the way for future environmental stewardship, taking action against climate change one student at a time as they grow to become tomorrow’s leaders.

University of Oregon’s Environmental Leadership Program: Critters and Currents Environmental Education Team

Presenter: Makenzie Shepherd

Mentor: Katie Lynch

Poster: 30

Major: Environmental Studies

The prominence of technology and urbanization in the 21st century has established a concrete distinction between the urban and natural worlds. Younger generations, increasingly disengaged and separated from their local natural environments, are exhibiting symptoms of what is colloquially called “nature-deficit disorder.” Marked by rising levels of ADD/ADHD, obesity, depression, and muted creativity, nature-deficit disorder reflects a concerning trend that will accelerate if not immediately and holistically addressed. As the 2014 Critters and Currents team of the Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon, it is our mission to bridge the gap between youth in Eugene, OR and their environment by inspiring them to form connections with the McKenzie River Watershed. Our place-based environmental education curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning by providing creative, collaborative, and physically active lessons that challenge our students to engage the senses and think critically about the local environment and our interdependence with it. Scavenger hunts, field journaling, and storytelling are all activities that empower our students with the attitudes, skills, knowledge, and confidence to create and maintain a strong bond with nature. It is crucial that younger generations restore this connection because our youth have the potential to transform the ways in which our society views and interacts with nature. The Critters & Currents curriculum promotes environmental awareness, inspires respect and compassion for the natural world, and encourages positive environmental action now and in the future.

Creating a Sense of Place Along the McKenzie River

Presenter: Kaley McCarty

Co-Presenters: Sierra Druley, Shahnaz Mooney, Forrest Hirsh

Mentor: Katie Lynch

Poster: 11

Major: Environmental Studies 

Across cultures, storytelling is an ontological tool that connects people to each other and to the natural world. Stories forge a cognitive and sensory link between people and place as they are shared within a community and across generations. Although science can be an important tool in understanding what makes a place ecologically significant, it alone cannot inspire love and stewardship. Storytelling brings us into emotional and sensory conversation with place, augmenting empirical learning to compel us to care for and protect our environment. The River Stories project, as part of the Environmental Leadership Program, aims to harness the power of storytelling to bring the Eugene area and the University of Oregon into closer conversation with the many facets of our sole water source: the McKenzie River. The McKenzie River watershed is home to a unique mix of wildlife, natural landscapes, and human cultures. The River Stories team is focused on gathering and showcasing stories about the McKenzie River from the perspective of the people who live there.

Using a mix of photography, text, audio and video, the team seeks to understand the McKenzie River through the eyes of people who know it intimately. For example, Faith Davie crossed the river in a rowboat every morning to get to school in the 1920s. By bringing these stories into focus, the team hopes to serve the existing McKenzie River community (both human and ecological), and to expand the network of stewards who care for this river. We are working in conjunction with community partners, including the McKenzie River Drift Boat Museum and the Lane County Historical Museum, to further these goals. Stories about the river and its history will be displayed through public art installations, including a showcase at the Lane County Historical Museum, throughout the summer and fall of 2014.

Reflections on Water, a Photographic Narrative of the McKenzie Watershed from Top to Tap

Presenter: Nicole Zavoshy

Co-Presenters: Anya Vollstedt, Chancee Stumpf, Riley Fortier, Sulley Schuster

Faculty Mentor: Katie Lynch, Peg Boulay

Presentation Type: Poster 91

Primary Research Area: Fine/Performance Arts

Major: Biology, Environmental Science

Funding Source: Anonymous Donor

Reflections on Water is a team of nine students who were inspired by the beauty of the McKenzie River Watershed. This interdisciplinary project of the Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon showed an interest of photographing and encouraging people to reflect upon their relationship with their water source.
Did you know Eugene gets its drinking water from the McKenzie River? Beginning at the headwaters of the McKenzie River at Great Spring and Clear Lake, the Reflections Team captured the journey of the McKenzie as it traveled underground, over cliffs, past dams, and through an intensive filtration process before being distributed throughout the city of Eugene. With cameras in hand, the Reflections on Water Team sought to illuminate the beauty, recreational opportunities, and resources that these waters provide. We hope to inspire personal connections, instill understanding, and encourage people to experience the river for themselves.

Environmental Education: Restoring A Sense of Place

Presenter(s): Eleanor Williams

Co Presenter(s): Brittany Calabria, Chloe Johnson, Hannah Schmidt, Cameron Wallenfels, Savannah Winchell

Faculty Mentor(s): Katie Lynch

Oral Session 4 C

Interactive environmental education has proven to enhance emotional health, academic success, and physical development. By cultivating a sense of place early on, kids can apply critical thinking through unique teaching techniques to discover the importance of conservation efforts. The Restoring Connections team is a part of the Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon that collaborates with Mt. Pisgah Arboretum and Adams Elementary School to develop an outdoor field trip curriculum for elementary students. Our mission is to engage students with nature through a place-based environmental education approach incorporating pre-trip lessons and outdoor field trip experiences three times a year. Our curriculum focuses on woodland, wetland, and riparian habitats with three different local focal species for each grade. Goals that are central to our curriculum include discussion of the effects and impact of seasonal changes, habitat restoration through stewardship projects and developing a general respect and appreciation for the environment. Through completion of this program we intend to create a classroom culture that incorporates DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion) and engaged pedagogy principles; enabling students to connect to the environment at Mt. Pisgah and empower the students to use their learned knowledge to create a long-lasting, meaningful connection to the world around them. We will be exposing 15 K-4th grade classrooms, a total of 450 students, to the wonders of Mt. Pisgah’s natural ecosystems. At the end of this program students will be well versed in environmental problems and apply knowledge to investigate, plan, and create a sustainable future.