New APSU Biogeography Class to Take Students to Rocky Mountains
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 The base camp, consisting of a few tents and sleeping bags, will sit in a secluded valley, in the shadow of the 14,000-foot Blanca Peak in Colorado. At night, when the exhausted team of researchers returns from their 2,000-foot hike to get some rest, they鈥檒l have to bundle up to warm themselves against the cold air blowing down the mountain.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 The base camp, consisting of a few tents and sleeping bags, will sit in a secluded valley, in the shadow of the 14,000-foot Blanca Peak in Colorado. At night, when the exhausted team of researchers returns from their 2,000-foot hike to get some rest, they鈥檒l have to bundle up to warm themselves against the cold air blowing down the mountain.
鈥淓ven in the summer, there鈥檚 still snowpack on the mountain,鈥 Dr. Christopher Gentry, Austin Peay State University assistant professor of geography, said.
Gentry is leading an arduous trek into the Rocky Mountains this month, but his companions won鈥檛 be a group of experienced scientists. They鈥檒l be APSU undergraduate students enrolled in a new, one-of-a-kind course, 鈥淔ield Studies of Biogeography and Biodiversity.鈥
鈥淭his is a class I鈥檝e been trying to teach for two years,鈥 Gentry said. 鈥淚t is a true field course where students will spend a third of the semester in Colorado doing original research.鈥
The class, which runs from July 11 to Aug. 12, will have students spending two weeks on campus, studying biogeography concepts and training in the Foy Fitness and Recreation Center for their fieldwork. Then, on July 25, the class will load into two vans and head west to Colorado. Once they set up base camp, the students will spend 10 days hiking in the rugged, high altitude terrain, gathering data from weather stations or examining plant life, depending on their research.
鈥淏iogeography is a mixture of geography concepts, such as space and location, and biology,鈥 Gentry said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about plants and animals and all these concepts of space and location. It鈥檚 hard to conceptualize things you鈥檝e never seen. You have to go out into the field. And for us, as faculty, to make it as rich for the students as possible, you can鈥檛 go out on a day trip for an hour or two and come back.鈥
The problem with offering a class like this is that it often becomes financially prohibitive for students. In addition to paying their tuition, they must also pick up travel expenses for the long journey to Colorado.
鈥淚 put this class together in 2009 with Dr. Dwayne Estes (APSU assistant professor of botany), but it didn鈥檛 make,鈥 Gentry said. 鈥淧art of the problem was the travel. Then I read about the Student Academic Success Initiative (SASI) program that (APSU) President Tim Hall started, and I said, 鈥榯his is exactly what I鈥檝e been looking for.鈥欌
The initiative seeks to encourage student engagement within the academic community and to foster faculty-student interactions outside of the classroom. Since 2008, approximately 110 SASI grants鈥攖otaling $254,000鈥攈ave been funded by President Hall.
Gentry applied for a grant and late last year, he received enough money to take a summer class to Colorado.
鈥淭he SASI grant is funding 100 percent of the travel logistics for the students,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey have to pay their own tuition, but outside of that, the class is 100 percent paid for.鈥
When the students return on Aug. 5, they will compile the data they collected into a final project. As a requirement for the course, the students will create research posters to be presented at next April鈥檚 Research and Creativity Forum. Gentry said it will also prepare them for the next phase of their academic careers.
鈥淎 lot of our students want to go to grad school,鈥 Gentry said. 鈥淢ost thesis research doesn鈥檛 happen on the side of the road. In this class, they鈥檙e going to learn how to manage themselves in the field.鈥
For more information on the class, visit the course鈥檚 website http://apbrwww5.apsu.edu/betrlab/research/GEOG4650.htm or contact Gentry at 221-7478.