Nov. 3, 2009 issue

I went back to school to get my doctorate because I was at a point where I wanted to live a life with no differentiation between work and play. Teaching geography, the bridging discipline between the arts and sciences, fit that bill for me. Everything I do now is oriented toward making my classes better, filling them with information, passion and enthusiasm. I want to stimulate my students and let them see how sustainable geography can add to whatever they study.

For the past three years, I have infused sustainability into every class because it affects the world our students will be entering. We need to educate our students to see the exciting opportunities ecological and sustainable thinking offers. We now have a sustainable development general education course and, next semester, we'll be adding a sustainable cities course. I'm also working on a sustainability workshop for faculty.

I've written a regional geography textbook, which will be coming out next year. The book integrates humans, ecology and the sustainable options that make our world a better place for everyone.

I am working on making the online portions of my courses more interactive. On a recent trip to Vermont to learn what other schools are doing about sustainability, I worked with my students through an online blog. As I traveled around the state, I entered information about Vermont settlements and the students responded with comments and questions. I've done this before and the students really like it and learn a lot.

I'm also involved in making the campus more bike-friendly with the Bikes EMU program. We're gathering donated bikes and fixing them up. Soon, students will have a more sustainable means of transportation to use on campus and around town. — Contributed by Lisa Donovan

 

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