STARS Information:
- Credit Rationale: This credit recognizes institutions that offer sustainability-focused immersive experience programs.
- Environmental Benefits: Such programs give students the opportunity to witness and learn in-depth about sustainability challenges and solutions. These programs provide a memorable way for students to deepen and expand their knowledge of sustainability.
- Scoring: Institution earns 2 points for meeting the criteria outlined above.
CSU Channel Islands Summary:
Sustainability Immersive Experience:
CSU Channel Islands currently does offer sustainability-focused immersive experience programs.
CSU Channel Islands offers four sustainability immersive experience courses:
New Orleans
Environmental Science and Resource Management (ESRM) 492 Trip to New Orleans is an interdisciplinary program designed for students interested in environmental topics. It provides education and exposure to both scientific and human aspects of environmental issues. The work portion of the trip involves working on wetland restoration projects in Belle Chase’s Woodlands Trail and Park, one of the few remnant bottomland hardwood forests surrounding Greater New Orleans.
Mexico
University 392 Mexican Mangroves and Wildlife offers a one of a kind experience for students in La Manzanilla, Mexico. Students are engaged in the collection and release of Olive Ridley sea turtles, mist netting and banding birds in dry tropical forest, and water quality monitoring in nearby Estero El Chorro.
Japan
Students enrolled in University 392 Technology in Japan study Japanese horticulture, the atomic bomb, earthquakes, the Kyoto Protocol/climate change, “green” building design, the shinkansen (bullet train), and heavy industry/manufacturing. Students also interact with science professors and graduate students at Kyoto University in Japan.
Alaska
Lastly, CI offers Biology/Political Science 345 Climate Change and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In Alaska, students investigate evidence of the impacts of climate change and study the vegetation, wildlife, and geology of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from a wilderness base camp on the Kongakut River. Students also tour the Prudhoe Bay oil fields on Alaska’s north slope, talk with residents of the Gwich’in community of Arctic Village and the Inupiat village of Kaktovik, hike in the boreal forest, and visit the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Information Received From:
Dan Wakelee, Associate Dean of the Faculty
Learn More:
To learn more about these four Sustainability Immersive Experiences, contact the following faculty:
ESRM 492 Trip to New Orleans: Sean Anderson, Sean.Anderson@csuci.edu.
University 392 Mexican Mangroves and Wildlife: Donald Rodriguez, Donald.Rodriguez@csuci.edu; and Bradley Monsma, Bradley.Monsma@csuci.edu.
University 392 Technology in Japan: Simone Aloisio, Simone.Aloisio@csuci.edu.
Biology/Political Science 345 Climate Change and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Amy Denton, Amy.Denton@csuci.edu; and Scott Frisch, Scott.Frisch@csuci.edu.