Environmental Stewardship - An Introduction

Just do it!

I started in the fall of 2015 teaching environmental stewardship for the first time.  Although I have been learning about stewardship and trying to be a good steward throughout my adult life, I've never before been able to devote myself to teaching stewardship as the sole class topic. Being able to focus on it exclusively was both daunting and rewarding!  I feel blessed to have been accompanied on this journey by an outstanding group of Hillsdale College students, six young people who set the bar for what will hopefully be an ongoing effort to systematically monitor and restore the Slayton Arboretum.  Dr. Barber began the journey of creating the Arboretum back in the early 1920's, so we had some big shoes to fill, but the current crop of students proved they were more than ready to step up to the bar! Click here to meet the gang!

I wanted to keep the class organic in nature, meaning that although we would study some basic preassigned background principles of stewardship, our topics and knowledge base would arise naturally, informed by our actual experiences and practice.  In pedagogical terms, this is known as praxis!

The basic class structure

The environmental stewardship seminar was comprised of four components: 

1.  Reading, contemplating and discussing the book, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.  Leopold's expansive prose and extensive stewardship experience stimulated our minds in both the cognitive and emotional spheres.

2.  Field trips to local places to fully engage our senses and give us real-life examples of how the concepts of stewardship are applied outside the classroom.  We toured the Arboretum, visited the Lost Nation State Game Area, canoed the St. Joseph River, and visited the Michigan Nature Association's Sand Creek Prairie Sanctuary.

3.  Basic science background knowledge which we would then apply to our chosen stewardship tasks.  This was where the "rubber met the road," the "doing" of the tasks, which involved thinking and planning, researching best practices, and physical skills.  These experiences were as varied as photographing deer signs, calling various regional arboretums to survey their deer management practices, seeking out manuals and stewardship guides, kitchen sink soil testing, and braving an early winter snowstorm to map the hillside. 

Students chose topics that most interested them and ones they thought would be most practical for the future focus of the class.  These decisions will have lasting impact on the future of the Arboretum.  The group wisely chose to focus on the hillside restoration of the witch hazel collection.  Thus their stewardship efforts unfolded in an area high on the priority list of the Arboretum's ten-year master plan and close to campus classrooms.  The area is discretely manageable yet full of complexity, presenting variable and highly relevant challenges. 

Students chose three project foci--evaluating and monitoring the soil, monitoring the vegetation, and monitoring and controlling deer browsing.  Taken together they represent the major issues involved in the restoration of the hillside witch hazel area. 

4.  Reflecting and sharing of our experiences with others.   Students presented their project results in a brown bag sharing session for the biology department at the end of the class.  Click here to view their findings!

• An Overview of Soil Stewardship for a Hillside in the Slayton Arboretum of Hillsdale College

Meet the Stewards - Fall 2015 Environmental Stewardship Class - Hillsdale College

L-R: Codi, Emily, Stacey, Mikalah, Mark, Lauren, Laurie

Codi Jo Broten is a senior Biology major from Montesano Washington! At Hillsdale she is heavily involved in the sciences, including serving as Conservation Club President. After graduation, she would like to attend graduate school to receive a masters degree with a focus in food science microbiology. She took Environmental Stewardship because she loves building a deeper connection with nature and learning how to serve as a steward to the earth!

Stacey Egger, is a sophomore from Saint Louis studying history and art history. She took Environmental Stewardship because of her love of the outdoors, specifically in bird watching and plant life, and her closet desire to be a biology major. She hopes to do some kind of museum work after college; her dream is to be a curator in an art museum. 

Lauren Melcher is a junior biology major from Tucson, Arizona. She is interested in environmental science as a career pathway, focusing on either water conservation, geology, or research on and development of biodegradable products. She took the class because she wanted to learn more about how to be an environmental steward, and expand her knowledge of the environment.

Mark Naida is from Monroe, Michigan. He is a sophomore majoring in French and English. He hopes to be a farmer. This class gave him a basis of knowledge of stewardship and permaculture which he plans on studying further.  

Emily Rinaldi is a sophomore Art major with a Biology minor from Reno, Nevada. She plans on attending graduate school for her doctorate in Occupational Therapy. She took Environmental Stewardship because of her love for the outdoors and her interest in the wildlife around her. 

Laurie Rosenberg  was the instructor for the Environmental Stewardship class.  She has her bachelor's degree in Natural Resources from Michigan State University and her masters from Grand Valley State University in Secondary Biology Education.  She has worked as a teacher, field biologist and natural and cultural history interpreter for over 30 years, for institutions as diverse as Valley Forge National Historical Park, Kimball YMCA Nature Center, the Public Museum of Grand Rapids, and several colleges prior to Hillsdale, including Slippery Rock University, Muhlenberg College, Temple University Ambler, and Northampton Community College.  

Mikalah Smith is from West Des Moines, Iowa.  She is a senior biology major hoping to attend veterinary school this coming fall.  Outside of the Stewardship class she is  involved with the biology and science honorary on campus, pre-veterinary club, as well as conservation club.  She is also a member of the Charger Swim Team.   

She was excited to be apart of this environmental stewardship class because she loves science and a chance to be outside of the classroom in nature! She is interested in conservation efforts and responsible use of land and resources.  From the education in this class she hopes to gain a foundation to make informed decisions and actions to aid in conservation efforts.  This experience has had an impact on her view of the natural world, both scientifically and philosophically, as she has learned to “think like a mountain.”