Muddy Creek Project: Evolution of a Field-based Research and Learning Collaborative, The

Journal of Geoscience Education, Mar 2006 by LaSage, Danita M, Jones, Alice, Edwards, Tom

ABSTRACT

For three years an on-going multidisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach collaboration has focused on the Muddy Creek Watershed in east-central Kentucky. At the core of the effort is a three-way partnership among a geologist, a geographer, and a biologist-two academic, one a state agency representative. The collaboration frequently includes additional academic partners, nonprofit and community members, and government agency personnel. It has produced graduate and undergraduate student learning experiences from individual student field projects, a course redesigned to include a major class project, and the incorporation of additional field-based components into existing coursework. Logistical and financial challenges require creativity to overcome. We advocate institutional mechanisms supporting interdisciplinary collaboration, such as funding incentives for field-based student work and increased recognition in the tenure and promotion processes. Absent these mechanisms, our own success has been built upon (a) regular communication; (b) creativity and flexibility in exploring opportunities for collaboration; (c) mutual respect for each other's professional and personal strengths; and (d) an underlying sense of trust, shared vision and unwavering generous spirit that could not necessarily be engendered by any institutional policy or practice.

INTRODUCTION

A biologist, a geographer, and a geologist go for a walk along a stream . . . What sounds like the setup to a bad joke is actually the formula for what has become a productive partnership in place-based learning and research. The Muddy Creek Watershed research collaboration began in late 2000, when State Fish and Wildlife biologist Edwards, a member of a citizen-based volunteer monitoring group (Watershed Watch) and part-time instructor at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), adopted monitoring sites along Muddy Creek in Madison County, Kentucky (Figure 1). He contacted a geographer (Jones), also a Watershed Watch member sampling along the stream, to discuss ideas for preserving and restoring the ecological health of the Muddy Creek Watershed. From that initial conversation and subsequent conversations with hydrogeologist LaSage has come an ongoing long-term, multi-faceted collaboration that blends research and stream monitoring with teaching and outreach.

In this article we describe our working relationships and how our partnership has led to the development of several student-centered field research projects. We see significant advantages to the collaborative research/ education field-based initiative. It addresses our multiple interests (research, education, community service and advocacy) by (a) lending focus to course design, (b) providing a venue for field research, (c) incorporating our separate research interests, (d) encouraging community service, (e) strengthening university/community linkages, and (f) generating useful data for state agencies.

The opportunities afforded students in different departments to participate in relevant, meaningful research as recommended in the National Science Foundation Strategic Plan (NSF, 2001) is an important aspect of the collaboration. It also supports the efforts of our departments to move towards more problem-based learning; introduces a service-learning component; and fosters interdisciplinary relationships among faculty and non-University personnel.

Our overarching goal is to use available resources to characterize the long-term interactions among humans and land-water systems in the Muddy Creek Watershed in a way that is scientifically relevant, that provides useful data to planning and policymakers, and that provides meaningful research opportunities to our students.

Contributions to date have stemmed from students and faculty in the Departments of Earth Sciences, Geography, and Biology. Apart from the initial planning period, each task has involved student researchers, who participated either for academic credit or as paid research assistants. Individual research or class projects have been formalized on a case-by-case basis, resulting in flexibility as to focus, principles involved, or organization. Formal relationships have included multiple external parties (for example, other researchers or other agencies) that differ in personality and interest but share a commitment to understanding the ecosystem and providing opportunities for students or community members to become involved in real-world field-based research.

This paper summarizes the first three years of this on-going place-based collaboration. In it we describe the development of student projects that include a field component, including individual projects, class projects, and courses with field-based components. We also discuss how the scientifically defensible work done in these classes is incorporated into our research programs. Finally, we describe our efforts to overcome logistical and financial challenges and include lessons learned along the way.