Naturalist Journals

In this field-based class, students learned the basic principles and practices of ecological interpretation with a specific focus on understanding native biodiversity and ecology. This course provided a firm foundation of local knowledge that was then utilized by VCS students to teach visitors to the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center on Lake Champlain. Students were expected to be able to recognize and describe most of the organisms in and around ECHO and to teach visitors the art & science of the Field Journal as used by naturalists for the past several hundred years. Students worked with younger students, ECHO volunteers, local businesses and adults throughout the course. VCS students also ran a day-long workshop at ECHO that engaged hundreds of local elementary school students.