Sonoma State Leads National Project To Help Students Discover Ecosystems Virtually

Press release from Sonoma State University:

June 23, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities across the country to adjust how students learn, including at Sonoma State where academic and student support operations will be primarily virtual in the fall. Learning experiences held routinely outside of the classroom, however, may be most affected, such as in the field sciences held at SSU’s preserves, where first-hand experience with the natural world is essential for learning research and observation skills.

Claudia Luke, director of the Center for Environmental Enquiry at SSU, is the lead on the Virtual Field Project which is creating digital experiences that will help fulfill graduation requirements and prepare undergraduates and graduates impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by a National Science Foundation RAPID-grant, a team of 50 field sites in 26 states and six countries will be a part of the project this summer.

“When the pandemic hit, I started thinking about how we could create new virtual learning experiences at the SSU preserves for our students,” said Luke. “I wanted to find out if there were a few other field stations who wanted to work together. After receiving as many inquiries as we did, I knew we needed some help. We called the NSF to find out if they would be interested in helping us work together, and the rest is history.”

The Virtual Field Project will look to create ecosystem exploration videos, host live-streaming cross-site events with researchers and share existing virtual materials and events with faculty at universities across the U.S. The focus will be on teaching observational and research skills, said Luke. For example, the ecosystem exploration videos will take a "scavenger hunt" approach in which students look for evidence of broader ecological or evolutionary concepts.

“We won't be able to replace the exceptional first-hand transformative experiences that happen at field stations studying the vast complexity of the natural world,” said Luke, who’s been at SSU since 2009. “However, we will try our best to create virtual experiences that allow students to practice some of the skills that they would have learned in the field.”

According to a National Academy of Science report, more than 900 field stations, or sites, are scattered around the world. The report added that these stations “provide environments to observe nature where access is relatively controlled and experimental set-ups are relatively protected from tampering.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all of these sites have been closed for the remaining future, making a virtual experience that much more pertinent.

Another positive outcome from the project is that it will continue far beyond the pandemic, said Luke. Multi-site field courses are out-of-reach for many faculty and undergraduates due to logistics, cost and administrative barriers. Field trips created and shared by the Virtual Field Project will give students experience with a diversity of ecosystems around the world, encourage participation by a broader diversity of university courses and expand opportunities for students with disabilities.

Alongside Luke, the project also is led by Hilary Swain at the Archbold Biological Station in Florida, and Kari O’Connell of the STEM Research Center at Oregon State University. This was a grassroots effort by the Organization of Biological Field Stations, Luke said.

For more information about the project, and to get involved, contact Claudia Luke at lukec@sonoma.edu. Don’t forget to visit the Center for Environmental Enquiry to learn about their upcoming list of virtual events for the fall.

This press release was produced by Sonoma State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.