University of Southern Maine
It’s a very flexible program. Environmental science is a growing field. With global warming, sea-level rise and the attendant issues, we can keep a handle on the science and policy because we’re such a small, flexible department. The faculty all does outside consulting; we represent aspects of the field other than teaching and learning. And we’re focused on undergraduates. We all do research, and our research all involves our students.
It plays a strong role. We tend to have a lot of lab classes, lab as in out in field, in addition to the traditional bench labs. A good example is Shaw Park here in Gorham. When the Shaw Brothers company decided to donate land for a park, we went to the town of Gorham and asked if we could do some of the planning and design work. They let us do that. We try to give students something besides grades and term papers. We want them to be able to walk away with a portfolio that shows their design work on a project, so they can use it to get a job and get paid to do it.
I offer students a real-world perspective. I came to teaching as a mid-career change, after doing other things. I was an environmental consultant, and then I was a hearing officer for the state of Vermont. When I teach students about environmental impact assessments and community planning, I share experience from both sides of the equation.
I come from a non-traditional learning background. I was in the military and went to college on the GI Bill. I was married when I was a sophomore; it took me eight years to get through school. I don’t give busy work. I know they have other things going on in their life. So I let them know the objective of what I want them to do, what they need to get it, and how to get it. I try to make sure students have appropriate tools to achieve an objective.
We just give them what they need to have success in the program, and in life. The attention students receive here is similar to the attention students get at the graduate level at other places. Our graduates don’t need a master’s degree to get a job right way. They’ve learned how to learn. A few years ago we determined over 85 percent of our students were working in their field in the first year after graduation. Health and safety majors are at 100 percent placement.
I’ve learned never to underestimate what they can do, or the variety of their backgrounds.
We keep our doors open for students to come back and see us. We also encourage them to interact. We have an area for students to study, if they don’t have one at home for whatever reason. Well, two students were dating when they were here. About four years after they graduated, they came back on their honeymoon to visit us. That’s just the culture we try to foster.
We use the local environments – ponds, wetlands, fields, and forests. We’re not going to visit rain forests, and most of these students are not going to get jobs that pay them to visit rain forests. So we conduct research in settings that will help prepare them for the job market.
I live in Gorham because I teach in Gorham, and I wanted to be able to be close to home. I could get to my kids’ schools if I needed to, and I can ride my bike to work. Also, we’re near the ocean, near the mountains, near the city. We’re near everything.
