University Nature Preserves Inspire Students

At some point every student wants to escape from campus. Between classes, social drama, jobs and internships, it is necessary for us to get away for a while. Some of us are lucky enough to go home or visit a friend at another school, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a complete escape without having to go far off campus?

Iowa State University has created a 76-acre nature preserve for students to immerse themselves in natural seclusion. Without having to go far, the Everett Casey Nature Center and Reserve offers a creek, acres of undisturbed natural life, and endangered plant life for students to study. This space is used across disciplines, but most extensively by the MFA in creative writing and environment program which has teamed up with architecture graduate students to execute a series of projects “mapping” the preserve both visually and verbally.

 

Other universities that boast nature preserves include SUNY Binghamton and The University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Nature Prerserve of Binghamton University, which consists of 182 acres of naturally preserved land, 20 of which is wetlands, allows professors to hold class outside and do hands-on research with students. Binghamton uses this preserve for many classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including ecology, arts, literature, and outdoor recreation. The University of Wisconsin-Madison also owns its own 300 acre preserve, the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, on the shoreline of Lake Mendota.  Lakeshore Nature Preserve affords students and professors the opportunity to do field research, escape to miles of hiking trails, or go sailing for an afternoon on the lake.

 

Future plans for Iowa State University's Everett Casey Nature Center and Reserve, which was donated by Everett Casey, a 1946 ISU graduate, include adding hiking trails, a road, running water and a septic system to make the preserve student-friendly. While these additions may be costly for the university, the Everett Casey Nature Center and Reserve allows science majors to conduct hands-on research and arts and science majors to seek artistic and creative inspiration. Regardless of discipline, this preserve allows enrichment in the classroom as well as an escape form the pressure of student life.

Comments

[lawrence]

i am inquiring about nature conservation jobs for student in 2011 for doing practical