This class will be limited to advanced undergraduates and graduate students with training within a discipline that typically produces professionals within the field of watershed science. Because of logistics associated with fieldwork and the need to seek a balance in the range of disciplines involved, enrollment will be limited to prior approval by instructor only.
The course is worth five units. Lecture/Lab will meet weekly during the quarter from 2-5 pm on Fridays. The classroom meetings will involve lectures by the instructors on topics related to the Klamath River watershed. Following completion of the quarter, class participants will be required to participate in a two-week field study of the watershed. Grading will be deferred until two weeks following completion of fieldwork.
Grades in the course will depend upon quality of written work (60%), quality of oral presentations in class/field (20%), and quality of effort in field study (20%). It is important to note two key expectations for students in this class. First, this course emphasizes collaborative study. This means that efforts to foster effective collaboration will play an important role in determining the final grade. Second, because this course is limited to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, there is an expectation that each student will be expert within their specific discipline, and will provide that expertise to their collaborative team and the entire class effort. This means that class participants must assume the role of both student and teacher, learning from and educating their peers.
There are two expected written reports for this class. During the classroom portion of the course, participants will prepare an in-depth report on a topic to be determined during early class meetings. This report will be sole-authored, although it may incorporate or refer to material from collaborative team members. Although technical in nature, the report will be written in a style that is accessible to the educated lay audience. All final papers will be assembled into a single volume, edited by the instructor, and posted on the web prior to departure to the field.
All collaborative teams will be required to prepare brief reports on their field studies. These reports, which may be multi-authored, will include a summary of the locations of data gathering, results of field surveys and analyses of data. It will be the responsibility of the student to see that this report, and all supporting data, will be incorporated into the class website.