Canopy Connections
2016
"Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save environmentalism and the environment, we must also save an endangered indicator species: the child in nature"
-Richard Louv
About Us
Canopy Connections 2016
The 2016 Canopy Connections team is a group of University of Oregon students who have designed a place-based environmental education curriculum through the Environmental Leadership Program. Through partnerships with the Pacific Tree Climbing Institute and HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, the Canopy Connections team created and implemented a series of lessons stationed in H.J. Andrews Experimental old growth forest designed for over 200 local middle school students. Our lessons ultimately aimed to provide outdoor environmental knowledge about old growth ecology and to foster a lasting connection between students and nature after the trip. Our lessons included multidisciplinary activities incorporating art, science, and literature. The activities our team utilized were sit spotting, journaling, mapping, scientific method based activities using hypothesis and observation as well as storytelling to accomplish our primary goal as environmental educators, to foster deep connections between students and the environment. Our mission was to create a generation of individuals inspired to connect and interact with nature, in order to motivate lifelong community participation and environmental stewardship.
Environmental Leadership program
The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary service-learning program housed in the University of Oregon Environmental Studies Program. ELP provides connections between student teams and non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and businesses to address local environmental needs. This program allows students to gain leadership, communication, and professional skills by engaging directly in applied problem-resolution while providing valuable assistance to community partners.
Mission |
|
Projects |
ELP develops their projects cooperatively with community partners. Depending on partners’ needs, projects address environmental education and outreach, natural resource management, habitat restoration, species conservation, environmental monitoring, sustainable business practices, ecotourism, recreation management, environmental justice, and other topics.
|