Campus as Botanic Garden and Citizen Science Laboratory
This presentation will demonstrate a hands-on approach to teaching biology and ecology through student research, as well as the incorporation of art and design practice to scientific observation and analysis. The historic Oakland campus of California of the Arts serves as a botanic garden for studying botany, ecology, and phenology. Students in natural history and historical ecology classes have practiced plant identification with the more than fifty tree species originating from every continent. To bring more California species to campus, they have installed native plant gardens to study ecology and establish sites for phenology research. They create research and hands-on projects exploring practical plant uses. Students in botany and environmental science classes have gathered data for the USA National Phenology Network's Nature's Notebook project, tracking local biological responses to global warming by observing seasonal changes in plants. For class projects, students have incorporated scientific observation into visual projects in a variety of media.
Over the past several years, students and faculty have developed temporary signage systems to support their diverse projects, culminating in 2015 with the installation of permanent tags. The new tags include both plant names and QR codes associated with the PlantsMap.com website. With the web links, campus visitors can explore the species present as well as view student projects and images. This ongoing web-based project will allow students to build on the work of earlier classes, adding to ongoing data collection as well as the documentation of the college’s living laboratory and green refuge.
Independent Scholar
Carol Manahan is an independent scholar with interdisciplinary interests in art, ecology, and ethics. Manahan brings her interests to her teaching at California College of the Arts and San Francisco Art Institute in courses in historical ecology, natural history, environmental science, environmental ethics, and ecological worldviews. On the science side, she and her students participate in citizen science research. On the philosophy side, they explore environmental justice, land ethics, and religion and ecology. In her academic research, Manahan studies resistance to genetic engineering in agriculture as an ethical expression of social, economic, and cultural rights. This resistance research also supports her participation in adjunct faculty unions at both CCA and SFAI. Her research and practice emerge from a diverse background in Human Ecology (College of the Atlantic, BA), Studio Art (San Francisco State University, MA), Religion (Pacific School of Religion, MDiv) and Environmental Ethics (Graduate Theological Union, PhD).
