Abstract
The SUNY-Geneseo EcoAtlas Project
Track: User Presentations - Teaching
Authors: Colleen Garrity, Kristina Hannam
A venue for undergraduate student place-based research in a liberal arts curriculum, the EcoAtlas Project provides a model for integrating geographic and environmental learning, undergraduate research, and public service. The EcoAtlas focuses on a local watershed, the Genesee River (NY), as a basic unit of analysis to shift our collective attention away from the built environment, toward the natural environment. Student research topics focus on issues related to ecological sustainability in the basin that provide them with an opportunity to apply and develop mapping and spatial analysis skills. Through its online presence, the EcoAtlas provides a public venue for student research in the basin and an opportunity for students to communicate their research to the general public. The EcoAtlas website allows the general public to explore the basin virtually and provides a venue for examining environmental issues that impact the basin.