| Abstract Detail
Teaching Section Yost, Susan E. [1]. College woodland trail development for outdoor botanical education. Natural areas on university and college campuses are excellent educational resources, particularly when enhanced by marked trails and accompanying brochures, maps, and species lists. The Woodland Trail was created at Delaware State University (DSU) as a component of the educational programs of the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium (DOV), Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. This 1/3-mile-long marked trail is in the College Woods, a 76-acre deciduous forest and wooded wetland, dominated by tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), oak (Quercus spp.), hickory (Carya tomentosa), beech (Fagus grandifolia), American holly (Ilex opaca) and red maple (Acer rubrum). Establishment of the trail involved construction of a 75-foot long bridge to provide access to the natural area; installation of 18 numbered posts with an accompanying booklet describing botany, ecology, and wildlife; and creation of a plant species list. The Woodland Trail is utilized by DSU undergraduate and graduate classes, and for community outreach. These include courses in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources such as Systematic Botany, Dendrology, Ecology, Environmental Science, Soil Science, and Conservation and Restoration Ecology; as well as in other departments, for example Biology, Mass Communication, and English which has a “poetry walk”. Off-campus groups that use the Woodland Trail include teacher in-service, master gardeners, school groups, garden clubs, nature societies, scout troops, our Woodland Classroom Program for schoolchildren, and our monthly Campus Nature Walks Program which is open to the public. Undergraduate student herbarium trainees assisted with collection of plant voucher specimens, and also with trail development along with Future Farmers of America Organization, Sigma Alpha sorority, Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, and volunteers. Developing often-under-utilized campus natural areas for undergraduate education and community outreach is particularly important now in this era of “nature-deficit-disorder” and need for heightened environmental awareness.
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Related Links:
Claude E. Phillips Herbarium
1 - Claude E. Phillips Herbarium, Delaware State University, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1200 North Dupont Highway, Dover, Delaware, 19901, USA
Keywords:
botanical education
environmental education
woodland trail
outreach
outdoor classroom.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for BSA Sections
Session: P1
Location: Event Tent/Cliff Lodge
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2009
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: P1TS003
Abstract ID:479 |
