Environmental Studies 0110 is both an introductory course on environmental change in the 21st century and a hands-on lab where students engage with how local communities and the natural environment intersect.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - When the firefighters started backing bystanders away from the scene and urgently knocking on doors of nearby homeowners, the three Brown University students who called them knew they'd made the right choice.
It happened in October 2022 in Providence. The students were measuring methane leaks in Providence when they detected a massive one at a manhole on College Hill. Left unchecked, such a leak could have led to an explosion, so the students alerted the fire department, which blocked off the area with trucks and cruisers while the utility company raced to fix the issue.
The scene caught the students by complete surprise. Reflecting on it a year later, they say the biggest shock is that the entire episode started as a classroom assignment.
"I just remember thinking: 'How did this happen?'" said Brown junior Ava Ward. "It was not the kind of impact we expected from a class project."
Although not always as explosive, that type of real-world impact has long been at the foundation of Environmental Studies 0110: Humans, Nature and the Environment: Addressing Environmental Change in the 21st Century.
The 100-person course, which launched a decade ago at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, focuses on how humans and the environment intersect, and explores possible solutions to the many impacts that individuals, communities and institutions have on the natural environment.
Part lecture and seminar, part hands-on lab, the course serves as a launching pad into different disciplinary approaches of studying the environment. It also immerses students in contemporary environmental issues through innovative assignments and community-engaged projects.
"The course itself is a little bit of everything," said Dawn King, IBES's director of undergraduate studies and the course's lead instructor since it launched. "It introduces environmental studies through multiple topics and disciplinary lenses, and allows the students to see the myriad approaches to solving environmental challenges play out through engaging with local organizations and our Rhode Island community."
Students have assisted local government groups, nonprofits and even national organizations by assessing forest management strategies, conducting public health analyses of neighborhoods, organizing conferences and informing public outreach campaigns.
"The success largely resides in the fact that we always listen to the community partner needs," King said. "This guides every project."
Other assignments have included attending a Save the Bay cleanup and a tour of one of Rhode Island's wastewater treatment facilities to see how water is purified. The popular midterm called the "bus exercise" involves students taking the RIPTA bus - which Brown students can access for free - to three spots in Providence that are often beset by climate-change related issues.
Callie Durso-Finley, a Brown junior taking the course this fall, used the opportunity to get a better look at some Providence's green spaces, including Roger Williams Park. Seeing the various streams and ponds, she found herself reflecting how people can't fully access them due to toxic bacteria, a topic covered in class.
"You see these problems right up close, which makes them feel very important," Durso-Finley said.
