Course‐based undergraduate research to advance environmental education, science, and resource management

Abstract

Every year, field excursions engage students of ecology in experiential learning that results in wide‐ranging and well‐documented pedagogical benefits. Much less appreciated, however, is the potential for these excursions to contribute long‐term data that advance scientific knowledge and natural resource management. Here we explore this potential by providing a global synthesis of field data collection, mapping the geography, temporal extent, and type of data collected by students worldwide, and calling attention to the associated benefits and challenges for course instructors. We then offer perspectives on how undergraduate courses in ecology can more broadly contribute to science, management, and policy. Finally, we highlight how several aspects – namely, existing frameworks, resources, and networks; enhanced institutional support; and synergies with the broader science community – can help undergraduate ecology courses achieve their full potential for contributing to both education and science for society.

Response to Messageret al. (2022)

“…In conclusion, we echo the sentiments of Messager et al (2022) and also suggest that interested instructors consider networked CUREs and research collaborations as an option for bringing course-based research into the undergraduate classroom. These networks can catalyze student and instructor participation in authentic ecological research.…”

“…Squirrel Response to Messager et al (2022) In their paper entitled "Course-based undergraduate research to advance environmental education, science, and resource management", Messager et al (2022) summarize the benefits and challenges of implementing ecological data collection within undergraduate courses and encourage leveraging such data collection to advance science, management, and policy. We applaud the authors' message, and particularly appreciate not only their broad perspective on how undergraduates can meaningfully contribute to science and management, but also their identification of zones of synergy between course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and citizen/community science.…”

Discerning Watershed Response to Hydroclimatic Extremes with a Deep Convolutional Residual Regressive Neural Network

“…What are the global environmental quality standards [15]? How can changes be promoted in unequal nation states [16,17,18]? SST is worthy of study for a number of reasons: its status as a key observational characteristic of water in the environment; the importance of SST in numerical weather and climate forecasting; SST's detectability via satellitemounted RS instrumentation; and the availability of matched continuous ground truth temporospatial measurements that can be studied for intercomparison of dataset bias, variances, and uncertainties.…”

Real‐life research projects improve student engagement and provide reliable data for academics

“…Indeed, Mitchell et al ( 2017 ) discovered that engaging undergraduate students in citizen science actually decreased the students' own perception about the accuracy of measurements taken and the usefulness of such data, although engagement increased. However, while a wealth of data is collected annually as part of Course‐Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), these observations very rarely go beyond the classroom, irrespective of their quality or originality (Messager et al, 2022 ). Conversely, involving students in RLRPs allows them to participate in projects that have real‐world applications, proving the usefulness of research in general and their own skills in particular.…”