OCI 2013 – Landscapes – Past and Present
The Outdoor Classroom Institute (OCI) is an outreach provided annually by the staff of Clay Hill Memorial Forest (CHMF) and the faculty of The Natural Science Division of Campbellsville University with funding from Kentucky Utilities. OCI 2013, Landscapes – Past and Present, will be held at CHMF from June 17 – 21 with events beginning at 9:00 and concluding at 3:30 daily. The OCI Program serves teachers in central Kentucky, an area with few opportunities for continuing science education. Our goal is to enhance science teaching in this region. We attempt to do this by increasing science content knowledge, improving environmental awareness, acquainting teachers with non-professional educators, enhancing teacher awareness of and familiarity with Clay Hill Memorial Forest and the services it can provide, and developing teacher networks. Below, please find a summary of the week’s events and credentials of the workshop facilitators.
We will begin the week with Eric Schlarb who is a staff archaeologist with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey in Lexington. He will dig into the archaeology of CHMF. Following some introductory remarks on Monday afternoon, Tuesday will be spent in the field where participants will obtain hands-on experience with archeological techniques. Mr. Schlarb’s primary research interests include lithic technology (how stone tools were made and used) and experimental archaeology, as well as the Archaic and Woodland periods of Kentucky's Bluegrass region. He is coauthor of educational publications Prehistoric Hunter Gatherers: Kentucky's First Pioneers and Adena: Woodland Period Mound Builders of the Bluegrass. Mr. Schlarb is a certified facilitator for Project Archaeology, and he has been active with Kentucky's teachers and students for the past 16 years.
Wednesday will begin with Dr. Chris Groves who is a Distinguished University Professor of Geography at Western Kentucky University and is the director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute there. We will enjoy the expertise of this internationally respected geologist as he peels away the layers of geologic history of our region, and we learn how to read and interpret the geologic landscape from his presentation and hands-on activities. Since receiving a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia in 1993, Dr. Groves has developed an active international research program in basic and applied hydrogeology, geochemistry, and water resources, with a special emphasis on understanding water resources issues in rural southwest China. He currently serves as a co-leader of the United Nations Scientific Program “Environmental Change and Sustainability in Karst Systems,” and as a member of the Governing Board of the International Research Center on Karst under the auspices of UNESCO. In 2013, he was nominated by China’s Ministry of Land and Resources for the People’s Republic of China Friendship Award, that nation’s highest award for foreign experts. Closer to home and between teaching classes, Groves works actively in research and education programs at Mammoth Cave National Park and the Crumps Cave Education and Research Preserve, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Kentucky Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
Beginning Wednesday afternoon, noted plant community ecologist Dr. Julian Campbell will share his knowledge of physical landscapes with emphasis on plant community types, plant ecology and conservation. Dr. Campbell’s introduction to Kentucky plant communities will be followed by a field trip on Thursday to a variety of physiographic regions including a dissected calcareous plain at CHMF, a Leached Cherty Section of Pennyrile Karst Plain (PKP) in north Green/west Taylor County, a regular Cherty Section of PKP; a roadside grassland remnant, Dripping Springs Hills, Hundred Acre Pond, and Aiken Tract. Dr. Julian Campbell is a botanist and plant ecologist from London, England, who has lived in Kentucky since the 1970s. Together with Max Medley (formerly at University of Louisville), he has drafted an Atlas of the Vascular Plants for Kentucky (see bluegrasswoodland.com). He has produced several technical reports for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Daniel Boone National Forest and the National Park Service, mostly while employed by TNC. He is currently a consultant in botany, ecology and conservation, working mostly in Kentucky but with special interests also in central Tennessee and the blackbelt of Mississippi. He continues to review the taxonomy of difficult groups, with frequent visits to herbaria of east-central states and has initiated a gradual effort to outline natural history, landscape ecology and conservation planning for the Ohio Valley. This effort is designed to become a series of pamphlets or booklets for educational and technical use, available from his website.
On Friday, teacher-participants will present lessons that they have designed from the material presented throughout the week. Registration is currently underway. Registration forms and information can be obtained from the CHMF website www.clayhillforest.org or by contacting The Director of OCI 2013, Brenda Tungate, at oci@clayhillforest.org or bstungate@campbellsville.edu.
Schedule
To register follow the REGISTER link on the left.
For additional information, email Brenda Tungate |
