California State University, Channel Islands
AC-5: Immersive Experience

CSU Channel Islands offers four sustainability immersive experience courses. Environmental Science and Resource Management (ESRM) 492 Trip to New Orleans is an interdisciplinary program designed for students interested in environmental topics. It provides education and exposure to both scientific and human aspects of environmental issues. The work portion of the trip involves working on wetland restoration projects in Belle Chase’s Woodlands Trail and Park, one of the few remnant bottomland hardwood forests surrounding Greater New Orleans. University 392 Mexican Mangroves and Wildlife offers a one of a kind experience for students in La Manzanilla, Mexico. Students are engaged in the collection and release of Olive Ridley sea turtles, mist netting and banding birds in dry tropical forest, and water quality monitoring in nearby Estero El Chorro. Students enrolled in University 392 Technology in Japan study Japanese horticulture, the atomic bomb, earthquakes, the Kyoto Protocol/climate change, “green” building design, the shinkansen (bullet train), and heavy industry/manufacturing. Students also interact with science professors and graduate students at Kyoto University in Japan. Lastly, CI offers Biology/Political Science 345 Climate Change and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In Alaska, students investigate evidence of the impacts of climate change and study the vegetation, wildlife, and geology of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from a wilderness base camp on the Kongakut River. Students also tour the Prudhoe Bay oil fields on Alaska’s north slope, talk with residents of the Gwich’in community of Arctic Village and the Inupiat village of Kaktovik, hike in the boreal forest, and visit the University of Alaska Fairbanks. To learn more about these four Sustainability Immersive Experiences: ESRM 492 Trip to New Orleans: Sean Anderson, Sean.Anderson@csuci.edu. University 392 Mexican Mangroves and Wildlife: Donald Rodriguez, Donald.Rodriguez@csuci.edu; and Bradley Monsma, Bradley.Monsma@csuci.edu. University 392 Technology in Japan: Simone Aloisio, Simone.Aloisio@csuci.edu. Biology/Political Science 345 Climate Change and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Amy Denton, Amy.Denton@csuci.edu; and Scott Frisch, Scott.Frisch@csuci.edu.