San Francisco State University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

SF State's Sierra Nevada Field Campus immerses students in one of the most beautiful and wild regions of the northern Sierra Nevada as they study connections with the natural environment. Its expert and friendly instructors guide students' senses as they explore a dazzling array of plant and animal life. The campus allows students of the environmental sciences get hands on experience. It is also a place where personnel working in the environmental fields can upgrade their knowledge. Students live at the campus in tents during their enrollment, creating an immersive learning experience. Courses cover a range of disciplines and share a focus on conservation and the natural environment. Courses are open to the public. Courses range from a few days to a week and students may enroll in consecutive sessions. Current classes at the campus include Fungi of the Sierra Nevada, Watercolors in the Wild: Sierra Flora, Bird Identification by Song, Medicinal and Edible Wild Plants, Birds of the Sierra Nevada, Butterflies of the Sierra Nevada, High-Country Writing Retreat, Introduction to Wildlife Tracking, Moths of California, Flora of the Northern Sierra Nevada, Beginning Birding, Mammals of the Sierra Nevada, Classics and the Environment, The Way of Water in Your Watercolor Nature Journal, Natural History of the Gold Lakes Basin, Fly Fishing in the North Yuba Watershed, Biogeomorphology of Sierra Nevada Streams and Meadows, Insect Biology and Identification, Thinking Like a Naturalist, Pastels and Natural Light, Field Sketching in the Range of Light, Ethnobotany of the Sierra Nevada, Ecology and Conservation of California Bats, Practical Observational Astronomy, Night Photography, Cultural History of Sierra County, High Sierra Painting Retreat, & Fiction Unplugged.

David Smith from Department of Classics and instructor at Sierra Field Campus.