University of Washington, Seattle
AC-5: Immersive Experience

The University of Washington offers several sustainability-focused immersive fieldwork courses, as well as programs within culminating project experiences, studios, field courses, and International Programs and Exchanges.

A few of the immersive courses include:

Honors 230: Parks in Progress or Peril
This course takes students on an exciting two week field study to the three “wilderness jewels” of Washington state’s national parks, Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades, and follow with class time in autumn quarter. Students should be comfortable hiking moderately strenuous trails almost every day of the trip, camping in remote locations, and traveling and lodging in primitive and close quarters. Through a combination of immersed field study readings and expert speakers, students will not only introduce themselves to these diverse and unique places in our country, but also gain a greater understanding of the purpose of such a system, and look critically at the cultural and environmental issues impacting the National Parks today.
https://www.washington.edu/uaa/2020/04/22/honors-field-report/

ENVIR 495C: Landscape change in the Pacific Northwest
On a 9-day backpacking trip in the Olympic National Park, students will explore causes and consequences of loss (and preservation) of wilderness landscapes in the Pacific Northwest.
http://envir495onp2018.blogspot.com

ESRM 459: Wildlife Conservation in Northwest Ecosystems
This course will provide an opportunity to examine and analyze wildlife conservation issues in Yellowstone National Park. Management of Yellowstone’s natural resources generates significant controversy because diverse and powerful stakeholders recognize that Yellowstone often acts as a conservation “weathervane” for other national parks.
The course includes a one-week trip to Yellowstone for intensive fieldwork, followed by a research project and presentation.
https://www.washington.edu/boundless/yellowstone-students/

"Dancing with Nature in the PNW - Embodied Learning of Natural History, Conservation and Global Perspectives"
Offered by UW Bothell through the Study Abroad program, this Sept. 2021 course offers the opportunity for a fully integrated experiential learning to study ecological, cultural and creative explorations in one of the most fascinating regions in North America: the Pacific Northwest (PNW). In this program, students learn about natural history, ecology, use of resources and conservation issues associated with a number of species and ecosystems in the region. This course will provide a fully immersed experience in the natural world. Within topics and places, students are constantly immersed in a mindful-artistic environment. We will set up camps in Friday Harbor and the Olympic Peninsula, which are home to important species and ecosystems.

UW students also have opportunities for immersive sustainability study programs as part of Senior Capstone Experience and Culminating projects, and other focused courses. Some of these include:

- Environmental Studies Majors participate in a three-quarter Capstone Experience featuring a project-based internship with a community-based organization. https://envstudies.uw.edu/capstone-experience/

- Environmental Science and Resource Management Majors have the option to complete a 10-credit "Restoration Capstone," an eight-month hands-on experience for students working in interdisciplinary teams with community partners. https://sefs.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2019/05/ESRM-46234-Capstone-in-Ecological-Restoration.pdf

- Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Majors complete a three-quarter Capstone Senior Research Project featuring an independent or team research project, internship, and/or fieldwork at research center, government agency, and/or NGO.
https://fish.uw.edu/students/undergraduate-program/degree-overview-new/undergraduate-capstone-project/

- Oceanography Majors complete a two-quarter Senior Thesis project in which they design their own research projects to be carried out during a week-long cruise aboard a research vessel.

- Community, Environment, and Planning Majors complete a three-quarter capstone series, in which they design their own research on environmental and sustainability projects.
https://cep.be.uw.edu/resources/senior-project/

- In the Ecological Restoration Capstone, students of different academic backgrounds work together with a Community Partner (CP) to complete a local restoration project. Students learn how to plan, design, install, monitor, and maintain a restoration project while working in teams. The capstone spans three academic quarters beginning in the fall.
https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/science-conservation/restoration-ecology-network/capstone/

- The Program on the Environment offers ENVIR 480, a “Sustainability Studio” course in which student research teams analyze specific sustainability practices on the UW campus, focusing each quarter on a different set of specific sustainability practices related to food, water, energy, and climate, among other topics.
https://envstudies.uw.edu/undergraduate-students/do-more-with-your-major/sustainability-studio/