Project Summary

The "Burd Run Interdisciplinary Watershed Research Laboratory" was developed at Shippensburg University (SU) to improve undergraduate science education. Several existing courses have been improved through new field and laboratory exercises based on state-of-the-art equipment. Perhaps more importantly, learning is linked across courses and disciplines, allowing students to build and integrate scientific skills throughout their education using the watershed as a common case study.

The watershed laboratory: (1) provides intensive undergraduate field training through collection and analysis of related environmental data from a single watershed, (2) establishes a comprehensive watershed database and digital map library using a geographic information system (GIS), (3) provides access to the database through enhanced computer laboratories and a project internet site, and (4) facilitates similar approaches at other institutions.