Shippensburg University has organized an alternative fall break service learning opportunity for students in honor of Rachel Carson’s 100th birthday and more importantly, in honor of her contributions to science, conservation, and society.

Through this program undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff from disciplines across the University will be spending their Fall Break (October 5-9) retracing the footsteps of Rachel Carson along the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay. This program has partnered with several worthwhile organizations, including the: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Assateague National Seashore, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division, Marine Science Consortium at Wallops Island, Va, Assateague Coastal Trust, Waterkeeper Alliance, Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research Foundation, and Franklin County Conservation District, in order to actively engage students in service learning programs that focus on conservation.

Whether through scientific, social, cultural, archaeological, or political perspectives, our objective is to immerse students in discussions about the issues behind conservation yesterday, today, and in the future. Moreover, and most importantly, we hope that students will outline for themselves the important connections and responsibilities they have at home in central Pennsylvania to what goes downstream to the Chesapeake Bay and indeed into the Sea Around Us.

Shippensburg University would like to recognize and thank the organizers of the Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club including Nancy Pollot and Anne Roy of the FWS, as well as author, of The Highest Tide and guest moderator, Jim Lynch for suggesting this field notes blog as a platform for sharing our experiences in conservation. They are also to be recognized for their spirit and vision for integrating this field notes blog into the book club's discussion for October on Carson's book The Sea Around Us.

Be there no doubt, Carson's voice and vision for the future is still alive and well. It is in no small part because of the dedication of the amazing people who share her visions and have made this centennial celebration possible. We welcome you all to please share in this vision. Feel free to contribute your comments and enrich the discussion with your rich perspectives.

This program is made possible by the Women’s Center at Shippensburg University, in coordination with the University Honors Program, the Departments of Geography-Earth Science, Political Science, and Sociology-Anthropology.