ERIC ED566738: Partners in the Parks: Field Guide to an Experiential Program in the National Parks. National Collegiate Honors Council Monograph Series

2010·6.7 MB·English

by  ERIC

PARTNERS IN THE PARKS
Field Guide to an Experiential Program
in the National Parks
by
Joan Digby
with
Bill Atwill, Angela Calise, James Clarke, Rebecca Cole-Will,
Rony Enriquez, Greg Fahy, Sarah L. Fann, Pavel Goriacko,
Andy Grube, Kathleen King, Matt Nickerson, Joy Ochs,
Elizabeth O’Donnell, C. P. Price, and Heather Thiessen-Reily
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Jeffrey A. Portnoy
Georgia Perimeter College
[email protected]
General Editor, NCHC Monograph Series
Published in 2010 by
National Collegiate Honors Council
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
110 Neihardt Residence Center
540 N. 16th Street
Lincoln, NE 68588-0627
[phone]
FAX: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
http://www.NCHChonors.org
© Copyright 2010 by
National Collegiate Honors Council
"A Delicate Balance: Managing Cultural Resources in a National Park"
by Rebecca Cole-Will is printed with permission of the National
Park Service, © Copyright 2010.
International Standard Book Number 978-0-9825207-4-1
Managing Editor: Mitch Pruitt
Production Editor: Cliff Jefferson
Wake Up Graphics, Birmingham, AL
Printed by EBSCO Media, Birmingham, AL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Partners in the Parks Projects to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Foreword by Matt Nickerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Chapter 1: Origin of Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Field Notes:
A Delicate Balance(Rebecca Cole-Will) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Chapter 2: Scouting Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Field Notes:
Growing From Within (Bill Atwill and Kathleen King) . . . . . . . . .45
Chapter 3: Think Camping is a Getaway? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Field Notes:
A Theme Runs Through It(Heather Thiessen-Reily) . . . . . . . . . . .65
Chapter 4: Ducks in a Row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Field Notes:
Thinking with a Photographer’s Eye(Joan Digby) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Encountering a Bear at Bryce Canyon(Rony Enriquez) . . . . . . . . .97
Chapter 5: Group Soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Field Notes:
Sitting There in Silence(Andy Grube) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Chapter 6: To Boldly Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Field Notes:
Partners in the Parks and the Wilderness Aesthetic (Joy Ochs) . . . .125
My Incredible Journey to Zion National Park(Angela Calise) . . . . .131
Chapter 7: Nature as Text—Text as Text—Self as Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Field Notes:
Philosophy in the Parks (Greg Fahy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
Chapter 8: Creature Discomforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
Field Notes:
Water Rights (Pavel Goriacko) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Time Management and the Experience of
Partners (Sarah L. Fann) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
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Chapter 9: Hosts and Guests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Field Notes:
My Experience as Guest and Host(Elizabeth O’Donnell) . . . . . .169
Field Notes from a Coordinator(Kathleen King) . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
Chapter 10: City Slickers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Field Notes:
Circles(James Clarke) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
Chapter 11: May the Circle Be Unbroken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
Field Notes:
Denali 2010 (C. P. Price) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207
Chapter 12: Sharing the Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
Field Notes:
Some Sample Assessment Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
Appendix A:
Partners in the Parks Best Practices Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225
Appendix B:
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Appendix C:
Sample Project Proposal, Letter and Application for
Academic Park Fee Waiver, Program Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241
Appendix D:
Generic Application, Insurance and Release Forms and Comportment
Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249
Appendix E:
Sample Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
Appendix F:
Sample Brochure and Fliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
Appendix G:
Key to Animal Tracks in the Field Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This monograph is the collaborative effort of people who have led
and participated in Partners in the Parks programs all around the coun-
try. Bill Atwill, Angela Calise, James Clarke, Rebecca Cole-Will, Rony
Enriquez, Greg Fahy, Sarah L. Fann, Pavel Goriacko, Andy Grube,
Kathleen King, Matt Nickerson, Joy Ochs, Elizabeth O’Donnell, C. P.
Price, and Heather Thiessen-Reily. They have generously contributed
their ideas and experience so that others may find in this model
encouragement to participate in existing Partners in the Parks pro-
grams and to propose new adventures. A special debt of thanks is owed
to Matt Nickerson and Todd Petersen, who oversee this initiative and
guide many of the journeys. Their home institution, Southern Utah
University, has been a most generous contributor to this program, for
which we are extremely thankful. We are also grateful to have as our
liaison with the National Park Service, Paul Roelandt, Superintendent
at Cedar Breaks National Monument, who presents our proposals to
the many park officers, rangers, and staff members who have shown us
every courtesy imaginable. Our thanks to all at NPS who have enlight-
ened our groups with their expertise and helped this program grow.
From the very outset the National Collegiate Honors Council has
encouraged and supported PITP with funding and advertising by sup-
porting the efforts of this standing committee to shepherd the program
through the years. Many thanks to all our colleagues in NCHC. I also
owe a personal debt of gratitude to Long Island University for assisting
my participation in PITP and granting me the sabbatical leave neces-
sary to write this book. Several people have read and guided this man-
uscript: Larry Andrews, Karen Lyons, Norm Weiner, Lydia Lyons, and
Jeff Portnoy, general editor. It has been my pleasure to work with them
and with Mitch Pruitt and his design team at Wake Up Graphics.
Photo Credits
Photo credits appear on the lower left side of the pictures. All pho-
tographs without a credit line display are the work of Joan Digby or
anonymous friends on PITP adventures.
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6
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Bill Atwill is Associate Director of the Honors
Scholars Program at the University of North
Carolina Wilmington and is a professor of English.
An avid surfer, cyclist, backpacker, and hiker, he is
interested in literature and the environment, with a
particular focus on narrative responses to life along
the Atlantic seacoast in American literature.
Angela Calise is a sophomore pre-medical student
majoring in psychology at the C.W. Post Campus of
Long Island University. In addition to being a mem-
ber of the honors program, she is a resident assis-
tant, orientation leader, and student ambassador,
and she is participating in marine biology research
through the biology department.
James Clarke is Co-Director of the Honors Program
at Long Island University–Brooklyn Campus. He
coordinates its academic program and regularly
teaches honors philosophy. He received his doctorate
in philosophy from Stony Brook University. His areas
of specialization are twentieth-century continental
philosophy, political theory, and Hannah Arendt.
Rebecca Cole-Will is the cultural resources program
manager at Acadia National Park. She received her
B.A. in anthropology from the University of Maine,
where she began her archeological career conduct-
ing archeological site assessments at Acadia National
Park on the same sites that she now manages. She
received her master’s degree in anthropology from
the University of Alberta, Edmonton, where she
worked in the Canadian high arctic on nineteenth-
century sites representing cultural exchange between
Copper Inuit and British explorers.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Joan Digby received her doctorate from New York
r
rie University in eighteenth-century British literature,
r
u
p specializing in period animal fables. Animals—real
S
ob and fictional—are her abiding interest. She is
B
y Director of the Honors Program and Merit
b
oto Fellowship at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island
h
P University. A past president of the National
Collegiate Honors Council, she serves as co-chair of
NCHC’s Publications Board.
Rony Enriquez graduated in 2009 with a political
science major from the Brooklyn Campus of Long
Island University. He was a member of Alpha
Lambda Delta as well as many organizations involved
in political and social justice.
Greg Fahy, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of
Philosophy at the University of Maine at Augusta. He
teaches courses in ethics, aesthetics, the philosophy
of feminism, and American philosophy. He is cur-
rently working on a book about John Dewey’s moral
psychology.
Sarah L. Fann graduated from the University of
North Carolina Wilmington with a bachelor's degree
in marine biology and statistics. She is preparing to
enter a master’s program and ultimately take a doc-
toral degree, focusing her research on the survival of
marine species in light of today’s challenging envi-
ronmental problems. She is currently on a Fulbright
Fellowship in Australia studying coral degradation's
effect on the fisheries.
Pavel Goriacko is a sophomore majoring in pharma-
cy at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus. In
addition to being an honors program student, he is
the president of the campus chapter of Alpha
Lambda Delta, a national honors society for fresh-
men and sophomores.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Andy Grube is a sophomore studying chemical engi-
neering at Northeastern University. He is actively
involved in the honors program and also participates
in Wind Ensemble, Pep Band, Orchestra, AIChE,
and NU Science Magazine. He is currently planning to
attend graduate school after he finishes his degree.
In his free time he enjoys biking, camping, going to
concerts, and playing guitar. His current adventure
is a year of study abroad in Scotland.
Kathleen King, Executive Assistant to the President,
University of Maine at Augusta, has organized two
Partners in the Parks programs in Acadia National
Park. She has been a part of developing multidisci-
plinary cluster classes on the UMA campus and has
also been active in the National Collegiate Honors
Council, where she serves on the Partners in the
Parks Committee.
z Matt Nickerson brings to PITP a diverse background
wit
o in science and the arts. He followed his bachelor’s
k
Mar degree in biochemistry at Brigham Young University
ura (1986) with an MFA in Acting at the National
a
y L Theater Conservatory (1988). After working profes-
b
o sionally in theater and biomedical design, he
ot
Ph returned to academia as Director of the Honors
Program and Special Collections Librarian at
Southern Utah University. He co-chairs the NCHC
Partners in the Parks Committee with SUU colleague
Todd Petersen. Together they lead several of the
PITP adventures.
Joy Ochs is Professor of English at Mount Mercy
University, where she also directs the honors pro-
hs
Oc gram. She has been involved with the Zion Partners
ed in the Parks program since 2008 and formerly
r
F
y worked as a park interpreter for the Michigan
b
o Department of Natural Resources.
ot
h
P
9
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Elizabeth O'Donnell graduated with a B.A. in politi-
cal science from the C.W. Post Campus of Long
Island University and is currently a graduate student
in political science with a focus on international rela-
tions. She has been a presidential scholar in Italy,
where she studied Italian and archeology before par-
ticipating in the Cedar Breaks PITP program.
C. P. Price is Interim Director of the Honors
Program at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He
has degrees in physics from Caltech (1976) and
UCSB (1981) and is a member of the physics depart-
ment at UAF. Camping, kayaking, and photography
draw him away from campus; closer to home, he is a
member of the Linux Users Group and faculty advi-
sor to both the Society of Physics Students and UAF’s
student radio station, where for the last sixteen years
he has hosted a weekly radio show featuring “live”
music by the Grateful Dead.
Heather Thiessen-Reily received her B.A. from the
University of Saskatchewan and her M.A. from
Flinders University of South Australia. She com-
pleted her Ph.D. from Tulane University. She was a
Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship recipient in Kenya and
a participant in the 2009 NEH Summer Field
Institute, “Teaching Nature and History on the
Nation’s Edge.” She is currently Professor of History
and Director of Honors at Western State College in
Gunnison, Colorado. She teaches topics in Latin
American studies, US-Mexico borderlands, and
African history.
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