VCU Environmental Studies

FOTJ 2024 in the VCU News -

Footprints on the James continues to make a deep impression on VCU students by VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY Along one of America’s most historic rivers, a dozen Virginia Commonwealth University students enjoyed summer school this year – a monthlong adventure of science and sweat under the sun and the stars.From May 20 to June 20, the students took to the water and land in Footprints of the James, an i...

It takes a village to teach a watershed! Especially one as richly storied as the James River.

FOTJ 2024 drew upon an amazing multidisciplinary cast of experts from within VCU and from across the watershed itself - more than 20 guests over the 5-week course. Fields of expertise ranged from historians, reknown journalists/authors, documentary film makers, international river explorers, archeologists, Native Amercian tribal leadership, traditional craftsmen, geologists, ichthyologists, ornithologists, aquatic ecologists, state governmental water quality experts, river stewards, and outdoor leadership professionals. As the instructors of record, Dan Carr, Steve McIninch, and myself would like to thank all these experts who shared their time and knowledge with the class. Here are some of these experts -

It was neck and neck right up to the final day of the FOTJ 2024 James River watershed bioblitz, but in the end 2024 edged out FOTJ 2022, with 2024 observing 470 species to 2022s 461. The 2024 iNat FOTJ bioblitz champion was Kate Heavner (135 spp) followed very closely by Alex Walitt (119 spp). So much amazing biodiversity in our watershed.

FOTJ 2024 expedition bingo! A fun way to recap our 5 week expedition style field course through the James River watershed and remind the participants of the diverse array of skills/experiences/experts they were introduced to over the course. All the 2024 students had at bingos, some as many as 5. Number of students (out of 12) to complete a square is penciled in.

FOTJ 2024 students prep a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and Dutch oven biscuits on the batteau as we float down the Piedmont James en route to Scottsville last week ,

FOTJ 2024 participated in the evaluation of a historic batteau wreck on the Piedmont section of the James with State Underwater Archaeologist Brendan Burke. Brendan works for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. It was pretty remarkable to be floating down river in a modern re-creation of these historic watercraft- which moved commerce up and down the James River- before roads, before rail, and before canals- and then to participate in an archeological discovery of the original thing.

FOTJ 2024 - The Upper. We canoed from Buchanan through Balcony Falls, camping at Arcadia, Back Run, and on Balcony Falls. Along the way we studied water quality, fish, birds, emerging insects, bats, geology, and history. Highlights include the “No Doze” Leadership style workshop, teaching each other LNT principles via skits, a second fish camp at Back Run, guest lecture and a day in the field with cameo guest expert Callan Bentley from PVCC, and the whole team successfully running balcony falls in heavily loaded canoes.

FOTJ 2024 Fish Camp- During our time at the Rice Center students immersed themselves in learning the freshwater fish of Virginia and how to sample them in the field under the mentorship of Dr. Steve McIninch, Dave Hopler and the VCU fish lab team.

FOTJ 2024 hosted some remarkable guest experts this week to enhance our understanding of the cultures and historical significance of the tidal James River. Thursday we hosted Chickahominy Tribe Assistant Chief Reggie Stewart for a fish fry dinner and campfire discussion of his tribe’s history and connection to rivers. Friday we hosted Richmond native and VCU journalism alum Bob Deans, author of “The River Where America was Born- A Journey along the James” for a discussion about his book. Both experts heightened our appreciation for the cultural importance of our home watershed.

Connecting students and “ways of knowing” across watersheds! Upon arrival at the VCU Rice Rivers Center the FOTJ 2024 students had an opportunity to connect with graduate students coming off of the Cape Fear Watershed Project’s NEH-funded environmental humanities course. While FOTJ takes more of a STEM lens to look at the human and natural history of the James River watershed, the CFWP is focused on place-based experiential education that uses a *humanities* lens to connect natural and social science studies of a major bioregion of North Carolina. Their masters level course is primarily online, but then brings students together at the end of the course for an optional weeklong exploration of the Cape Fear River. FOTJ and CFWP students had the opportunity to connect over zoom and share experiences about their exploration of their home watersheds. This sparked a great discussion about different ways of knowing and advancing understanding of the natural world and our relationship to it. It was also exciting to see the CFWP course was led by Dr. Sarah Praskievicz (UNC-G) who is an alum of the River Field Studies Network and developed some of her river field skills in a training we hosted on the James River in 2022. Having her students share about their journey with FOTJ feels like coming full circle!

FOTJ 2024 Lower James Segment - after our first week of exploring the Fall Line, and developing teamwork, river, and research skills, this past Monday FOTJ pushed off from Ancarrow’s Landing in a character building downpower to begin their exploration of the tidal coastal section of the river by sea kayak.

FOTJ 2024 Day #4. VCU Professor of African American Studies and historian Ana Edwards guided the class on a walk of the Richmond Trail of Enslaved Africans and Shockoe Bottoms. Then we rafted down the Fall line through downtown collecting data on water quality at Tredagar and Pipeline.

FOTJ 2024 Day #3. In the morning FOTJ 2022 alum, VCU Outdoor Adventure Program trip leader and newly minted RMS River Studies and Leadership Certificate awardee Ella Buckwalter shared about her undergraduate water quality internship with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and introduced her supervisors Matt Cover and Andrew Kirk who shared about the state’s water quality program.

Then we headed down to the river with VCU OAP for an introduction to canoe skills and swift water safety.

Congratulations to all the new RMS River RMS River Studies and Leadership Certificate awardees! A special shout out to our VCU Environmental Studies students, Ella Buckwater, Isabelle Pillow, and Jennoa Fleming!

Congratulations to the 2024 recipients of the RMS River Studies and Leadership Certificate who are now beginning careers in climate resiliency, water quality, fisheries, and wilderness therapy! Read the full announcement here: https://bit.ly/2024-rslc

Recipients include:
Colorado Mesa University (CO): Amber Martin
Fort Lewis College (CO): Kennedy Perry
Northeastern State University (OK): Austyn Rice and Leah Fletcher
Northern Arizona University (AZ): Danielle Juarez and Macie Wagner
Virginia Commonwealth University (VA): Ella Buckwalter, Isabelle Pillow, and Jennoa Fleming

This was a packed kick-off week for the 2024 Footprints on the James (FOTJ) river field course. Over the next 5-weeks VCU students will explore the human and natural history of the James River watershed and conduct course embedded research as they travel by canoe, kayak, raft, and batteau down approximately 200 miles of the river. This year we are working very intentionally with our VCU Outdoor Adventure Program partners to more explicitly integrate concepts and practices about building sense of belonging and teamwork into the curriculum. Outdoor recreation/experiential education has a long history in this area that can be leveraged to build better and broader outcomes for STEM courses, we think. So first day, first thing, before we talked about syllabi, etc., we started developing our FOTJ team at the challenge course. If we aim for our students to develop the vocabulary and skills to participate in and lead teams to solve complex environmental problems, team work and group dynamics need to be taught, we can't expect it to happen by chance. Fortunately, we have great partners in VCU OAP, and the NSF Belonging in Field Education and River Field Studies Network communities of practice - so don't have to completely reinvent the wheel! That was followed by a broad overview of the "State of the James" by VCU alum and James River Association Riverkeeper, Tom Dunlap. We then watched the documentary shortfilm "A River Called Home" and then talked with Director Jessica Wiegandt about her connection to the James and how to tell stories. That was just day one.

Excited to have contributed to this this VCU Environmental Studies,
VCU School of Education and VCU Rice Rivers Center collaboration supported through the NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration BWET program led by Al S Byers, Ph.D. and Elizabeth Edmondson. The collaboration and its open source resources for middle school STEM education are featured in two articles in the most recent issue of The Earth Scientist published online by the National Earth Science Teachers Association.

“The Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) three-year National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant worked with four school districts along the James River in Virginia helped teachers and the students they serve understand the role bivalves play in sustaining local watershed ecosystems. Two colleges across three centers at VCU contributed to the grant, which include the School of Education Center for Innovation in STEM Education, and VCU Life Sciences that included the VCU Rice Rivers Center
and the Center for Environmental Studies. External partners included the Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery-US Fish and Wildlife Service, the James River Association and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to help deliver a comprehensive program. Students shared their stewardship efforts at the Virginia State Capitol. Five free environmental science modules (a collection of thematic lessons coupled with digital media) developed through this NOAA grant are housed at the the Virginia Department of Education “Go OpenVA” education portal. The modules present lessons in the following areas: a) virtual field studies for mussels and oysters, b) online role-play experiences for mussels and oysters, and c) an online simulation integrating the impact and sustainability of mussels in an agricultural environment.”

https://www.nestanet.org/TES

Congratulations to the VCU Environmental Studies program Class of 2024! We will miss you!

Footprints on the James is nearly here! We had the pre-expedition meeting at the VCU Outdoor Adventure Program Outdoor Rental Center last night. Guest appearance from former FPOTJ instructor, and VCU Msc ENVS & River Certificate alum, Katherine Schmidt- who now works for American River. We start in 2 weeks!

This is a nice write up of nearly a year of collaborative multidisciplinary programming with partners on-campus and in Mexico focused on creating an unforgettable student-centered, discovery-based, learning experience focused on the remarkable Usumacinta River in Chiapas, Mexico. The project started last August with an ENVS-OAP course in Expedition Planning in which the students planned an expedition to the Usumacinta. Students completing the course could participate on a J-term OAP trip to bring that plan to fruition. Then this spring they have worked in a seminar course to analyze their group projects, build posters, and presented them- first at the VCU UROP symposium last week, and next week over zoom, in Spanish, to our Mexican colleagues.

For VCU students, foreign expedition offered a river of knowledge and memories by VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY In 2022, Virginia Commonwealth University professor James Vonesh traveled to Mexico to scout a lengthy stretch of the Usumacinta River. Stretching more than 600 miles from northwestern Guatemala to southeastern Mexico, the river is steeped in history and natural wonder, meandering past Mayan ruins a...

Congratulations to VCU Environmental Studies Academic Advisor Gerron Scott for successfully defending his dissertation yesterday and having a book chapter proposal accepted by a publisher. We are so lucky to have you and your expertise as key part of our ENVS team!

Congratulations to the VCU Environmental Studies undergraduates and their mentors who shared their creativity and research at the annual UROP symposium today!

Another great story about student research in VCU Environmental Studies -

Drawn to a nest of secrets, student researcher explores a small songbird’s breeding habits amid a changing climate VCU environmental studies major Juniper Peterson makes a mark in avian ecology lab, where the peace of nature meets the puzzle of data analysis.

Another of our remarkable VCU ENVS undergraduates profiled in VCU news today

Class of 2024: Charles Baker works to protect venomous snakes and reptiles – and has already made a mark in Central America The VCU Life Sciences student and a friend have launched a nonprofit and purchased a remote property in Honduras to create the first dedicated habitat preservation for a rare pit viper.

Nice article in VCU news today about ENVS senior, River Studies and Leadership Certificate student, and VCU ESA SEEDS chapter president Jennoa Fleming talking about how she found her research.

How I found my research: Jennoa Fleming studies the small wonders of the rock pools to understand our future on Earth Fleming has been researching the rock pools of the James River since she was a high school student. ‘Ecology is where I truly belong,’ she said. ‘I can’t imagine doing anything else.’

Last call for indicating your interest in our summer course Footprints on the James! This hands-on interdisciplinary field course will travel by boat down nearly 200 miles of the James River this May and June

This class is ideal for “early career” university students interested in the environment who would be excited to learn more about the James River watershed. Participating students will be enrolled in 3 courses for a total of 6 credits. There are no prerequisite classes. No prior outdoor experience is required. Just an excitement to learn outdoors. In this short clip Footprints alumni Jennoa Fleming and Joi Colman talk about how their identities shaped their experience

If you would like to be considered, please complete this form by Weds 27 March (that's this week!). Link to course webpage and interest form is in the comments below.

Joi and Jennoa Reflect on the Footprints on the James Experience Zoom Recording ID: 87633445258 UUID: BS5a7jaKQViHQ5WetkF2PA== Meeting Time: 2024-03-23 12:59:06pmGMT

CES faculty member Dr. Lesley Bulluck on windows and birds

Celebrity owl Flaco’s recent death in NYC highlights how bird strikes with buildings are strikingly common, including in Virginia At VCU, avian ecologist Lesley Bulluck offers a window into how windows and migration are a dangerous mix – and how VCU students are advancing data collection.

Donte Jackson (class 23) and Jennoa Fleming representing ENVS at the Black History in the Making awards ceremony this evening!

Congratulations to VCU Environmental Studies undergraduate, Jennoa Fleming!

Jennoa has received The Black History in the Making Award coordinated annually by the Department of African American Studies to recognize outstanding Black students.

Jennoa is an undergraduate in the Environmental Studies program and is also working to complete the VCU-River Management Society River Studies and Leadership Certificate (RSLC). This certificate is awarded in collaboration with the professional society and is offered at 12 universities across the country. Jennoa will be the first Black student in the nation to earn this professional credential - history in the making indeed!

Her RSLC builds on her immersive course experiences at VCU including river expedition style courses "Footprints on the James - the human and natural history of the James River watershed" and the "Rio Grande - sky islands to river canyons" as well as her independent research in freshwater ecology.

Jennoa has been involved in research on the ecology of the James River rock pools near Belle Island in the Vonesh lab since she was a student at Open High School (See 16 year old Jennoa featured on VPM "Science on the Rocks" here - https://www.vpm.org/2019-01-10/science-on-the-rocks). She has served as an REU intern and valuable team member on NSF funded research on factors that shape aquatic biodiversity and is now conducting independent work examining the impacts of trace amounts of cigarette butt leachate in rock pools on snail reproduction - a model for exploring sublethal effects of this understudied environmental pollutant.

Jennoa also is the current president of the Ecological Society of America SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education Diversity and Sustainability) VCU chapter. This is a national organization with the mission to "diversify and advance the ecology profession through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students to participate, and to lead in ecology".

Jennoa exemplifies the mission of SEEDS. During her service as president, she has significantly grown chapter membership, in part, by leading and organizing engaging twice-monthly chapter events that have attracted diverse student participants. These events have included nature walks (using iNaturalist), a James River cleanup, a Halloween bug trivia night, a graduate student Q&A, and a beeswax food wrap-making event, to name a few. Currently, she is organizing an overnight research field trip for chapter members to the Rice River Center, where students will explore ongoing ecological research. Importantly, these events have created a unique and supportive environment for students across VCU to explore ecology and environmental science as a profession. Jennoa continually impresses with her initiative, her leadership skills, and her ability to build community. Not only is she paving new career paths for herself, but she is creating pathways for others. This is a rising leader in ecology and environmental science with a productive and impactful career ahead of her.

Congratulations, Jennoa! Way to make a difference!