Story and photos developed by University Communications.

F rom bluffs and dunes to rocky cliffs and mountain peaks—six environmental science majors took multiple mini-trips this summer to learn about the state’s diverse ecosystems.

The monthlong study-away program was headed by Dr. Bruce Snyder and Dr. Christine Mutiti, associate professors of biology and environmental science. Faculty led students on informative day trips and longer camping excursions. Together, they studied the biogeographical imprints of forests, upper and lower coastal plains and vast canyons.

“Georgia is an incredibly diverse state and few students have had a chance to visit many of these sites,” Snyder said. “We rarely teach from this approach where we look at the whole ecosystem.”

“While there’s a big emphasis on understanding plant communities, we also brought in geology, topography, soils, fire regime and other aspects that make each ecosystem unique,” he said.

Ecosystems are biological communities of interacting organisms—vegetation, waterways, wildlife and human impact. Students got up close and personal with these worlds, going beyond lectures and textbooks.

During fieldwork, students had the opportunity to examine a variety of habitats and interact with plants and animals. They set up camp sites, sometimes in the pouring rain. They hiked miles of terrain, kayaked and cooked by campfire. They came across alligators, racoons, squirrels and other critters and learned how rattlesnakes are tracked on Jekyll Island.

“You can’t really understand the connections within ecosystems—or even between systems—from the classroom,” Snyder said. “Something as simple as ‘Where do we find or not find particular plants’ can’t effectively be replicated indoors.”

It was an ambitious adventure. Snyder said they “only scratched the surface” at 16 spectacular study-away locations:

•    Week One: Students hiked among the pine and oak trees at Bartram Forest; the rocky shoals of Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge; and the glade at Oconee National Forest.
•    Week Two: Students discovered the lower coastal plains at Moody Forest with its longleaf pine trees; Jekyll Island with its beaches, dunes and maritime forest; Cathead Creek, where students kayaked in tidal streams and old rice canals; and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge with its swamps and marshes.
•    Week Three: Students explored the upper coastal region at Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area; walls of sandy cliffs at Providence Canyon State Park; and the boyhood residence of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, now a national historic park in Plains, Georgia.
•    Week Four: Students learned how fire is used in forest management. They explored Tallulah Gorge State Park with its bluffs and ravines; Vogel State Park in the Chattahoochee National Forest; Sosebee Cove, a picturesque forest between two mountains; Blood Mountain, the highest peak along the Georgian Appalachian Trail; and Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

Senior Anna Lippy of Lilburn said the study-away course immediately caught her eye when advertised last fall.

“It sounded like a great opportunity to get into the field and apply what I’ve been learning in class,” Lippy said.

Her favorite location was Providence Canyon in Lumpkin, Georgia. The red and white cliffs looked more like portions of the American West. Students spent all day exploring the canyon. They saw salamanders, kaolin deposits and even old cars that were abandoned there.

Another location Lippy found fascinating was Moody Forest in Baxley, Georgia. The 4,500-acre preserve is home to 200- and 300-year-old longleaf pine trees. Students spotted endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers on their trek. They could smell the smoldering debris from a prescribed fire, done to keep invasive plants from crowding out pines.

Students learned to identify longleaf pines from similar slash, loblolly and shortleaf pine trees. At several locations, Mutiti pointed out sourwood leaves for students to taste.

Lippy was also interested in coastal plain ecosystems, which cover 60% of the state.

“Subtle changes in topography can have a huge impact on the ecosystem, because this area is so close to the water table,” she said. “These are mostly sandy ecosystems, so the sediment moves easily, making this very dynamic area.”

Each trip was previewed with lectures and students did reflective writing. At various sites, they interacted with forest managers and park rangers to learn about potential careers in environmental science.

They ended the course understanding the vulnerability of ecosystems: How they’re changing, what threatens them and what can be done to sustain them.

Sometimes ecosystems are converted for agricultural purposes. Neighborhoods or parking lots are constructed in them. Or resources like timber and coal are extracted from them.

“We saw the interactions of human development, climate change, invasive species, fire or the lack thereof,” Snyder said, “and how these affect, threaten or endanger natural communities.”

Seeing with her own eyes the beauty, diversity and fragility of ecosystems made Lippy want to continue studying and help find ways to protect the planet.

Study away helped crystalize what she’d learned in class. She created visual memories that help her recall information with ease.

“I didn’t feel like I was in a class, yet I learned more than I do in a normal classroom,” Lippy said. “It was an environment that cultivated learning and curiosity unlike any class I’ve taken before.”