Getting outside is important. Learning about the environment though focused laboratory experiences, both scientific and socially oriented, is  a critical component of learning in the department. 

ENV student Amos Almy measures tree diameter for ecosystem services mapping project. ENV student Amos Almy measures tree diameter for ecosystem services mapping project.The Ursinus campus and Collegeville area offers numerous places to explore complex concepts learned in the classroom. Forests, fields, yards, streams, and streets offer plenty of places to enhance learning and develop new skills.

Among the regular outdoor lab activities (Mapping, Freshwater, Geology, Trees) students participate in are:

  • Campus tree and ecosystem service mapping
  • Freshwater Index of Biotic Integrity sampling in nearby creeks
  • Forest change dynamics
  • Forest cultural values analysis
  • Naturalized basin plant and animal sampling
  • Neighborhood change analysis
  • Tree coring
  • Tree identification
  • Tree reflections and memory
  • Urban NTFPs/foraging
  • Valley Forge geology and forest analysis
  • UC Campus building tours and analyses
  • Watershed delineation and mapping