TWENTY YEARS AND COUNTING: THE ISLAND ECOLOGY PROGRAM AT ST CATHERINE'S ISLAND, GA

The University of the South's Island Ecology Program is a five-week summer field camp taught on St. Catherine's Island, GA since 1987. Following a spring semester reading course, ten students study four basic areas: geology, botany, zoology, and animal behavior, on an undeveloped island that has significant evidence of human disturbances reaching from the present back 6,000 years. Each unit is taught by a different faculty member, with a goal of connecting the four sections to illustrate their interdependence in a single ecological system. Pairs of students conduct field research projects in the second half of each section, and these projects are reported orally to the group and then are formally written up for the program's permanent record. In addition to emphasizing the interconnections of the physical systems on the island, goals of the program include developing excellence in fieldwork, oral presentation, and formal scientific writing. Competence in the use of GPS, compass, automatic levels, map drawing, microscopes, vibracore, and marine sampling equipment is emphasized.

The value of the program is measured in large part by the increased focus and competence that students bring to their undergraduate work, and in part by the number that choose vocations in related fields.