Students venture north through Duke in Alaska program

<p>The Duke in Alaska program this summer allowed 11 students to&nbsp;study Alaska's biodiversity, history and political issues.&nbsp;</p>

The Duke in Alaska program this summer allowed 11 students to study Alaska's biodiversity, history and political issues. 

A new global education program in Alaska allowed students to explore the intersection of biology and culture this summer.

Called Duke in Alaska, the program was held from July 5 to Aug. 4 and gave students the chance to experience different regions of the Alaskan state including cities Juneau, Seward and Anchorage. Jon Shaw, a professor of biology and director of the program, said the program allowed students to learn about the many communities that make up the region—both natural and man-made.

“It's actually an interdisciplinary course in the sense [that Alaska is a] great place to combine history, political issues, economic issues, Native American issues and biodiversity," Shaw said. "So it's fundamentally a biology course, but it includes other components. We look at oil development versus biodiversity. We look at native Alaskan issues."

The 11 students in the program were split between biology majors and non-biology majors, wrote Olivia Sanchez—a senior who participated in the program and is studying international comparative studies and Spanish—in an email.

Sanchez noted that the program was an enjoyable experience with “a perfect combination of science, anthropology and sociology” in its design.

"I would recommend this program to anyone and everyone,” she wrote. "Not only did we cover a broad range of topics that would interest any student, but we did so in a fun and beautiful environment. Although it was biology based, we did a lot of fun and interactive things like hikes, visits to nature conservancies and boat tours that made the learning a lot more dynamic.”

Amanda Kelso, executive director of the Global Education Office and assistant vice provost for undergraduate education, explained in an email that both students and faculty typically submit reports and course evaluations to evaluate the success of a new study away program.

"Duke in Alaska received very positive feedback from students, and Professor Shaw was very pleased with group dynamics and the quality and diversity of discussions and projects resulting from the field studies,” she wrote.

The Global Education Office also sponsored the Duke in Aix-en-Provence and Duke in Bologna programs for the first time this summer, Kelso wrote. She added that two new programs are also on the horizon. 

"In 2017, we’ll launch two programs—one aimed at rising sophomore engineers, Duke Pratt in Costa Rica, and another focusing on the Chicago finance market, Duke in Chicago Finance, coming out of the economics department,” she wrote.

The Duke in Alaska experience was designed by Shaw, who previously headed the Duke in Australia program, Kelso noted. Shaw explained that the structure of the program was designed for students to explore the state’s major biological communities, or biomes.

“On the biological level, I wanted students to have an appreciation for the three major biomes of Alaska,” he said. “ I think they were really excited by the fact that by the time we finished in Juneau and Anchorage, they could walk through the forest and basically know the dominant plants that they'd see. On a conceptual level, I wanted them to appreciate the field of biogeography, what determines what lives and grows [in these biomes]."

Although the trip explored the temperate rain forest biome close to Juneau and the taiga biome near Anchorage, Shaw noted that the program's itinerary did not cover the third major biome—the Arctic.

"The only one of the three biomes which we did not get to this past year—which I hope to add next year—is actually the Arctic,” he said. "That's expensive, [but] I think I found an affordable way to do it because I think that students really need to see the Arctic since it's such a unique thing."

For future trips, Shaw said that he also hopes to take advantage of Juneau’s role as Alaska's state capital, possibly visiting the capitol building or studying education policy for Alaskan natives.

Connor Hall, a senior environmental sciences major and Duke in Alaska participant, noted that the program also helped students learn about the impact of human civilization on the Alaskan wildlife. One of his favorite parts of the trip, he said, was a chance to speak with five environmental specialists from ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s largest oil producer.

“It was so interesting to learn about all the environmental regulations that they have to do and all this data that they have to collect,” he said. “People think that oil companies just come in and do whatever they want, but it’s really not like that anymore.”

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the name of Duke in Alaska participant Connor Hall. The Chronicle regrets the error. 

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