Refugia: Contemplative Practice in a Changing Climate

Kate Reavey, Peninsula College
Barbara Blackie, Peninsula College
Author Profile
Initial Publication Date: September 2, 2017

Summary

Overview: The idea of "Refugia" shaped the framework for this series of assignments. In its final form, this can, we hope, be a series of integrated activities within a learning community (two team-taught courses sharing a common group of students) rather than simply linked assignments within the context of a course in botany or environmental science AND a course in English composition/writing. Within the context of botany and natural history, the word refugium (plural refugia), from the Latin for place of refuge, has been used to describe a population of organisms that has survived through unfavorable conditions, most often associated with glaciation. Plants that have adapted to extreme conditions by moving to a place of refuge are part of the unique ecology of the Olympic Mountains, very near Peninsula College, where this series of activities was envisioned. The activities/LC course can be adapted to focus on high elevation plants, although this example centers on species within the Ed Tisch Memorial Arboretum (ETMA). The opportunity for local research, directly on our campus, and the access to a website created by students and maintained by Barbara Blackie, who co-created this course, made this an excellent choice as our starting framework took shape.

The idea of finding refuge away from cold places, from frozen ground, from the extreme conditions of glaciation inspired us to consider how some plants will adapt to climate consequences and to seek further research on this subject. How will warming, on a global scale, impact plants? This became the heart of our inquiry wherein students would engage in a series of assignments that consider this question alongside the important question of how they-- and we-- seek refuge in such unfavorable conditions as those we are living in today. Our learning and our own practices with the Curriculum for the Bioregion initiative's Contemplative Practice faculty learning community has informed us, and we are deeply interested in sharing some of the strategies we learned from the scholars and practitioners in that group within the context of this set of activities relevant for botany/environmental science and writing.

The goals for this series of assignments are threefold: (1) for students to become more aware of the impacts of climate change on certain plant species, (2) for students to include mindfulness in this awareness, and (3) for students to use observation, silence, reflections, and dialogues to guide their learning.

We created a series of assignments that ideally could be taught through a set of linked courses (English Composition linked with a natural science such as Introduction to Botany, Introduction to Biology, or Environmental Science). The assignments can also be used in stand-alone classes in these two disciplines (English or Botany alone). This would bring botanical content to the composition course, and would bring research skills and reflection to the natural science course. Each activity can also be used by itself.

Refugia is the theme of the exercises we have created for either a linked botany/composition course or discrete botany, environmental science, English composition, or creative writing courses. We would like the activities to work on two levels:

First, students learn about the specific habitat requirements and physiology of local native plants so that they can then reflect on how a changing climate will potentially shift where plants live or how they function. They explore the concept of the Pacific Northwest as a potential regional climate refugium for plants, as well as mountain habitats providing possible micro-refugia for lower elevation species. This addresses the research skills/academic goals for both English and Botany.

Second, Students are asked to go beyond the scientific facts to explore their personal reactions to the concept of plants and plant communities needing refuge. They use their new-found academic understanding to grapple with some of the observable complexities of climate changes. They apply this concept of refugia to the human needs and responses to a changing world. By exploring the strengths and limitations in plant adaptations, they reflect on their own strengths and limitations for living with climate consequences.

Throughout their work, students will be asked to pay attention to the role of community. In the context of the course, our class discussions, both face to face and online, provide some opportunities for this awareness. The "jigsaw" assignment that requires students to delve into complex, peer-reviewed research provides another opportunity for shared efforts within community. We encourage students to complete certain "pieces" of that jigsaw and then begin to educate the others within our class community, so that the burden of learning is a shared activity. This extends to our contemplative work, where the weight of the knowledge of climate consequences also potentially becomes a shared burden. When we aren't "going it alone," there is another kind of refuge that can be recognized/acknowledged, and that is the refuge of shared experience which is accessible within community.

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Learning Goals

We both want our students to:

  1. Gain an introductory understanding of reflective and contemplative practice and their emerging role in college and university classrooms as a pedagogical tool for deepening student learning.
  2. Encounter several reflective and contemplative practices as a strategy to make the concept of sustainability more accessible and meaningful to students, particularly with respect to difficult issues at the intersection of the environment and human impacts.

Concepts and skills from botany that the assignment aims to introduce or deepen: This list builds from common competencies usually covered in introductory botany, biology or environmental science classes. We try to build from the "usual" chapter on biomes of the world, to a deeper look at climate impacts on our regional and local plant communities.

Students will do the following:
  • recognize that ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environments.
  • understand that there are global climate patterns that determine major biomes.
  • learn to identify specific plant responses to environmental factors (temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind), determine and define the major biomes of the world.
  • explore the major limiting factors that determine where plants can survive using multiple tools. They will understand that these factors work on various scales, including biome/global and regional/topographic, and micro-environmental scales.
  • be able to define which plants are generalists and which are specialists, with regard to optimal ranges.
  • use research skills to discover the current hypotheses regarding how climate change will affect plant communities in the Pacific Northwest.
  • use research skills to uncover the concept of plant refugia on regional and local scales.
  • use contemplative exercises to reflect on their personal reactions to alterations in their immediate environment that they will likely observe.

Writing Competencies the assignment seeks to strengthen:

Students will do the following:

  • Pre-write, draft, revise, and edit reflective and analytical writings.
  • Use correct grammar and mechanics.
  • Write a series of brief assignments and a final essay that require complex, nuanced thought and reflection in response to living in an age of climate consequences.

Reading Competencies:

Students will do the following:

  • Read a variety of diverse sources, including popular journals, peer reviewed articles, textbooks, and one another's work-in-progress and assess the role of each in communicating science and understanding the role of contemplative practice in our lives and our work.
  • Demonstrate critical reading skills including a mastery of distinguishing among summary, assertion, reflection, narrative, and other approaches.

Informational Competencies:

  • Students will strengthen their skills in the following:
  • Using advanced search strategies to find and retrieve information
  • Recognizing and avoid plagiarism and use correct citation format to acknowledge and cite sources.
  • Evaluating the reliability, depth, and relevance of information retrieved.

Personal Competencies:

  • We intend for these to include not only ideas but practices and habits-of-mind.
  • Students will be introduced to, or deepen their current understanding of the following:
  • the importance of contemplative practice in light of climate consequences (this is related to the big ideas of contemplative practice in literature and composition)
  • the use of reflection, contemplation, and listening to support students' emotional responses to sustainability issues/climate awareness that give rise to anger, discouragement or despair
  • a sense of humility—as it relates to our place in nature, our respect for the wisdom of other cultures, our relationship to the environment and our sense or responsibility for it.

Context for Use

Botany 101 and English 102: This assignment is most appropriate for freshman and sophomore level botany and English composition courses with a class size of up to 25. It was originally conceived as a series of activities for a linked course (Botany 101 and English 102) but the activities are described as if the classes are not linked and can be used independently in either class, with slight modifications.

Description and Teaching Materials

We recommend introducing the importance of contemplative practice from the very start of the quarter. Throughout the quarter, these brief activities can frame class time, whether in a classroom or in the field, with an attention to contemplation and reflection: Handout for Brief Activities for Openings and Closings Handout for Brief Opening and Closing Activities (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Aug24 17).

In addition to beginning and sometimes ending class sessions with a brief period of contemplation and, at times, written reflection, we recommend assigning the essay, "Don't Just Do Something. Sit There" by Jean MacGregor:http://serc.carleton.edu/bioregion/examples/60194.html

By framing the importance of such practices within the context of seeking refuge, we intend to help students understand our goals for the course (or series of activities) more explicitly.

Part I - general botany/biome information plus reflection

For content on the broad concept of biomes of the world, students in either ENG 102 or BOT 101 start with the Botany text book Chapter 22, "Ecosystems and Biomes," in Introductory Plant Science: Investigating the Green World (McKenney, C., U Schuch, A Chau., 2014). You or a colleague may have a similar chapter in a similar text.

To further explore the concept of biomes, we reinforce the information from McKenney et al. 2014 using HHMI's Biome Viewer app— http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/biomeviewer. To guide this exploration, we divide students in the class into small groups (3-5 students), making certain that at least someone in the group can upload the biome app on a phone or tablet or laptop. Groups will need to arrange a time to meet face-to-face outside of class time to work together to explore biomes and climatograms. To assist in the exploration, we created a list of challenge questions for the groups to work on as on out of class assignment. File is attached here: HHMI BiomeViewer Guided Questions HHMI BiomeViewer Guided Questions (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 135kB Aug19 17)

To begin to explore specific plants, we use the the native plants in the Ed Tisch Memorial Arboretum (ETMA) at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington, however, there are many sources of native plants on campuses and many places have access to university or community arboretums. If no access to actual native plants is possible, there are many online resources where students can access information. Your local Native Plant Society is a good place to start. Peninsula College botany classes over the years have been developing and adding to a website that includes plant descriptions and photos of each of the plants found in the ETMA. One botany assignment has been to write the text for a descriptive page for ONE of the plants in the arboretum. Here is an example of ONE page (Pacific Silver Fir) https://barbarablackie.wordpress.com/plants/conifers-and-more/pacific-silver-fir/. This has been a useful exercise and has provided a good repository for information about our specific set of plants.

We also introduce the idea of contemplative practice early in the quarter and how we will include this practice in our studies and our discussions this quarter. At this stage, we will use the ETMA as a natural area for reflective activities. At this point we will take a "weather report" on students' connection to the natural world, native plants and their current environment, before exploring the idea of change and refugia.

Once students are familiar with some common local plants and the concept of biomes, we begin to work on research skills and the specific information on climate's affect on plant communities and the concept of plant refugia.

As a brief introduction, students will listen to the following four-minute audio focused on climate change and the concept of "refugia" by Toni Morelli:
http://digital.nepr.net/news/2016/08/23/umass-researchers-look-for-the-places-that-climate-change-forgot/

Students will eventually read Morelli's peer-reviewed paper that covers some of the same material. The idea is to make the material in the peer-reviewed paper more accessible and less overwhelming by hearing the researcher discuss her work in more general terms.

Throughout the quarter, we carry out visits to the ETMA on our campus; we hope that you have a similar place-based study area in your location. These visits provide the opportunity for each student to choose and carry out a study of a a single plant species. Further and equally important, these field trips provide the opportunity for observation and reflective writing.


Part 2: further content for our region
Next, we assign Chapter 2 of A Natural History of Olympic National Park, by Tim McNulty; the chapter is titled "Legacies of Ice." (At this point, students will simply read and discuss the chapter in an attempt to understand not only relationships between and among species but to experience the particular writing style of McNulty, which combines narrative, natural history, analysis, and some persuasion. This is a well-researched secondary source that speaks specifically to our area of the world, the Olympic Peninsula and introduces the concept of mountains and plant refugia during the ice age. It helps explain the unique plant communities in the Olympic mountains.

Students will post responses to a discussion on the Canvas website. These can be generated by questions you as the instructor post or can be student-driven. Individual students can be selected randomly to start the dialogues online or in a face-to-face classroom.

We also ask students to simply read Kate Davies' essay in the online Tikkun magazine, "Hope in the Age of Climate Consequences." (See link in Resources, below.) We encourage a silent reflection on this article, or encourage brief written response or some combination of these.

Part 3: using scientific literature in research/ The Jigsaw Assignment

Introducing peer-reviewed scientific literature (primary sources) can be a challenging experience for first and second year students. As a way to help students use scientific literature effectively and not be intimidated or discouraged from using peer reviewed papers, we introduce one scientific paper that the class will tackle together using a "Jigsaw reading exercise." We will use the following reference in the jigsaw, since the research and researcher were first introduced through the short audio interview (above). That way, they already have an idea of the main concepts of this paper.

Morelli TL, Daly C, Dobrowski SZ, Dulen DM, Ebersole JL, Jackson ST, Lundquist JD, Millar CI, Maher SP, Monahan WB et al. 2016. Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation. PLoS One. 11(8):e0159909.

To see how we set-up and execute the jigsaw, see the assignment described in the file: Scientific Lit Jigsaw Assignment.docx Scientific Lit Jigsaw Assignment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 148kB Aug1 17).

We then assign other peer-reviewed papers, all referring or reflecting on the concept of plant refugia, to smaller groups. These groups will read, summarize, and share key information from these papers with the whole class.

Here is a list of possible papers. Each smaller group of students would be responsible for one of these papers.

  • Aerts R, Cornelissen JHC, Dorrepaal E. 2006. Plant performance in a warmer world: General responses of plants from cold, northern biomes and the importance of winter and spring events. Plant Ecology.
  • Keppel, Gunnar, et al.2012. Refugia: identifying and understanding safe havens for biodiversity under climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography 21(4): 393-404.
  • Morelli TL, Daly C, Dobrowski SZ, Dulen DM, Ebersole JL, Jackson ST, Lundquist JD, Millar CI, Maher SP, Monahan WB et al. 2016. Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation.PLoS One. 11(8): e0159909.
  • Stralberg D, Bayne EM, Cumming SG, Sólymos P, Song SJ, Schmiegelow FKA. 2015. Conservation of future boreal forest bird communities considering lags in vegetation response to climate change: A modified refugia approach. Diversity & Distributions. 21(9):1112-1128.
  • Turner, Nancy J., Douglas Deur, and Carla Rae Mellott. 2011. "Up On the Mountain": Ethnobotanical Importance of Montane Sites In Pacific Coastal North America. Journal of Ethnobiology31(1): 4-43.

Each group would report back to the whole class with the following information from their paper. Student groups will identify the following:

  • What were the Key Terms you need to know in order to understand the paper? (what words do we need to know?);
  • What were the key points of the paper? List two or three "take-away" points the authors want you to remember about their research.
  • Can you connect the paper to our concepts of Refugia? How are the authors speaking about plants and places that will be important as refuge in changing climate?
  • Provide an image that complements the key points—a visual from this article and/or a visual from another article that you can post to the class while presenting. This can be data from a graph, or just a visual that evokes the response you had to the information.

Part 4: field Studies - independent research of plant responses

We hope to have weekly or bi-weekly visits to the arboretum where students will begin individual research of a plant species or plant group. They will be charged with understanding the climatic needs of the plant, its current range, and what is known about its response to changing climate. Several plants in our arboretum are good candidates for individual research on this. The document "Plant List - species to research for climate impacts.docx" Plant List - species to research for climate impacts (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 103kB Jul31 17) provides a list of species that are good candidates for research and are represented in the ETMA on the PC campus. These are common native plants in WA and may also be useful for your area.

As mentioned above, at Peninsula College we have a website that we have used as a repository for student-generated information. The outcome of this research project is visualized as linked pages of climate response information to the species description pages, for example, student research on what might happen to Pacific Silver Fir, would be linked to the webpage that described the natural history of that plant. All climate response information would be under a new tab on our website. We find the webpage is a useful tool, but this information could also be collected in booklet or document for your class.

Concurrently, in English composition, we assign weekly (or more or less frequent) reflection essays. These can assist students in framing their perspectives and reflections and in preparing for the final essay.

Part 5: essay

We ask the students to re-read McNulty's chapter "Legacies of Ice," and assign a brief essay: 3 pages, double-spaced, that follows McNulty's rhetorical strategies of narrative, information, and analysis. Students will reflect on the field studies they have done, on the plant chosen to study for this assignment, and on some aspect of climate consequences that they have begun to understand in more depth as a result of their work. We ask the students to write "in your own 'voice'," but use McNulty as a model for including narrative, self-reflection, and observation as well as research and evidence in their essay. Here is the assignment in document form: Assignment: Essay Modeled After "Legacies of Ice" (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14kB Aug29 17)

Teaching Notes and Tips

Throughout the quarter, at the beginning or end of class, students will practice strategies of contemplation, and these will include "the personal weather report" as described by Kate Davies as well as the body scan. We have added Kate Davies paper in Tikkun Magazine in 2015 "Hope in the Age of Climate Consequences" both here and in the Resources section below: Davies 2015 (Acrobat (PDF) 548kB Aug19 17) or here is the link: http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/hope-in-the-age-of-climate-consequences

This article is important for helping students validate their reactions to scientific information. It is a challenge (for many people, one of the authors included!) to admit that we have emotional reactions to something we are ingrained to view as objective and without emotion or reaction. This resource, along with other wonderful examples found on this site, including Jean MacGregor's activity in the collection "Don't Just Do Something, Sit There" http://serc.carleton.edu/bioregion/examples/60194.html, which we read and discussed in the first week of class, help students absorb and understand on multiple levels. The readings help students make sense of their reactions. Reflective activities will also encourage students to really observe the detail in the plant communities that surround them and challenge them to realize the dynamic nature of their surroundings. We recommend providing additional time during classes for students to write, so that they can reflect on what they have experienced. After the brief opportunity for writing, it is useful to offer time for students to share what they have written or read a section of what they have written in the moment.


Assessment

Assessment of the writing assignments will follow the rubric used in other English composition courses. Assessment of the understanding of and utilization of the contemplative practices will require close readings of the discrete reflective writing assignments and careful attention to the components of the final essay in which narrative is an important part. Our abilities to assess or to measure how deeply students are influenced by the contemplative practices is limited by the brief length of time of an individual academic quarter. Nonetheless, both class discussion and a final, written self-assessment essay can provide specific tools for you to better understand the impact of contemplative practices on the learning.

Assessment for the students' understanding of biomes, plant refugia at various scales, and the application of peer-reviewed literature will be assessed through the final writing assignment as well. One of the competencies will include the student's ability to extract pertinent information from scientific literature that they have incorporated into the final essay assignment.

References and Resources

Here is a partial bibliography of the literature on plants and climate/refugia "Climate Refugia Bibliography.docx" Climate Refugia Bibliography (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 117kB Aug1 17), with an emphasis on the Pacific Northwest.

The recent Contemplative Approaches to Sustainability in Higher Education: Theory and Practice is an excellent resource.(Eaton, M., Hughes, H., & MacGregor, J. (Eds.). (2016). Taylor & Francis.) The contributions in this book have been invaluable to my understanding of the importance of including contemplative practice in the classroom. For this assignment, where the idea of "refugia" can potentially lead to many, diverse discussions regarding what it means to have refuge or to take refuge, the inclusion of silence, reflection, and particularly of contemplation remains crucial. This also may lead to discussions of privilege and agency.

"Hope in the Age of Climate Consequences," Tikkun magazine, 2015. http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/hope-in-the-age-of-climate-consequences

The attached document titled "Handout for Brief Opening and Closing Activities" includes a number of exercises/practices I have used in the classroom. My gratitude to Kate Davies for introducing me to many of these starting places. Handout for Brief Opening and Closing Activities (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Aug24 17)