ENVS Program

Lewis & Clark Environmental Studies

Your Projects

ENVS student projects are great opportunities for you to develop research and/or professional skills. You may do a project as part of a core course (ENVS 220, 295, 330, and/or 400); or, you may do one as part of ENVS 244 (Practicum), 499 (Independent Study), or another ENVS elective course.

ENVS 220 and 330

ENVS 220 and 330 projects focus on complementary dimensions of situated research. Here are the basics (and refer to the situated research page for clarification of questions and the hourglass process):

  • ENVS 220 projects will generally focus on descriptive and explanatory questions; ENVS 330 projects may build on and extend those results to pose evaluative and instrumental questions.
  • ENVS  220 projects will focus mostly on the middle of the situated hourglass (with some attention to the top of the hourglass), as methodological skills development is a key objective. ENVS 330 projects will focus on the entire hourglass, ultimately considering larger implications and applications via the bottom of the hourglass.

By examining the project records database, students in ENVS 330 can view projects done during ENVS 220…and former ENVS 220 students can see where their projects went in ENVS 330!

ENVS 244 and 499

Note that both ENVS 244 and 499 require completion and printing of a fillable form, available via the Registrar’s Office site, and a typed description addressing questions on the form. One credit is granted for every three hours of associated work weekly. Here’s some background on the projects you can do in 244 and 499:

  • ENVS 244 typically involves an unpaid internship with a public agency, private business, or nonprofit. You will work a certain number of hours of work each week (3 hours total work and related tasks per credit, up to 4 credits), and chronicle your professional development on your DS student site.
  • ENVS 499 typically involves a research-oriented independent study (1-4 credits, depending on outcomes) you will do under the supervision of an ENVS core faculty advisor; here too, you will document your research project on your DS student site. A special 499 we offer in ENVS is a “2+2” option, in which you take 2 credits before you leave for an overseas program and 2 credits when you return; contact us for more details.

Information on other ENVS course projects will be distributed by your instructor.

Project Process

For all projects, whether done in a core or elective ENVS course, here’s what you’ll do:

  1. First, some preliminary steps: consult the situated research page to get a good idea of what a situated project is all about. Then, you’ll need to establish a landing page for your ENVS project on your student site; see the project help page for details. Some quick notes:
    • The landing page is where all website viewers will start to learn about your project.
    • Your instructor will generally tell you how to construct this landing page. In course contexts, you will be guided through the process of setting up this page as a portfolio.
    • If you are doing a multi-student project, see the “Working with a group” notes at bottom of the help page.
    • Copy the URL to this landing page, as you’ll need it for the steps below.
  2. Next, on this ENVS site select New > ENVS Project Record. (Project records can be edited by anyone, in case you’re working with a team.) Here’s the information you’ll provide:
    • Your project title, in Headline Style Capitalization (which you’ll do for all titles on the DS site).
    • A geotag to your project location (click New Map toward the top, and follow these geotag instructions). Note: the geotag makes your project show up on our map of all projects; the first geotag you enter also shows up by default on your project page. Make sure your geotag is a simple placemark (point); if your project covers a large situated context, enter one or more placemarks for the locations of your actual research, or enter the approximate centroid of your location.
    • One or more applicable courses (if you continue the project in multiple courses, many sure to check all of them).
    • The URL to your project landing page (see above) under Project Page Link.
    • Project initiation date, and when complete, the completion date. In both cases, only the month and year will be displayed, so you can just enter the first of the month for convenience.
    • A 100-300 word project summary. For scholarly projects, include background, key questions, methodology, and (when available) key findings. For professional projects (e.g., internships), include background, key professional objectives, and (when available) final outcomes and reflections. Use appropriate tense (e.g., future when proposed; past when completed). Note that this field does not allow formatting or hyperlinks; you can save that for your project landing page and related pages.
    • Now, go ahead and save or publish your record!
  3. There’s one more important step to follow, under “Post relationship” at bottom. Here you’ll enter each student who’s a part of the project team (including yourself!) by clicking “Add New Project Team” and selecting their student record. For each additional student, click “Add New Project Team” again. Make sure to save all when done! This step links this project record with one or more students.
    • Note: if you’ve already selected the project from your student record, you’ll see yourself listed here, and don’t need to do it again.
  4. Once you’ve completed the above, most of your work, including regular posts, will go on the student site, but make sure to revisit your ENVS project record periodically to ensure that it’s up to date! Plan on a minimum of one post per week. Here are some special instructions, depending on the type of project you’re doing:
    • Scholarly projects (e.g., ENVS 220, 330, 400, or 499): Your instructor will specify expected content and outcomes, and remember to refer to the project help page for technical details. The typical flow follows the hourglass approach to situated research, starting with broad context (e.g., via preliminary posts, annotated bibliography, and actors/processes concept map), moving to your situated research project (e.g., via posts/pages specifying key questions and methodology), then finishing with the bottom of the hourglass (e.g., documenting project results and considering larger implications via posts/pages, a paper, and/or a poster).
    • Professional projects (e.g., ENVS 244 or 295): Here too, your instructor will specify expected content and outcomes. Documentation will be simpler than for a scholarly project (i.e., the basic project landing page option may suffice), as more time will be spent doing the actual work assignment. Here too, the hourglass approach is a good model: start with the broad context and professional objectives that led you to your project, then document your work assignment, then conclude with an assessment and reflections relative to your initial goals.
  5. For many projects, you will not only document your work on your student site, but you’ll share your project at our end-of-semester poster celebration—whether in poster or electronic format! Here too, your instructor will provide broad guidelines. This is your opportunity to shine, so make sure your site and related project outcomes are super top quality.