Continued...Students of the Subartic

Winter Ecology has been taught through the Center for Northern Studies at Sterling College for over 25 years. Bear Swamp is the perfect locale for students to delve into this cold climate course. As literature about Bear Swamp explains, it is “a rare remnant of the glacial ages. Tucked in a shallow basin amidst stands of balsam fir, red spruce, sugar maple, and paper birch, the swamp acts as a cold sink. As the boreal forest spread northward in the wake of the receding continental ice sheet some ten thousand years ago, Bear Swamp retained its subarctic character. Today, the swamp provides a glimpse of the far North.”

Learning about Winter Ecology seems especially pertinent as we face the impact of global climate change and increasing populations. Faculty member, Jeff Parsons (one of the four professors who took part in instructing the course), notes that, “A large amount of the world’s land mass is located in the north. The effect of an ever increasing human population is that the north will face growing pressure on its resources as it absorbs the impact of more human activity, resource extraction, and infrastructure development.”

Sterling College offers two week “intensives” three times (fall, winter, spring) during the academic year. During intensives students take one class from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each day. This format allows for classes to leave campus and spend extensive time studying “in the field.” The Winter Ecology class took advantage of this format by spending time indoors in lecture and lab and outdoors making field observations and doing research.

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