Natural History

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. - John Muir

Sterling is located in a unique environmental, economic, and cultural region, and has a long history of emphasizing people’s relationships with the land. Paired with electives and core courses, Natural History is a truly integrative area of study that both grounds students in northern Vermont and provides tools for further exploration farther afield.

Beyond our 430-acre campus in northern Vermont, field studies in northern, boreal, alpine, and marine environments provide students with the unique opportunity to experience nature and culture in some of the least traveled and unique environments in the world. Students and faculty have studied Natural History and Wilderness Skills in the Sierra Nevada, literature and history in Iceland, the culture and nature of Quebec’s James Bay region, mountain cultures in Sikkim and Ladakh, India, Ecology in Alaska and Newfoundland, and Marine Natural History in the Gulf of Maine.

A Selection of Courses

For those students interested in self-designing a major in Natural History please visit the Self-Designed Major page and the course catalog for specific course descriptions.

Natural History of the North Woods

This course is a field-based exploration of the natural history and ecology of the North Woods, with an emphasis on the interplay between temperate, deciduous and boreal forest biomes.  Students build on foundational principles of ecology through development and practice of observation, identification, and interpretation skills and the keeping of a refined naturalist field journal.  Topics include natural community composition and structure, biogeographic concepts, ecological succession, identification and classification skills for flora and fauna (including an introduction to botanical keys, as well as extensive use of other types of field guides), and the history and philosophy of Natural History.  Course format includes lectures, discussions, and a significant field component.

 Marine Natural History of the North Atlantic

This field-based course is an exploration of marine environments with emphasis on the North Atlantic.  We begin with an introduction to oceanographic topics such as sea floor spreading, wave dynamics, ocean currents and tides, and general marine ecology.  We progress to a survey of marine algae and invertebrate phyla, and culminate with a treatment of marine vertebrates with a focus on sea birds and marine mammals.  This course combines lectures and discussions with intensive field activities such as sea kayaking, tidepooling, and offshore excursions.

Seminar in Natural History

This course is intended to synthesize student's existing knowledge and experience in natural history and ecology through rigorous and critical examination of unifying themes in the field.  Through lectures, discussions and review of primary literature, we explore questions that naturalists have grappled with for centuries: What is nature? What is life? What is a species? What is evolution?  We will begin with perspectives of the early naturalists, from Aristotle to Darwin, continue with an investigation into modern evolutionary thinking, and culminate with a project-based exploration of current literature in the field.