Symposium 2020

Biology 100 is a non-majors course to satisfy the Life Science with Lab general education requirement. Students participate in a semester-long research project. First, they choose a topic that interests them in biology and do some preliminary research. Next the students research their topic in-depth and organize the information into a formal outline. Finally, the students write a story integrating their research. These creative research stories always surprise me: some are delightful, some are awesome, some are very realistic and have a strong emotional impact and all of them show that the medium of the story engages the students to think more deeply about their research and its impact. Enjoy reading these - they will take you on short, fun and informative rides!

Biology 102 is part of the lower division major's biology series. In this course, students learn about genetics, microevolution, population genetics and the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem by working with the coat color genetics of of Feather River College horses from the equine and rodeo programs. Horses have at least 13 genes that are responsible for their coat color and students learn how to score a horse for its coat color alleles. They also learn about the various types of genetic interactions such as epistasis and pleiotropy. Finally, students learn how to apply the Hardy-Weinberg Theorem to analyze microevolutionary change in coat color genes of FRC horses. Here the #2020 Biology 102 teams present their finding in professional,scientific posters!

BUS 100 provides a basic background for various areas of business with fundamental vocational guidance information. An exploration of management, production, marketing, accounting, finance, and the legal aspects of business.

The purpose of this assignment was to give students an opportunity to experience working with others to advocate and inform others on a topic of diversity.  Prejudice and Bias do not go away on their own and it is a difficult subject to discuss with parents and staff.  For this reason, practicing advocacy is essential.

Taking English 101 is one of the central experiences of starting college anywhere in the country.  Students learn to read more deeply, to think in new ways, and to write with additional complexity and nuance. My students read a variety of essay on varied topics expressing many different viewpoints, and developed research projects of interest to them. I tell my students that curiosity is a great thing and that undertaking research turns curiosity into useful knowledge and insightful information.  I hope you enjoy the presentations about a wide array of current issues and interests. 

English 101: Composition and Reading is a required course for all students entering FRC. Its focus is on oral and written communication, analysis, research, and argumentation. This presentation is the penultimate assignment of the semester, representing students' research and leading to a final research paper.

We have had a great time in the Watershed Protection and Restoration class this semester.  We started this class by learning how to do stream surveys, take scientific measurements, and collect and analyze data. We then learned about a wide variety of restoration techniques and the challenges and opportunities that arise with each option. We finished by going on a series of field trips where we saw the different techniques we learned about on-the-ground.  We’ve been lucky to meet weekly for in-person labs, spending precious time in our 1.2 million acre local classroom.  We focused our data collection efforts on the portion of Spanish Creek that flows through the Feather River Campus.  For their final projects, my students were tasked with outlining a conceptual restoration design for Spanish Creek.  Please join me in learning about the creative ways in which they propose tackling the complex and nuanced issues of stream restoration.

This class focuses on North American wildlife: population dynamics, wildlife behavior and management, wildlife laws, how to survey wildlife in the field, and it ends with the bad news of the wildlife extinction crisis followed by the good news of rewildling and the campaign to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 - 30x30. We spend time in the field learning about wildlife tools and techniques.

Students chose a species that meant something special to them and did a Species Account, a major project for the semester. Here, they will share with you some of what they learned. Come take a walk on the wild side with us!

A study of leadership as it pertains to recreation.  This course allowed students to develop as recreation leaders by providing a theoretical framework of leadership theory and experiential learning as recreation leaders.  Emphasis is placed on appropriate theories and techniques for addressing the needs of a variety of clientele in an outdoor setting.  Their research portfolio this semester was aimed at helping them identify their strengths as outdoor leaders as well as create a timeline and action plan for further developing their leadership skills.

In this class, students explore the historical contexts of development and globalization in order to better understand links between politics and economics. The history of development includes theoretical and ideological debates, many of which continue today. A country’s development is directly related to what we call globalization today. In this class, we explore globalization and development by looking at the legacy of colonization, foreign aid, poverty, food production, climate change, etc.  

The students who participated in the research symposium have selected countries and have researched these countries' "location" in the international political economy. This includes the imports thy rely on and the products they export. Students looked at the role of governemnt in directing the country's trade and the decisions, and forces, that have determined the coutnry's development.