Wood Thrush Research Preserve

The Wood Thrush Research Preserve is an approximately 20-acre forest located on the north side of campus. Students often walk to this site to conduct research and engage in various activities across the arts and sciences. Students in Environmental Science and Biology, for example, use the Wood Thrush as a field site to learn how to identify common plants and animals of Pennsylvania. They also learn how to conduct vegetation sampling, how to survey animal communities, and how to observe, measure, and mitigate the effects of forest fragmentation and invasive species. Research students have used the Wood Thrush Research Preserve to conduct a variety of projects, including testing the effect of soil nutrients on the invasive garlic mustard, the impact that coarse woody debris has on small mammal communities, and the extent of acorn herbivory.

Students from other majors, such English & Communications, Creative Writing, Creative Arts, Social Justice & Civic Engagement, Psychology, Music, etc. have engaged in a variety of interdisciplinary projects involving art therapy, art as social practice, eco-therapy, eco-art, mindfulness and meditation, sound art, poetry, environmental writing, and environmental justice (to name just a few).