My Experience in Earth, Life, and Time:

A Three Semester Review

In retrospect, my experiences in the Earth, Life, and Time scholars program have greatly informed me of current scientific issues, with a look into the past to discover how we came to be in our existing situation. It has also shown me the progression of our world and our universe through time. Further, my scholars program has shown me a glimpse of our future here on earth, and how vital education and action are to the survival of our species, and of our world.

These past three semesters have been an overwhelming learning experience for me, not only for the pure scientific facts we have been taught, but for the knowledge and recognition of the world around me. In our first semester, we were taught about the physical earth including many areas of geology. Before these lectures (and field trips) I could gaze out at a pretty landscape and admire it for its aesthetic value. Now, after lessons like “Clocks in the Rocks: How Geologist Unravel Deep Time” (November 2005) and field trips like our journey to the Jug Bay Wetlands and the Calvert Cliffs (October 2nd, 2005), I see much more than I ever imagined I could and I know more information from one view of a rock than previously. I see, and more importantly I understand how geologic forces have changed and shaped our landscape, how each rock literally is “a record of the environment in which it formed”, and how climate has changed our world--and will continue to change it. This knowledge has been reinforced by the class I took in my first semester, Geology 100. In this class we learned a great deal about rock composition, plate tectonics, weather patterns and climate, geologic hazards, the relationships between Earth and other planets, and extinction of life on Earth. Although I am not particularly interested in archeology/paleontology/geology, as an evolution and ecology student I must understand the past of the world. If nothing else, the knowledge I gained will always stay with me and sayings such as “Subduction leads to Orogeny” will remain in my memory. I am very grateful for being now wiser on issues such as the ice ages or plate tectonics on other planets.

Besides the Terra Mobile aspect of our world, ELT has taught me a great deal about the history of humanity and of animal and plant life. The first introduction into the second semester dealt with the evidence of evolution (January 31st, 2006), Charles Darwin (February 7th, 2006), and the mechanism of evolution (February 14th, 2006) such as Genetic Drift, Pleiotropy, and Heterchrony. I had a previous knowledge in each of these subjects but I am always willing to learn more, and I did. I learned about the forefathers of evolution and about the technicalities and disputes among scientists, past and present. In my Biological Sciences 105 class (Principles of Biology I), I learned the molecular groundwork on which the ideas presented by the professors stood on. BSCI105 topics like the human genome and DNA replication paralleled our discussion in colloquium of meiosis and genetic variation, and from there natural selection. In addition to the lectures in the classroom, I was able to experience a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History (April 7th, 2006) in which the idea of a cladogram came to life. The museum is designed as a walk through cladogram, or an organized taxonomy created from the relative position of an organism on the family tree. It also demonstrates the idea of descent with modification, a key element in our Earth, Life, and Time curriculum when dealing with evolution. This particular field trip was the most enjoyable because the scholars spent the weekend in New York City and that was my first time in the Big Apple. Later on in the semester Doctor Merck gave a lecture on Biological Diversity (February 28th, 2006), which became one of my favorite lectures. Even though it seems dorky, I really like the taxonomy of life and the systematics behind it all. I know that my future Biological Sciences 106 class (Principles of Biology II) next semester will focus on many topics discussed in my second semester of ELT and I am glad I have had such a broad background in this discipline. Finally, a lecture that I found very interesting was on the development of language and art (The Evolution of the “Humanities”, April 18th, 2006), with examples of animal painters like elephants, and decorative bower birds. After reading Jared Diamond’s book The Third Chimpanzee, I could connect my ELT class with my Socioanthropology and Linguistics (ANTH260) class I took my freshmen year. In his chapters on the acquisition of language among our species, “Bridges to Human Language” discusses social linguistic phenomenon such as pidgins and creoles and tries to determine a link between animal and human languages by dissecting primitive human languages and complex vervet monkey communication. Overall, this semester was filled with fun and interesting lectures (example: Raw Animal Sexuality) and helped me establish a firm background for my future research into ecology and evolution.

The last semester of ELT focused on humanities effect on the environment, the earth’s resources, and plant and animal life. It also ended with a look again at science as seen from the perspective of the mass culture and how it can be manipulated and perverted into “voodoo science”. One of the most effective lectures, The World as a Polder, delivered by Dr. Holtz, was appropriately dramatic and fascinating as he explained several ways the world could end. This lecture was derived from our reading on Jared Diamond’s Collapse chapter “The World as a Polder: What Does it Mean to Us Today?” I found the reading to be very insightful, however a bit frightening. I learned the twelve ways in which Diamond explains how the world will collapse such as the depletion of major fossil fuel resources, the release of chemical pollutants and the increasing human population. The included maps of the Political and Environmental Trouble Spots of the Modern World and photos of the various chemical spills and introduction of foreign invader species really helped reinforce the ideas provided. This past semester was very interesting and motivated me to want to help fix some problems of impending destruction. In conclusion, I think it was vitally important to educate our class and help encourage students to use this knowledge to become proactive members of the global community.

My social experiences in Earth, Life, and Time have given me memories and friends that I cherish. I think the Living and Learning Community has been a great experiment because I have established great friendships with my fellow classmates and for that matter floor mates as well. I really enjoyed the Scholars Charity Softball Tournament and hope I can participate in it this upcoming spring as well. As I mentioned before, the Scholars in New York field trip was the highlight of my first year in ELT, and a great opportunity to explore one of the world’s major cities, see my first Broadway play, and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History.

Finally, the Earth, Life, and Time program has developed in me a direction for my undergraduate career. As a freshman, I had no idea what I planned on majoring in, and through ELT I have discovered a major that I will be able to learn everything I desire and be happy with my choice and my classes. If I do not attend medical school, I hope to receive a graduate degree and research the zoology and botany of various environments and ecosystems. Hopefully I can work with organizations such as the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institute when I am finished with my degrees. I am very thankful to both Doctor Holtz and Doctor Merck for instilling me a thirst for scientific knowledge and the motivation to help preserve and protect the natural world around me.