Spring 2025 Today's Credentials Workforce Training

Video: Ditching class at Adams State University

Author
Meet Natrielle Shorty and Matthew Reno, biology majors at Adams State University, a public institution that turns its students loose in southern Colorado’s high country to do on-site research. As one administrator puts it: “The mountain ranges are our labs.” And that’s true even for first-year students such as Shorty, who spent hours wading in mountain streams with her freshmen classmates, collecting and studying macroinvertebrates. Reno, a third-year student, sees huge value in the field trips. “It makes the in-class work more meaningful,” he said. “It’s one thing to take notes, but applying research to a lesson made me realize, ‘Oh, there’s a reason we’re learning this!’” Read more »

Writing | Steve Giegerich
Editing | David S. Powell, John Strauss, and Stephanie Wang
Editorial assistance | Ruth Holladay
Photos | Shawn Spence (Colorado, Michigan), Shawn G. Henry (Massachusetts), Chris Alley (Tennessee)
Video Production: Michael Jensen
Design | IronGate Creative

Back to all Stories

Related articles

What are you looking for?