TWO UA LITTLE ROCK PROFESSORS WIN SUSTAIN THE ROCK AWARD

“We won’t be in our offices after class,” Dr. Rene Shroat-Lewis, a geology professor at UA Little Rock, decreed to her Science and Society II class. “We’ve got a shindig to attend.”

The shindig in question?

The Little Rock Sustainability Commissions annual Sustain the Rock award ceremony.

Each year, a multitude of educators, businesses, and nonprofit organizations are nominated for the award, but only one may win in the following categories: individual, non-profit, small business, medium business, large business, educator, and city department/employee.

This year, Dr. Jessica Scott and Dr. Rene Shroat-Lewis won the award in the educator category for their course Science and Society II. The course is exclusively offered to Donaghey Scholars and has been co-taught by the professors for years.

In Science and Society II, students delve into all aspects of the environment—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Starting with environmental theory, the class’s content eventually funnels down into what Little Rock can do to become a more sustainable city.

Students begin by writing an essay based upon Garret Hardin’s environmental theory in his essay “Tragedy of the Commons.”

Once they’ve understood the broader strokes of environmental theory, the students then narrow their focus into Little Rock. Students have written letters to the mayor discussing what can be done to make Little Rock more sustainable, created group grant proposals for UA Little Rock’s sustainability committee (five of which have been funded) and a podcast series going over an environmental topic of their choice.

The class undoubtedly expands beyond the general rhetoric of environmentalism you would hear in a standard science course.

By delving into the nitty-gritty of environmentalism in Little Rock, the course offers an unforgettable hands-on experience to the students that take it each year.

BY SKYLAR BOONE