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Wright Ingraham Institute

Frank C. Miller March 13,2015

Wright Ingraham Institute

To promote, direct, encourage and develop opportunities contributing to the conservation, preservation and use of human and natural resources.

Founded in 1970Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, Director 1970-2011

Part 1: Influences

Part 2: The Field Station

Part 3: Integrative Studies

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Experiential Hands-on Land-based

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Dewey Experiential learning Live and work in the laboratory

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Dewey Experiential learning Live and work in the laboratory

Buckminster Fuller Structures, cybernetics Technics Lab, modeling

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Dewey Experiential learning Live and work in the laboratory

Buckminster Fuller Structures, cybernetics Technics Lab, modeling

Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture, vision Learning community, vison

Aldo

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Dewey Experiential learning Live and work in the laboratory

Buckminster Fuller Structures, cybernetics Technics Lab, modeling

Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture, vision Learning community, vison

Aldo Leopold Habitat conservation, land ethic Land inventoryField Station

____________________________________Aldo

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Dewey Experiential learning Live and work in the laboratory

Buckminster Fuller Structures, cybernetics Technics Lab, modeling

Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture, vision Learning community, vison

Aldo Leopold Habitat conservation, land ethic Land inventoryField Station

____________________________________John McHale Integrative studies, Summer workshops,

new technology Energy Project

Part 1: Influences

Person Key Ideas WII Learning Strategy

John Dewey Experiential learning Live and work in the laboratory

Buckminster Fuller Structures, cybernetics Technics Lab, modeling

Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture, vision Learning community, vison

Aldo Leopold Habitat conservation, land ethic Land inventoryField Station

____________________________________John McHale Integrative studies, Summer workshops,

new technology Energy Project

Greek Philosophers Scientific method, Research, community,debate critical thinking

2: The Field Station: taking theory into practice

Theory Practice

A. Land is a frame of reference Integration of disciplines for integrative learning within the context of place.

B. Environmental impacts can be Conduct baseline inventory ofaccessed by measuring changes all biotic and abiotic elements. to ecosystems.

C. Changes in land use and climate Compare annual inventory of cause perturbation and undisturbed and go-back fields.succession in ecosystems.

D. Design and technology can Technics Lab + Energy Project.mediate impacts on natural systems.

Part 3: Integrative Studies

A. Five-Week Summer workshops: live on-site, intensive.

B. Naturalists Days: public one-day program with visiting naturalists.

C. Grasslands Seminars: public one-day programs on watershed topics.

D. Architects on the Plains: public one-day events onresource use, energy

John McHale, Director of the Center for Integrative Studies, SUNY

5-Week Summer Workshops

• Graduate level, intensive, live-in program.• Interdisciplinary focus, supplemental to university specialization.• “Education is not a preparation for life, but rather the process of living.”

- John Dewey

1. Land Inventory

2. Agricultural Project

3. Technics Lab

4. Energy Project

5. Land Use Research

Land Inventory: Observe and Document

200+ plant species in Herbarium50+ birds identified18 mammals identified20 amphibians71 butterfly species30 stream invertebrates'

Ecological Systems: Study Principles and Interrelationships.

Test principles with more observation.

Folsom and Archaic Period, 8000 B.C.

Native Americans

Farming and Ranching, 1888 - 1970

Cultural Inventory

Agricultural Project

• Prairie restoration studies

• Vegetation mapping

• Productivity studies

• Crop and beef production monitoring

Models as Integrative Tools

Models as Integrative Tools

IBP Grasslands Biome Ecosystem ModelGeorge Van Dyne

IBP Grasslands Biome Ecosystem ModelGeorge Van Dyne

Modeling Human Systems

Measuring Inputs and Outputs: Biomass, Materials, Water, Energy

Measuring Inputs and Outputs:Water Use in Arid Environments

Energy Project

Weather Monitoring:- Temperature- Humidity- Insolation- Wind

Grant from National Center for Atmospheric Research:

- Create digital database- Model energy gains/losses of

Technics Lab

Technology Assessment:- Electrical wind generation- Solar thermal- Battery technology- Electric vehicles

Learning is the process of living:

1. Minimize the impact of observation on the thing being observed.

2. Heighten awareness of natural environment through proximity and exposure.

3. Heighten awareness of patterns ofconsumption and waste.

4. Practice a frugal lifestyle.

Technics Lab:- Modular/Prefabricated - Power by renewable energy- Structures lifted above rock - Methane from organic waste- Water flows under structure - Residences, labs, classrooms

Layout of the Technics Lab

Selected Publications:

Richard T. Parker Center for Advanced Research Bulletin, K. Mattitsch, B. Doyle, 2003.

Integrative Studies, Seminar proceedings, J. Lodge, T. Tregarthen, et. al., 1979

Food, Fuel and Shelter, A watershed analysis of land-use trade-offs in a semiarid region, by Timothy Tregarthen, 1978

Lead Time for Accessing Land Use: A Case Study, in Science Magazine, by Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, 1976.

A Query Into the Quarter Century, On the Interrelationships Between Food, People, Environment, Land and Climate, ed. Elizabeth Wight Ingraham, 1975.

Running Creek field Station Report, editors G. Burkhead, J. Ragsdale, J Torborg, 1974.