Environmental Science

Welcome to the Courtright Memorial Library! This LibGuide will introduce you to available library services and resources to assist you in your class work and research.

Otterbein's location also allows us to teach using the local nature as our lab. The Otterbein campus is adjacent to Alum Creek and it won't be long before you will be in the creek with Dr. Hoggarth calculating an index of stream health based on the fish and invertebrates that you identify. Otterbein has also drilled an array of groundwater wells adjacent to the stream and Otterbein Lake, and here you will learn from Dr. Svitana how to monitor ground water flow and how it is possible to model and track the movement of underground pollutants. See Dr. Svitana's latest research in the video below:

Otterbein's location near Columbus also allows us to have close relationships with governmental agencies located in the capital. You are often able to get internships with agencies like the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio EPA, the Metropolitan Park System, and the Ohio Geological Survey, as well as several private sector companies.

Our department believes undergraduate research is a cornerstone to our Environmental Science Program. Many of our students do independent research projects of their own choosing or as part of ongoing faculty directed research. Recent student projects in Environmental Science at Otterbein include: The effect of lamprey poison on native freshwater mussels, Mangrove deforestation rates in Belize, Arsenic bioaccumulation by ferns, and Trace element concentration in Alum Creek sediments. We also encourage you to take a field courses such as the trips that the we regularly lead to Belize, Costa Rica, Africa, and Death Valley, or to participate during the summer at the Stone Lab in the western basin of Lake Erie.