A photo of the lake at the wilderness field station
  1. Coe
  2. Academics
  3. The Coe Difference - Centers and Programs
  4. Off-Campus Study
  5. Wilderness Field Station
  6. Wilderness Field Station Course Offerings

Wilderness Field Station Course Offerings

Wilderness Field Station Course Offerings

Explorer Canoe 2.JPG

Session 1: June 13 - July 11, 2026

  • Aquatic Ecology (BIO 275/275L)
  • Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Power and Sustainability (POL 185): Pablo Toral; Political Science, Beloit College
  • Introduction to Ornithology and Advanced Topics in Ornithology (BIO 165 and lab/BIO-303 and lab): Jesse Ellis, Biology, Coe College

Session 2: July 11 - August 9, 2026

  • Environmental Toxicology (BIO 280 and lab): Tawnya Cary, Biology, Beloit College
  • Writing Wilderness (RHE 345): Chris Fink; English, Beloit College
  • Northwoods Ecology (BIO 203 and lab): Alyssa Hakes; Biology, Lawrence University
  • Conservation and Ecology of Mammals (BIO 335 and lab): Vanessa Harnois

Brief Course Descriptions

Introduction to Ornithology (BIO 165/165L)

A field biology course appropriate for non-majors, this course will introduce students to the diversity of birds and methods for understanding their behavior, ecology, and physical adaptions for their environment. The Wilderness Field Station is an incredible location for bird study, and we begin our session as breeding seasons is ramping up. Seventeen species of wood-warblers can be found in the area, Common Loons nest on Low Lake, and Trumpeter Swans have recently returned. Students will learn to identify common local species, become familiar with methods for identifying unknown species, and perform an independent study project to understand breeding behaviors of local native species, tracking individuals to determine their territories, nest location, and song repertoires. The class is taught concurrently with Advanced Topics in Ornithology; students can only take one of these two courses.

Prerequisite: None

Jesse Ellis (Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Power and Sustainability (POL-185)

This course introduces the students to field-based research in the social sciences. Students will become familiar with survey research by learning data-collection techniques such as participant observation and interviewing techniques. Students will also learn to record, analyze and present data. They will conduct research from two different cases of wilderness preservation, the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area in the United States and Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. Cross-national comparisons of political institutions, regulatory styles, and state-society relations will reveal different styles of environmental management and wilderness preservation. Students will interview key stakeholders on both sides of the border, including members of native communities (called "first nations" in Canada), business groups, environmental groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and government. The course is designed for undergraduate students with an interest in environmental studies and social research methods, but no previous knowledge of political science or research methods is needed. Students considering graduate school will find this course particularly valuable because many graduate programs in the social sciences require strong field research skills.

Prerequisite: None.

Pablo Toral (Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin)
Click here for Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Power and Sustainability full course description.

Northwoods Ecology (BIO-203/203L)

Learn methods and principles of field ecology in this class as it explores the various ecosystems of the boreal forest biome. Examine predator-prey interactions by collecting data on the food consumed by carnivorous pitcher plants in a bogs. Understand the dynamics of the processes of disturbance and succession as you paddle through the Boundary Waters visiting healthy mature forest, areas recently burned, and areas affected by massive windstorms known as derechos. Examines relationships between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment with a focus on the near-boreal communities surrounding the field station. Field work augmented by readings, lectures and discussion will cover ecology at the population, community and ecosystem levels. Applications to human ecology in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area will be integrated into the course.

Prerequisite: None

Alyssa Hakes (Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin)

Aquatic Ecology (BIO 275/275L)

Prerequisite: One college biology course.

 

Environmental Toxicology (BIO-280/280L)

 

This intermediate biology course will introduce students to the field of environmental toxicology, which investigates how environmental pollutants affect living organisms. This course will focus on sources, fate, bioaccumulation, and toxicity of metals, a class of pollutants with a long social, economic, and environmental history in the region. Students will read and discuss published literature in environmental toxicology, explore social and economic issues around mining, play with quantitative data, and engage in field sampling around the Wilderness Field Station on Low Lake.


Prerequisite: One college biology course.

Tawnya Cary (Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin)

 

Advanced Topics in Ornithology (BIO303/303L)

A field biology course intended for majors in biological sciences, this course will introduce students to bird phylogeny and taxonomy, identification, behavior, ecology and physiological and morphological adaptations. With help of the professor, students will design an independent project to examine a question of their choosing relating to breeding behavior or diversity, and work to gather and analyze the data needed to answer their question. 
Prerequesite: At least one introductory course in biology that includes 

Prerequisite: None

Jesse Ellis (Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Writing Wilderness (RHE-345)

This course investigates strategies for writing about the natural world in an informal workshop format. Class members explore the terrain around the Field Station and share with each other their written observations about those experiences. The composition assignments invite everyone to express their insights in various genre options: daily field journals, essays, poetry, short fiction, journalistic articles, memoirs, etc. By exploring and writing about this immersion into the north woods--plus reading works by such classic naturalists as Thoreau, Muir, Leopold, Olson, and McPhee--we should all gain a richer understanding of our relationship with the wilderness.

Prerequisite: None.

Chris Fink (Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin)
Click here for Writing Wilderness full course description.

Conservation and Ecology of Mammals (BIO-335/335L)

 

Prerequisite: One college biology course.

Vanessa Harnois '15