Photo Essays for Interpreting Landscape in an Instructor-Led International Field Course

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Melanie Matthews, Senior Project Coordinator with the University of Wyoming Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, for invaluable field course logistics support. Appreciation is also extended to the students of the Exploring Queensland’s Human and Physical Landscapes course for engaging with us in a mutually rewarding learning experience, and for sharing examples of their work for this lesson plan.

Disclosure Statement

We report no potential conflict of interest.

Notes

1 We utilized Google Photos as the tool to capture, edit, and share/disseminate the photo essays. We considered Instagram and other more closed-system photo-sharing sites; based on student input, Google Photos best allows for personalized levels of privacy, ease-of-use abroad (online and offline options, functionality using only a smartphone or—if preferred—with a laptop) and opportunity to share with faculty, fellow students, and family/friends.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maggie Bourque

Maggie Bourque, MS, holds a BA in philosophy and theatre arts and an MS in natural science education and environment and natural resources. She is also an alumnus of the Teton Science Schools graduate program in place-based education and field ecology. Her scholarship and teaching lives at the intersections of interdisciplinary education and place studies, blending cultural geography, philosophy, pedagogy, and environment. As Associate Lecturer in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, she teaches across the environmental studies curriculum and works with students, faculty, and communities to explore creative, integrative, and collaborative approaches to understanding complex relationships among people and place.

Jeffrey D. Hamerlinck

Jeffrey D. Hamerlinck, PhD, is Director and Senior Research Scientist at the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center, Laramie, Wyoming. His teaching experience ranges from foundations of geospatial information technologies to land use and environmental planning. With Maggie Bourque, he teaches an instructor-led field course in Australia titled Queensland’s Human & Physical Landscapes. His current research includes a study of rural multi-functional landscapes in the UNESCO-designated Noosa Biosphere Reserve, Queensland, Australia.