Retreat & Ecology Campus Course Descriptions
Listed below are the course descriptions for the Retreat & Ecology Campus Summer courses. For more information on these courses, please contact Maria Lettiere at 773-508-3548 or mlettie@luc.edu.
Register for courses in LOCUS.
ANTH 399 Archaeology Field School: Building an Evolutionary Understanding of Place
Our main field project involves baseline topographic mapping and systematic subsurface testing of the Ecology Campus property. This hands-on research is aimed at understanding landscape evolution of the diverse setting since the last glaciers receded and defining the changing patterns of human-environment interaction. Educational fieldtrips will be taken to nearby localities of relevant paleoenvironmental, archaeological, and historical significance.
BIOL 215 Ornithology
Prerequisites: BIOL 102 & 112.
Ornithology is a course designed to introduce students to all aspects of avian biology and ecology and meets the requirement of a lab elective for Biology majors. Topics surveyed: evolution, diversity, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, and conservation. There will be particular emphasis placed on field identification, field observation,song recognition, field census techniques and avian behavior. This course is scheduled to run at Loyola University's Retreat and Ecology Campus. Field trips around the ecology campus and to surrounding areas for viewing birds in the wild, observing their behavior and collecting data on avian structure are highlighted. Students will participate in and actively contribute to an ongoing research project that documents the use of the campus’s vegetative structure by migratory birds. A trip to the Field Museum of Natural History is highly encouraged.
Laboratory and field experience designed to illustrate the principles of ecology and to give students experience in collecting, processing, and analyzing data. Students will understand the methodology and use techniques in studying interactions of organisms to the environment and to each other at the organism, population, community, and ecosystem levels.
BIOL 395/ENVS 398 Restoration of Northern Illinois Woodland Habitats: Laboratory/Field Experience in Oak Restoration
Pre-requisite: BIOL 102
This course will focus on oak woodland restoration and will meet the requirements for a lab elective for Biology majors. It will also meet the University requirements for Engaged Learning. Students will develop an understanding of the value of ecological restoration to societies and ecological landscapes, review controversies surrounding ecological restoration, and understand that ecological restoration is approached at governmental (policy and regulation) and societal (the neighbors) levels, as well as at landscape, ecosystem, and population levels.
ENVS 398 Sustainable Agriculture 
This course will provide students with a rich educational and contemplative experience to discover one's role in, and dependence on, the greater natural world. Using environmentally sound agricultural practices to meet USDA Organic Food Production standards, students will contribute significantly to the implementation and growth of the Ecology Campus farm. Students will engage in hands-on, physical learning, and explore the farm as a living laboratory. Students will grow vegetables and herbs, learn food processing and preservation, and study season extension.
