| Course Number: | EDU 5710 S32 |
| Instructor: | Sean Beckett, M.S. |
| Location: | In-person at North Branch Nature Center & online. |
| Dates and Times: | August 03 - October 03, 2026. August 3-7, 9 am - 5 pm. |
| Credits: | 3 graduate credits |
| Tuition: | Tuition is set by and payable to North Branch Nature Center |
This course begins with a week of great fun and learning in the river! This week-long exploration of Winooski Watershed starts in the verdant headwaters of the Winooski River in the Green Mountains, and works its way downstream, unpacking fundamental concepts in river science along the way. We’ll visit the old forests way up the Winooski’s North Branch to see where forest ecology and river health intersect. We’ll head downstream to meet a family of resident beavers to see how this species historically defined the flow of water across the Northeast. We’ll visit a brook catastrophically altered in 2023 to witness how streams are adjusting to our ever-increasing extreme rain events. And we’ll envision a path forward for our vulnerable towns and cities that have developed over the last three centuries right along our river channels and floodplains.
After a week in the watershed, teachers will be able to “read” a river, and interpret the pieces, patterns, and processes that comprise different parts of the stream system. This course is organized spatially—from upstream to downstream—as well as conceptually—the river “ABCs,” or Abiotic (fluvial geomorphology, geology, and hydrology), Biotic (aquatic and riparian ecology; fish and wildlife biology), and Cultural (human settlement history, stormwater management, and channel alterations). Teachers will finish the week prepared with ideas and activities to integrate these concepts in their own middle- and high-school classrooms.
The course continues in an online, independent format with continued work and a final project due by October 3, 2026.
Audience: All educators with a Bachelor's Degree
Course Goals: Use standards-aligned lessons and activities in the field and classroom to study place-based watershed science.
Visit field sites across the Winooski Watershed that showcase river and watershed science concepts, from forested headwater streams to urban downtowns.
Explore sections of the Winooski Watershed via canoe and kayak.
Use a steam table to model river geomorphology.
Discuss strategies for creating classroom extensions of field-based activities that incorporate written and digital tools, mapping, and data analysis.
Course Objectives: Learn fundamental concepts in fluvial geomorphology, including dynamic equilibrium, Lane’s Balance and the Channel Evolution Model.
Understand how streams naturally exist and function in our landscape at high-order and low-order parts of the system, and how how human alterations to our stream channels impact stream geomorphology, aquatic ecology, and human health and safety.
Become acquainted with the fish, wildlife, and invertebrate species that characterize different parts of streams, and their roles in the aquatic-terrestrial ecosystem.
Explore alignment of course activities and watershed curriculum with Next Generation Science Standards, Proficiency-Based Learning, and Common Core requirements.
Course will take place in-person, in the field and in the classroom, on the days listed in the scheduled course meeting time above. Course will begin at North Branch Nature Center and may visit several sites during the weekend to cover course content in the field. Nightly reflections for each of the in-person days will be due the following morning. Educators will apply what they learn to continued online, independent work, with a final project due before the course end date listed above.
Costs for required readings/resources, if any, may not be included in the course tuition. Please contact NBNC for more information.
Palmer, T. 2024. Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to our Urgent Flooding Crisis. University of California Press.
Eaton, A. K., Stepenuck, K. F., McKelvey, C. B., Immordino, M. A., & Spasyk, A. M. (2025). A model of watershed place‑based learning for K‑12 students and teachers. The Journal of Environmental Education.
Wohl, E. (2025). Following the bend: How to read a river and understand its nature. Princeton University Press.
Gies, E. (2022). Water always wins: Thriving in an age of drought and deluge. Beacon Press.
Thompson, E. H., Sorenson, E. R., & Zaino, R. J. (2019). Wetland, woodland, wildland: A guide to the natural communities of Vermont (2nd ed.). Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
(802) 229-6206
This course requires registration with North Branch Nature Center (NBNC) first. Please click on the Register Now! link below.