Creation Care

How Are Faculty And Students Involved?

 

Landscape

Faculty Research

Dr. Kristen Page

Biology

Human alteration of landscapes and land use patterns brings humans and wildlife into close contact.  Dr. Kristen Page researches animal – human disease transmission resulting from these patterns of development.  One of her recent publications is “Parasites and the Conservation of Small Populations: the Case of Baylisascaris Procyonis.” International Journal of Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife. 2:203-210. 

Dr. Doug Moo

Biblical and Theological Studies

Among Dr. Doug Moo's many areas of Biblical scholarship is the New Testament basis for creation care. He has written "Eschatology and Environmental Ethics: On the Importance of Biblical Theology to Creation Care" in Keeping God's Earth: The Global Environment in Theological Perspective IVP 2010. He is currently working on a new book on creation care with his son, Jonathan.

Dr. Joel Sheesley 

Art

Dr. Joel Sheesley is a painter who pursues themes of the connections between humans and their cultural and physical environment.  He is working on the project “Landscape: A Knowable Mystery” which combines his own paintings of Lincoln Marsh with social and natural sciences explorations of the marsh.  He recently exhibited a collection of works “Evidence on the Pavement” at the College of Lake County Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art.

 

Student Internships

Au Sable Institute, MI

“I had the opportunity to do ecological research at the Au sable Institute on the effectiveness of using mottled sculpin (a small fish that lives in streams) as an indicator of high stream and water quality. Through my time in this research, I was able to work closely with professors that were passionate about their call to care for creation and I was able to gain practical skills in field research. Both aspects of my experience helped me to understand my call to learn about and care for creation and to develop a personal environmental ethic.”

-Tommy Sokolowski’16

Raja Ampat Research and Conservation Center (RARCC), Indonesia

“Summer of 2015, I did an internship on a small island off of Papua, Indonesia. As a RARCC intern, my duties included planting, monitoring and harvesting sweet potatoes, starting up a Moringa tree planting and distribution project, leading kayak tours for the Conservation International Conference, taking Papua United to nearby villages to do soccer camps and HIV/AIDS awareness presentations, and accompanying tourists on snorkeling and diving trips to the island’s infamous reefs. I loved this internship because I experienced what ecotourism can look like and how it influences the interactions between people and nature –whether it's between the local villagers and their environment or between the tourists from Europe who have come to see nature. This experience gave me a lot of practical skills for the future and helped me realize what I really love doing and what I want to pursue for a career.”

-Bella Lopez’16

Research on the Mountain Pine Beetle outbreak, IL

“I am researching stains left behind in pine trees that the beetles use as a way to draw nutrients from the tree. I’m comparing stains between different species (Eastern and Western pines) to see if the amount of chemicals within a tree helps to prevent the stains. I have learned a lot so far about the interconnectedness of this ecological topic with the economy, weather, and marketing. I have grown in my skills of gathering and analyzing data. This will be formative in the future because my confidence and skill set will be built up and I will be able to implement the things I have learned through out this research into future projects.”

-Hannah Farell’16

Jacob’s Well Community Church Garden, IL

“I interned at a community garden last summer. The other interns and I were in charge of all of the up-keep of the garden. My favorite part was getting to be creative in designing aesthetics for the garden. We wanted to create a garden that could be harvested for a lot of produce for the local food pantry as well as a garden that could be a resting place for the community to come and enjoy the beauty of that space.”

-Christina Sandstedt’16