A Duke Blue Devil at heart, Dr. Charlotte (Char) Clark is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Sustainability Emerita at the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment. Char received her B.A., Master of Environmental Management (MEM) and Ph.D. at Duke. Before becoming a long-time Duke professor, she worked on air pollution regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency and served at Duke as Director of the Center for Environmental Education. As an educator, Char's primary interest lies at the intersection of collective learning and action. Her teaching practices engage students with real-world applied projects that often result in impactful, student-led sustainability improvements to Duke's campus and surrounding community.
Fruits of Char's place-based applied teaching practices over the years can be found around Duke's campus today. Through course-based client-projects, her students have inspired significant sustainability initiatives at Duke, including the birth of the beloved Duke Campus Farm. The farm sparked from a student-led feasibility study in 2010 in Char's 'Food and Energy' course now called 'Sustainability in Theory and Practice' (ENV 245). In 2024, the Duke Campus Farm still stands strong and has grown tremendously from this student legacy to reach more students, faculty, staff and community members.
A more recent example of a project-based learning experience in Char's sustainability class is a team project wherein undergraduates worked with Duke Dining as a client in 2024 to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of various hydroponic systems, should Duke Dining adopt such a system in the future. The students took on a variety of research methods to offer suggestions. They visited local hydroponic farms, interviewed peer institutions who use hydroponic equipment, and made a comparative analysis of various systems on the market. Not only will this student project contribute to future decision making at Duke, but it also offers the students new skills and experiences. Char says that people learn in many ways: "A challenge for faculty is providing a variety of different learning modalities that improve understanding and skills development for all learners."
Char continues: "I know that one of my best learning modalities is through doing, and that is likely why I am so committed to having experiential class components. Sometimes this entails working on 'real-world' problems for 'real-world' clients." Char also likes to require that students choose from a menu of experiences that take them out of the classroom and onto campus or into the community. Thus, during the spring 2024 semester of her Sustainability in Theory and Practice course, each student needed to complete three experiential components. Some students attended sustainability workshops or listened to guest speakers that they might otherwise not have made time for; others participated in a campus tree planting or volunteered at K-Ville by directing students to use the appropriate waste bins.
Years ago, Char took some students to a local organic farm where they planted, weeded and ate lunch while talking with the farmers. At one point, Char realized a student working in a crop row was crying. Char quickly went over to ask what was wrong. The student looked up at her and said with a smile, "I'm so happy." The student later found a life career in sustainable food systems, and Char believes that the realization this topic was something her student loved happened in part because of the hands-on experience.
Dr. Clark's remarkable ability to connect local partners, the Duke community, and students empowers her students to address real-world issues while gaining a full spectrum of environmental proficiency skills.
Dima Zlenko, ENV245 Teaching Assistant
Char elaborates: "My students and I also learn through anecdotes, metaphors, and stories. I find that I am always trying to find an actual or metaphorical narrative to illustrate a point, especially those that can be complex, controversial, and ever-changing." When Char taught Integrating Environmental Science and Policy, the class examined complex 'wicked problems' in teams, often led by other expert faculty.
On the topic of wicked problems, Char tells a story about Dr. Norman Christensen, the founding Dean of the Nicholas School, who is an expert in wildfire science. Dr. Christensen presented six different forest profiles (e.g., Ponderosa Pine, Alaskan Boreal, etc.) to a class, and each student team learned about one ecosystem and its challenges. At the end of the unit, students researched one land stakeholder role (e.g., landowner, politician, land manager, Indigenous representative, etc.) and everyone had to roleplay in an hour-long 'Blue Ribbon Commission meeting' moderated by a teaching assistant.
In addition to the hands-on role-playing exercise, each student had to write an op-ed as if to submit it to a real newspaper in the part of the country within the ecosystem they studied. Although the op-eds may not have been formally published, the students were challenged to think through various points of view on a very complex problem. This wicked problem scenario was emblematic of many other climate and sustainability problems and helped students think about difficult questions including: "Who are the community partners that need to have a say and be listened to? How do you critique the quality of information you have available? How do you collaborate with others? How do you write for a non-science newspaper audience?"
To faculty interested in incorporating climate and sustainability projects into their courses, Char gives the following advice: "Reach out to your colleagues and get advice and suggestions. I don't mean just those in the Nicholas School or science fields, but whatever your discipline, I know that we have many faculty and others with teaching responsibilities who would love to brainstorm together. I also highly recommend many workshop programs and individual consulting through Duke Learning Innovation & Lifetime Education (LILE)."
The Climate and Sustainability Teaching Fellows program is one such example of an offering through LILE, led in partnership with the Office of Climate and Sustainability. Char adds: "I also really enjoyed the Teaching for Equity Fellowship program and the Collaborative Project Courses Faculty Fellowship program. These LILE programs support the development of a faculty community that extends beyond a home department, institute or school and provides professional and individualized support."
When it comes to connecting Duke students to a job, Char shares that some student majors or concentrations lead to historically robust and well-understood career pathways. On the contrary, professional opportunities in sustainability studies are newer and have an ever-changing landscape of possibilities. Therefore, learning to frame a project, work with a client, and produce recommendations in class prepares students to enter any profession.
In conclusion, Char's innovative teaching methods which emphasize real-world applied projects, have led to a broad range of sustainability initiatives at Duke, including the Duke Campus Farm. Her courses engage students in hands-on experiences that foster a deep understanding and passion for sustainability issues. Char's dedication to diverse learning modalities ensures that students not only gain knowledge, but also develop practical skills and a sense of responsibility toward sustainable practices.
The article is part of the SCALe Spotlight series hosted by the Office of Climate and Sustainability. The Sustainability and Climate Applied Learning (SCALe) Spotlight stories celebrate Duke students, staff, faculty and community partners who demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and climate education through applied teaching, learning and action.
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Dima Zlenko held the role of a Teaching Assistant in Char's ENV245 class during the fall of 2024 and wrote this article.