DEER CREEK CENTER
FOR FIELD RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Education

Located in the Illinois Valley — the heart of the Klamath-Siskiyou Bio region— the Deer Creek Center for Field Research and Education serves as a nexus for scientific research and monitoring.

Providing educational opportunities for all ages is central to our mission and the opportunities for teaching and learning at the Deer Creek Center are as diverse as the environments within striking distance of our main campus.

Our educational goals include:

• Provide an outdoor laboratory and maintain access to diverse natural and managed environments to promote active, life-long learning about the bio region.

• Encourage multi-disciplinary environmental education by coordinating and supporting activities of partner institutions, visiting schools and universities, and the public.

• Provide hands-on training for teachers so they can expand their classrooms to include the natural world.

• Develop strong academic programs that will draw to our region students and faculty from universities throughout the region and country.

• Provide a venue for educational conferences, retreats, and workshops.

Examples of Educational Programs at DCC:

Public Programs

Since its origin in 1997, with a two-week summer program, the Siskiyou Field Institute (www.thesfi.org) has grown to become a regional leader in delivering high quality educational programs and outdoor experiences to diverse audiences throughout the year. Their dedicated team of naturalist instructors lead participants in discovery of the unique natural history of the Klamath-Siskiyous.

Their programs include:

• Youth and after-school programs
• Summer Camps
• Half-day to Multi-day Natural History classes (including many for university credit)
• Naturalist Certificate Program
• Evening lectures

Visit the SFI web-site for information on upcoming courses and events, or contact Candy Gerard (541-597-8530; candy@thesfi.org) to receive a current course catalog.

University Classes

DCC provides the perfect setting for field-based university courses in the natural and social sciences and the arts. Classes from Humboldt State and Southern Oregon universities regularly use DCC as a jumping off point for their field courses, including courses in Wildlife Techniques, Plant Ecology, Aquatic Ecology, Herpetology, Vertebrate Natural History, Field Botany, Plant Identification, and Biological Illustration. In addition, SOU watercolor and photography classes have used DCC as a field studio.

DCC is also an important venue for SOU’s Masters Program in Environmental Education (www.sou.edu/ee/), a major component of which is to provide graduate students the opportunity to operate and manage a field-based education program. While in residence at DCC, EE masters students will gain practical experience by developing place-based curricula, and organizing, marketing and delivering programs to a wide range of school groups. In addition to taking courses in the natural sciences offered at DCC, EE masters students will also take graduate-level Environmental Education courses, including Selected Topics in Environmental Education (EE 507), Place-based Curriculum Development (EE 527), Leadership in Environmental Education (EE 594), and Teaching in Environmental Education (EE 595).


SOU is in the process of developing a 4-week summer program (mid-June to mid-July) that will deliver undergraduate and graduate-level courses in the natural sciences open to all university students. Each 3-4 credit hour course will run Monday through Thursday, all day, for two weeks. There will be additional 1-3 day field seminars on selected topics that will run Friday through Sunday. These seminars will be open to the general public and may be taken for an addition 1 credit hour. For more information on upcoming courses, contact the Biology Department at SOU.
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The Deer Creek Center is available for use by any public or private organization whose primary purpose is educational. Instructors from academic institutions interested in bringing classes to DCC are encouraged to visit us or contact Candy Gerard (541-597-8530; candy@thesfi.org) for additional information about facilities and availability.