By Karrigan Börk
. . .
You might think that teaching the same thing again every year would get old, or that taking field trips to the same location year after year would be repetitive. And, sure, gearing up to teach landlord-tenant law for the nth time can be a bit daunting.
But I’ve found that the students make every class unique. Each year, another cohort of students brings something different to the table and makes the experience new. They notice new things about the cases we read in class or the places we visit. They bring different sets of values and fresh perspectives, which lead them to question the doctrines I teach in different ways. Never knowing exactly where a class conversation is going to go means that teaching the same classes year after year is never really the same. Seeing students seize on new ideas and pursue them with a passion makes it exciting for me, as a teacher, to walk into class every day. Working with students on writing projects or other independent studies provides an opportunity to learn how someone else thinks, to see familiar problems through someone else’s eyes, and those opportunities are endlessly surprising (and rewarding). Students’ passion, anger, frustration, sadness, engagement, and growth are gifts that help me believe a better world is possible.
This is all especially true in field classes. As a graduate student, the UC Davis Ecogeomorphology class changed my life and my approach to teaching. The expeditionary education class, created by the Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) founders and taught by CWS affiliates, inspired me to get myself, my family, and my students out in the field. Working with Dr. Kurtis Burmeister, I learned about all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into a safe and successful field trip. In cooperation with Outdoor Adventures, the UC Davis Fire Department, great volunteers, and supportive donors, we’ve been able to bring law students out into the field through the law school’s California Environmental Cases and Places class. Many of the students are first-time campers, and many have never spent significant chunks of time in the field, so the trip can be challenging for students. But being in the places we’ve discussed in class and interacting with the resources and the people who rely on them brings conflicts to life in a way that classrooms just can’t.
The course is aimed, in part, at affective student outcomes – getting students engaged in caring and thinking about the issues presented in the course. Not telling them what to think, but showing them why they should care and should think deeply about the conflicts (and conflicting values) they encounter in environmental and water law. And field courses excel at that. One student noted, “I want the issues to be easily solvable. But you can’t tackle one thing without affecting another. How do you return water/land to people without impacting millions of lives?” Another reflected, “I met new people, made close friends, went to new places, and learned things about myself. Looking out the window as the land flies by makes me think about the history of this land – cultural, geological, ecological, etc. Every piece of this earth has been cared for (and cared about) by someone at some point. A detachment from place can make us forget the deeply ingrained connection and appreciation we all carry for place.” Watching students give up on knee-jerk, easy answers and instead wrestle with the hard water and land management challenges California faces makes the hard part of trip planning worthwhile. We may go on similar Cases and Places trips year after year, but with the students, it’s always a different journey.
A final student note: “Knowing the scientific, historical, and legal context of the place you are in makes life more magical.” This holiday season, I’m grateful for the magic that students bring into my life and the lives of everyone at UC Davis.
About the Author
Karrigan Börk is a UC Davis Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences. His publications run the gamut from California minimum streamflow requirements to a hatchery and genetic management plan for the reintroduction of spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River. Prof. Börk graduated with Distinction and Pro Bono Distinction from Stanford Law School in 2009 and completed his Ph.D. dissertation in Ecology at UC Davis in September 2011. His current work focuses on Western water law.
Further Reading
Mount, J. and P.B. Moyle. 2022. The 20th Anniversary of Another Good Idea: Ecogeomorphology. California WaterBlog.
Rypel. 2021. Field courses help young people see the real world. California WaterBlog.
Börk, K. and K. Burmeister. 2019. Cases and Places: A Field-based Approach to Teaching Natural Resource and Environmental Law, 68 J. of Legal Ed. 338.
Goodearly, T. 2016. How ecogeomorphology changed my life. California WaterBlog.
Nguyen, M. 2016. Ecogeomorphology: A Transformative Expedition Education. California WaterBlog.
* To celebrate 15 years of the California WaterBlog during this season of giving, consider making a gift to the Center to help us create more meaningful opportunities for students across our programs.
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