Biology students combine education with service for Nashville not-for-profit

Service and learning can go hand-in-hand, and a group of 31 Lipscomb biology students are combining their academics with service to meet the needs of a Nashville-based, not-for-profit organization. Students in Dr. James English’s freshmen-level environmental biology course are working in conjunction with the Nashville Food Project to implement an irrigation plan for the organization’s Wedgewood garden. The class visited the garden a couple times at the beginning of the semester to evaluate the land structure before devoting the fall months to creating the land management plan. “The property is on a slight-gradient, so what you do is collect the water and bring that rain water up so that you can use it to flow down,” second-year Yellow Ribbon student Christopher Long said. “It’s kind of an intricate system, but it’s completely sustainable. “Basically, we use mother nature to sustain the garden.” Jamie Wilkerson, the class communications manager for the irrigation plan, is designing the irrigation system to pump water from the 5,000 gallon tank to the piping system, providing water to the garden. “It is awesome to have a class with an actual real life application,” Wilkerson said. “It has [provided] drive and interest.” The irrigation system is designed to use rain water, implementing a sustainable practice that has been around for generations. Wilkerson said he hopes the irrigation system will help the Nashville Food Project with their upcoming spring crops. “Our proposal is very detailed and has everything outlined down to the smallest materials needed to complete the project,” Wilkerson said. “I find this super exciting because we have created something that, if used, should work perfectly.” The...

Lipscomb’s Institute for Sustainable Practice invites students to become the next generation of green professionals

The Institute for Sustainable Practice (ISP) at Lipscomb University offers a variety of degrees for students in all phases of life, including an undergraduate Major in Environmental and Sustainable Science (ESS). Environmental and Sustainable Science covers interests in a diverse array of fields, ranging from Ecology, Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Environmental Law and Policy, Environmental Analysis, Environmental Management, Organic Food Production and many more personalized concentrations. Dr. James English, Academic Director for the ISP, said the program is more involved than just taking Science courses. “A few years ago, students in most of these fields would just take a concentration of biology courses and chemistry courses. Then, maybe 10 years ago, many schools developed a program in Environmental Science,” English said. “The Institute for Sustainable Practice has a program that includes all those rather traditional fields, but also includes very applied areas of sustainability.” The programs offered by the ISP aren’t confined to just students interested in Chemistry or Biology. All students in all majors are encouraged to find out what the program has to offer and find a specialized career. “You want to go to Law school, but specifically you want to go for Environmental Law – our program encompasses that,” English said. “I have students who want to be farmers, environmental consultants. I have students who want to be entrepreneurs and start their own ‘green business.’ “And, of course, a great many of our students are studying ecology, conservation and wildlife biology. The thing all these students have in common is they are learning how the environment works, and doing something substantial to lessen our impact on...

Dr. James English brings passion and experience to Lipscomb’s Institute for Sustainable Practice

Do you remember being asked as a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Most of us had generic answers – a doctor, lawyer, maybe a policeman or firefighter. As children, we didn’t think of the numerous other professions that we could become such as a chemical engineer or entomologist, but how many people actually know what an entomologist is? Dr. James English didn’t plan on studying insects as a kid, but he is now a nationally recognized disease ecologist and environmentalist. The Navy veteran has brought his passion and environmental expertise to Lipscomb University’s Institute for Sustainable Practice (ISP). While attending the University of Arkansas – Little Rock, English found out that he loved biology classes that studied animals and wound up studying animal ecology. As a 20-year old reserve Navy corpsman, English’s U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Battalion was activated to serve in Desert Storm while he was still in college. “Talk about a growth period for me going out to Desert Storm as a 20, 21-year old kid in charge of guys getting shot,” he said. “It certainly was a character building time.” After war, English found it difficult to adjust back to the college life, but he did find himself a more serious student and began to take full advantage of his opportunity for higher education. After graduating from the University of Arkansas – Little Rock, English taught high school for two-years and eventually earned his Ph.D. in animal ecology from the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville. English would later rejoin the Navy as an officer, serving as a disease ecologist and...