A Slice of the AEI Experience

The following is a brief description of a few weeks with AEI in the Boreal Forest of central Alberta, Canada

Lakeland Provincial Park, Lac La Biche, Alberta

Our semester began with a rigorous 3 kilometer portage in the back country of Lakeland Provincial Park. As we paddled the canoe circuit through Jackson, Kinnaird, and Blackett Lakes, we quickly began to learn more about each other.

Our first night we stopped on an island in one of the lakes and set up camp. Once we were settled, our faculty gave us an introduction to community; as well as an academic overview and introduction to the schedule. That night, as we cleaned up from dinner, we saw three deer swimming across the lake with terns diving about them.

The next day we went on a day long paddle. When we broke for lunch, our faculty facilitated an introduction to collaborative learning.

As part of their presentation, we were asked to share the reflective papers we wrote prior to starting the semester, in response to books we read as part of our pre-semester work.

The day after, in a poplar stand, we began our semester-long mapping project by sharing spontaneously drawn maps of our home regions. We discussed what the important elements of maps were, and how they can be used as learning and educational tools.

Our evenings, throughout the trip, were filled with learning to cook for twenty people following low-impact guidelines our faculty taught us. We learned how to hang bear bags, and shared songs and stories as the Big Dipper and Casseopeia moved across the sky. Then, the night before we left Lakeland Provincial Park, we were given a grand light show, as electric green and pink northern lights flared through the night sky.

Athabasca, Alberta

Our first day in Athabasca, where we would spend the next two weeks, the faculty presented a half-day overview of the Athabasca component of our semester. Students were introduced to various topics, including Alberta's ecoregions, Canadian and Albertan cultures and language, and the ecology of the Boreal Forest.

Harvey and Evelyn Scott served as our hosts while we were in Athabasca. Harvey is Chair of Canada's Green Party, as well as Co-Chair of the Alberta Environmental Network. Evelyn runs their organic subsistence farm where we camped.The Scotts spent countless hours with us, over the following two weeks, sharing their knowledge and experience. From being given an overview of Alberta's environmental climate, governmental structure, and late night discussions about globalization with Harvey, to talking about farming in Alberta with Evelyn, and learning about sustainable gardening by helping in the garden, every precious moment of time was filled with learning.

When we weren't learning from the Scotts, we were learning about forestry practices in Alberta, and its impact on both land and people.

Louis Baron, a French Canadian sustainable logger and subsistence farmer, introduced us to the art of stooking (stacking grain to dry in the fields) and thrashing (removing the grain heads from straw).

Louis also let us try our hand at horse logging. We spent a good part of the day along side the horse, sawing where Louis directed us, and learning first hand about sustainable logging.

Louis' wife Alice, who is Cree, is a practitioner of traditional Cree ways, as well as a medicinal herbalist. She shared with us a bounty of cultural knowledge and traditions.

Bigstone Reserve, Wabasca, Alberta

While in Athabasca, we took a day trip to the Bigstone Cree reservation in Wabasca, Alberta. We were fortunate enough to be invited to participate in preparing freshly caught whitefish for smoking.

We also met with the Cree tribal council and chief, and explored the community school, which had been designed by tribal elders. We were amazed at how strong the role of community played in the school's design. Each classroom was placed around a center meeting area.

The classrooms had their own door to the outside, but could also be opened up to the center area. The center of the school was lit by natural light, and the administrative offices above were open and accessible to everyone.

Another day trip brought us to Alberta Pacific (ALPAC), the world's largest single line Kraft pulp mill. ALPAC is considered by many to be one of the most environmentally sensitive corporate mills in North America. We spent the morning with ALPAC scientists and foresters, as well as a representative from ALPAC's public relations department.

We were also given an opportunity to see their logging operation in action, where we witness skidders, delimbers, and feller-bunchers at work.

That evening we sat around a campfire with Peter Oprishko, teacher, activist and community grassroots organizer, to hear the other side of the ALPAC debate.

Peter lives less than a kilometer from the ALPAC mill. He, along with other members of the Friends of the Athabasca (FOTA), had worked hard to try to prevent ALPAC from building the mill. Our evening with Peter was filled with stories - his story of the struggle against ALPAC and our stories of the various emotions we experienced as we watched the feller-bunchers at work.

The next day we learned another side of the story when we inadvertently met a private contractor who works for ALPAC at a gas station. He chose to share his experiences and opinion of the mill with us as well.

To help stimulate ideas around globalization, faculty led the first of several evening discussions. The topic was "What is Globalization and how does it affect our lives?" Areas discussed included corporate power, NAFTA, GATT, IMF, the World Bank, multinational corporations, the global economy, exotic species invasions, local economies and currencies, media and biotechnology.

Faculty also facilitated the first of our Philosophy of Education discussion and writing group sessions. Key orientations to learning (behavioral, cognitive, humanist, social) and Experiential Education were the topics of discussion.

Near the end of our stay in the Boreal Forest region, we took a four-day intensive Systematic Investigation of Local Flora and Fauna (SILFAF) course with Dr. Kevin Timoney. This course involved both on-site lectures and hands-on field work.

Kevin, who teaches at the University of Alberta as well as the Jasper Institute, is a botanist and an expert on the Boreal forest region. He also conducts ecological research, consults, and has recently published studies on the habitats of whooping crane and bison. Our time spent with Kevin deepened our understanding of the Boreal Forest region by teaching about pattern and perspective, phenology, species diversity and identification, survivorship, and disturbance.

Before leaving their farm, Harvey and Evelyn Scott graciously organized a community potluck dinner for us. The potluck provided us with yet another opportunity to interact with the citizens of Athabasca. Over twenty guests showed up including FOTA members, neighbors, and a couple from the local Hutterite Colony. The food and time shared were glorious and helped deepen our connection to the people and place called Athabasca.