Campus News
The Clarion | Sept. 3,2010
Brevard's Voice of the Rivers featured
in Sierra magazine's 'Cool Schools' issue
Brevard College is one of the top
schools in the country that takes “nature-
based extracurriculars to a whole new
altitude,” according to Sierra magazine’s
new “Cool Schools” issue.
The College is among 10 schools
cited in the September/October issue of
the Sierra Club’s award-wiiming national
magazine.
The article, entitled “School’s Ouf’,
highlights Brevard College’s unique Voice
of the Rivers (VOR) program, which of
fers students and faculty the opportunity
to paddle and study a variety of ecologi
cally and culturally significant rivers.
“We’re thrilled that Brevard College
and the VOR program has been recog
nized by the Sierra Cub,” said Assistant
Professor of Wilderness Leadership and
Experiential Education Robert Dye. “The
Sierra Club has a long history of intel
lectual curiosity, enviroimiental activism
and strenuous physical activity in the
enviroimients they love. We value these
things and believe they are at the heart
of what makes our Voice of the Rivers
program so powerful.”
The more than two-week-long VOR
expedition, usually held at the end of the
school year, embodies the College’s com
mitment to a liberal arts education that is
interdisciphnary and frequently based on
experiential education.
During the trip, Brevard College stu
dents study a river from its source to its
HBtimmsnrna
m
end—examining
the challenges
facing the health
of the waterway,
learning about
various conser
vation groups and
examining their
strategies aimed
at protecting the
endangered re
source. Students are also required to post
daily journal entries, photos and videos of
their travels and experiences online using
a variety of social media.
“I think the group experience is key to
the profound nature of the trip,” added
Dye, who has co-led two VOR expedi
tions. “Evening debriefs and sharing of
journal writings allow students to see the
river from the perspective of others and
encourages them to expand their own
concept of the role of rivers in our culture.
Sharing the struggles of a multi- week
river expedition brings individuals close
together and creates a very supportive
learning community.”
Since its inaugural 1997 trip from
Brevard to the Gulf of Mexico, VOR
expeditions have included trips down
the Green River; the Rio Santa Cruz, Rio
Limay and Rio Negro rivers in Patagonia,
Argentina; the Savaimah River as well as
the Catawba-Wateree and the Yadkin-Pee
Dee watersheds.
Page 2
BC art faculty exhibition
opens today in Sims
An exhibition of work by Brevard Col
lege’s talented art faculty will be held until
Oct. 1 at the Spiers Gallery.
An opening reception will be held today
from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the gallery, a
1500 square foot facility located in Sims
Art Center
Working in a variety of two- and three-
dimensional media, faculty artists partici
pating include Bill Byers, Jo Pumphrey and
Kyle Lusk as well as adjunct faculty Aaron
Alderman, Michael Bryan, Lori Park, Da
vid Sheldon and Ike Wheeless. Professor
Emeritus Tim Murray will also exhibit
his work.
The reception and exhibit visitations are
free to the public. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.
until 3 p.m. weekdays when the College is
in session.
Sigma Xi hosts blue ghost
firefly presentation by
BC professor and author
The local chapter of the scientific re
search society Sigma Xi will host a pre
sentation on the biology of the Blue Ghost
Firefly on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Brevard
CoUege.
The presentation will feature Jeimifer
Frick-Ruppert, Associate Professor of Ecol
ogy and Enviroimiental Studies and Execu
tive Director of the Appalachian Center for
Enviroimiental Education.
Little was known about the Blue Ghost
Firefly, which is unique to the Southern Ap
palachians, until Dr Frick-Ruppert’s recent
pubhcation with Brevard CoUege gradu
ate Josh Rosen in the “Journal of the NC
Academy of Sciences.” Dr Frick-Ruppert
wifl also discuss the general biology of the
Southern Appalachians—especially the
interactions between
plants and animals of
the region.
The presentation,
which is free and
open to the public,
will be at 7:30 p.m.
in McLarty-Goodson
room 125.
Frick-Ruppert,
who has taught at Bre- Frick-Ruppert
vard CoUege since 1997, teaches courses in
environmental perspectives, biodiversity,
and natural history and was awarded the
2003-2004 Award for Exemplary Teach
ing. She earned her Ph.D. in zoology from
Clemson University in 1995.
Originally from South Carolina, Frick-
Ruppert grew up with a love of nature and
an appreciation for her surroundings. She
has written several scientific articles, most
recently on the biology of the Blue Ghost
Firefly, and has authored websites for South
Carolina Educational Television. From
2001-2005, she wrote a regular column for
The Transylvania Times.
Her long awaited book, “Mountain
Nature: A Seasonal Natural History of the
Southern Appalachians,” is now avaUable
from UNC Press. Illustrated withboth color
and black-and-white images, it conveys the
seasonal change in animals and plants of
the region, emphasizing their interactions
and unique characteristics. It has already
received several notable reviews for its
quality and lively writing style.
A6p.m. reception and 6:30 p.m. dinner
are planned prior to the presentation. Cost
to attend the reservation-only reception and
dinner, which wiU be held in the Institute
Room of Myers Dining Hall, is $8.
For more information or to make a
reservation, contact Jeff Llewellyn at
llewellyn@brevard.edu or 828-883-8292,
ext 2277. Reservations must be received by
Monday, Sept. 20.