BEES students up to their elbows in mud (with soil core). This marsh team was using a quadrat to estimate plant densities, coring soils, and measuring water levels over time in the Tinicum marsh.

Remember when intro courses meant big lecture halls and sweeping overviews of everything there is to know about a discipline?

Not this time. Environmental Science 101 at Drexel began in the mud.

Freshmen majoring in environmental science at Drexel this academic year are the first to experience a curriculum that was totally revamped after the formation of a unique affiliation between Drexel and the Academy of Natural Sciences – the nation’s oldest natural history museum, home to a tremendous resource of natural history collections, and a leading institution for scientific research and education.

Dr. Jerry Mead, an Academy watershed ecologist (and now a faculty member in Drexel’s new BEES department) taught the first semester intro class…