1. Living Lab

Living Lab This fall, W&L students learned environmental field methods at a six-acre site in Rockbridge County set aside for experiential learning.

By Kelsey Goodwin
January 9, 2025

"The deep history of Kihkǫspé:hla allows students to truly understand how human history, modern-day realities and the geologic past are all closely intertwined."

~ Margaret Anne Hinkle, assistant professor of Earth and environmental geoscience

Assistant professor of Earth and environmental geoscience Margaret Anne Hinkle's course in environmental field methods has long taken students into the fields and forests of Rockbridge County to collect data. This fall, students also had the chance to venture into the area's rich cultural history.

The course took place at Kihkǫspé:hla (kee-kohn-shpay-la) Living Lab, a partnership between NDPonics, an Indigenous-owned nonprofit, and Washington and Lee University.

Kihkǫspé:hla is a six-acre site in the Irish Creek area of Rockbridge County set aside for site-based experiential learning. Hinkle said her collaboration with Kihkǫspé:hla integrates field-based geoscience skills with ethical engagement and conservation practices based on Indigenous knowledge. The site, located 25 minutes from W&L's campus, provides meeting facilities and internet access, making it ideal for hands-on environmental science projects and interdisciplinary learning. The partnership between NDPonics and W&L creates the opportunity for members of the W&L community to apply for access to the site for teaching, research and programming.

The Irish Creek area has historically been home to the Monacan Indian Nation, a federally recognized sovereign tribe, headquartered on Bear Mountain in Amherst County, Virginia. Citizens of the Nation are descended from Virginia and North Carolina Eastern Siouan cultural and linguistic groups (the Yesą́), whose interwoven histories reinforce a shared Tutelo-Saponi-Monacan linguistic and cultural community. The Yesą́ have long stewarded a vast territory along the Appalachian foothills and Blue Ridge Mountains, ranging from the Ohio and Kanawha River Valleys to the southernmost bounds of the Piedmont Plateau. Yesą́ peoples live in this region now as the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, the Sappony Tribe, the Monacan Indian Nation, the Saponi Nation of Ohio and as families and members within other tribes and Indigenous communities.

Given the area's rich Indigenous history, it is particularly suited for exploring Indigenous culture and traditional ecological knowledge through various disciplines. Hinkle said her intention was to demonstrate ethical environmental geoscience that prioritizes respect for Indigenous lands and community-led conservation and that her goal in the course was to engage students with NDPonics to understand the organization's goals and identify projects where their work can meaningfully contribute to the organization's mission.

"Working with students at Kihkǫspé:hla gave them a unique opportunity to conduct meaningful and respectful environmental field work, translating their foundational knowledge of geoethics into practice. The deep history of Kihkǫspé:hla allows students to truly understand how human history, modern-day realities and the geologic past are all closely intertwined," Hinkle said.

Students had the opportunity to practice skills such as water quality testing, soil and air quality measurements and ecosystem assessments, drawing comparisons between results from Kihkǫspé:hla and more impacted urban areas. Assignments included weekly lab deliverables and field notebook documentation, and the term culminated with presentations on team fieldwork projects. Hinkle designed research outings and assignments to ensure activities benefited student learning and land stewardship. Emma Marvelli '27, an earth and environmental geoscience major from Barrington, Rhode Island, said sharing the data the class gathered with NDPonics made the course a more impactful experience.

"I think conducting our projects at Kihkǫspé:hla gives us a reason to be as diligent as possible when collecting and analyzing our data," said Marvelli. "Knowing that others will use this data is motivating and makes our work more meaningful."

Marvelli said the course has made her more mindful about her approach to fieldwork.

"This class has made me think differently about how we can go about collecting samples and data without changing the environments we are studying," Marvelli said.

Hinkle's course is one of the first to utilize the living lab, although students participating in this year's sustainability-focused Leading Edge orientation experience also had the opportunity to visit the site. Alexa Sutton, a board member of NDPonics, met with students in Hinkle's course at the beginning of their final projects and said she hopes the site can become even more interwoven into the university's academic life.

"One of our main goals for the future would be to provide a space for students specifically interested in Indigenous history and Indigenous knowledge to come and delve deeply into those topics," Sutton said. "We also want to make it a space where classes like Professor Hinkle's can come and learn their course material in an indigenized way, in an Indigenous space."

Learn more about the Kihkǫspé:hla Living Lab and apply for access through the Provost's Office.

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