By Jasmine Simpson
Students from Plante’s Fall 2025 Biogeochemistry course measuring and collecting data on photosynthesis and respiration in Shoemaker Green.
In Alain Plante’s biogeochemistry and soil courses, students go beyond traditional lectures to learn through hands-on, outdoor experiments at the Schuylkill River, Shoemaker Green, and other spaces on and around Penn’s campus.
Traveling back in time to study the Industrial Revolution isn’t exactly a viable option for teaching history; but for environmental science, there is a dynamic urban campus to learn from right outside the classroom window. So why not use it? As Professor Alain Plante puts it, “If you’re going to study the environment, you might as well be in it.”
Plante is a faculty member in Penn’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science whose own research focuses on biogeochemistry and soil science. One of his regular course offerings is Biogeochemistry (EESC 4400/6400), an undergraduate and graduate-level course that explores how natural biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nutrient elements, water, and pollutants impact global and local systems.
Plante initially taught these topics using a traditional approach: textbooks, problem sets, and lots of lectures. But over time, he realized that these global concepts were too abstract and disconnected from students’ personal understanding of the world. He thus began drawing on his own scientific training to add experiential components, such as hands-on field, lab, and computational activities. “It makes the discipline and the knowledge more accessible,” Plante explained, and teaches students “real material things.”
Today, three major outdoor labs define the Biogeochemistry course: measuring photosynthesis and respiration at Shoemaker Green, sampling water and nutrient levels from the Schuylkill River, and testing redox conditions (the chemical processes that indicate water and oxygen status) on various campus lawns. A week with a field activity might start with a lecture, but then transition to experiential learning, beginning with a handout to prime students’ thinking, followed by the outdoor and hands-on session, and finally a full-circle assignment. These activities take place during the 90-minute class and are designed to ensure every student has the chance to participate. While students won’t be experts by the end, they will gain familiarity with operating instruments, collecting raw data, and analyzing abstract processes.
Following the collection of the IRIS devices, students returned back to Hayden Hall to rinse the devices (left) and analyze anaerobic soil conditions (right).
Cypress Kaulbach, a senior earth and environmental science major and undergraduate researcher within Plante’s Soil Science Lab, said the course’s unique approach stood out for her. “The experimental component of the course placed the content we learned within the context of our daily activities,” she shared. For instance, within the redox experiment, the class installed IRIS devices (called Indicators of Reduction in Soil) in wet spots around campus, like Shoemaker Green’s rain garden and the courtyard between David Rittenhouse Labs and the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology. A month later, they collected these devices to measure the amount of anaerobic activity (defined by low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels) in relation to the soil’s water content. Through these experiences, Kaulbach reflected, “carbon dioxide became connected to every living thing I saw on campus.”
Experiential learning not only connects abstract concepts to tangible realities but also teaches data collection and analysis skills and fosters curiosity. In one of Plante’s other courses, Soil Science (EESC 4660/6660), students visit Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center to collect soil samples and spend the semester analyzing their properties in mini-labs to better understand how soil affects plant growth, environmental function, and land use. They also take a full-day trip to Delaware Valley University to climb into soil pits and observe the varying layers firsthand, turning abstract concepts about soil health and function into real-world experience.
Partnerships with offices across the university make these living lab experiences possible. Plante, for example, collaborates with Facilities & Real Estate Services (FRES) staff to secure access to campus spaces and coordinate timing of the lab exercises around major events. In this case, FRES staff help safeguard the experiments, like ensuring IRIS devices aren’t run over by lawnmowers. “[Our facilities partners] are very positively inclined to participate,” Plante notes. “They understand the [campus-as-a-living-lab] pedagogy we’re trying to achieve.”
Collecting redox films that were installed in the lawns of the courtyard between David Rittenhouse Laboratory and the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology.
Hands-on experiential learning can present challenges, however. Kaulbach saw this firsthand during the redox experiment, expecting to find anaerobic activity in low-lying soils but instead finding it in locations at higher elevations. “The environment Penn has created for its infrastructure defies natural laws, and there are therefore limitations of Penn as a living lab,” Kaulbach explained. This is true for many urban spaces, which can complicate natural experiments.
Instead of seeing this as a limitation, Plante encourages leaning into this urban context. “Rather than trying to pretend Shoemaker Green is a natural meadow out in the woods,” he said, “we should acknowledge what the urban-ness does to the things we’re trying to study.” When studying biogeochemistry, for example, cycling processes may be magnified or reduced in an urban environment, but photosynthesis is still photosynthesis. The value comes from experimenting with the campus landscape and discovering new things.
In fact, living labs broaden the idea of who produces knowledge in a classroom. “We have this perception that knowledge is known and fixed,” Plante reflected, “but in reality, we’re generating knowledge.” For both students and professors, active, hands-on learning creates space for questions, uncertainty, and iteration. Experiments can fail, and that’s part of the process.
Looking ahead, Plante hopes to expand these opportunities, leveraging Penn’s campus and nearby locations. He already has ideas for new sample sites, like the edge of Penn Park for redox experiments, and new experiments, like potentially collecting fallen leaves (called litter fall) on Locust Walk to visualize nutrient cycling. He also envisions more classes designed with experiential components. While there’s no single formula for creating these courses, that freedom is part of the beauty – you never know what you might discover, and how you’ll get there.
If you’re interested in taking Plante’s Biogeochemistry or Soil Science courses or seeing the full breadth of the experiential learning opportunities available to Penn students, check out the course inventory!