Overview
Environmental Studies 499: Capstone 2: Capstone Project is the culminating experience for students in the environmental studies program. In ENVS 499, students move from proposal to practice—putting their ENVS 498: Capstone 1: Capstone Project Proposal ideas into action by implementing the research, project, or community-based practice they developed in the previous term. Whether students are conducting fieldwork, applying research methods, or creating a project for community or environmental organizations, this course emphasizes real-world learning, adaptability, and self-reflection. Students will document and reflect on the challenges and achievements they experience during the implementation process through a Reflection Journal, which serves as a tool for critical thinking, checking in on your progress and personal growth. These reflections encourage students to recognize the value of both success and struggle as essential components of experiential learning.
The Capstone Project demonstrates the integration of academic knowledge with practical experience. Students will present their project outcomes at a peer-to-peer symposium, sharing insights and gaining feedback in a collaborative setting that builds professional skills and strengthens community within the program.
For both ENVS 498 and 499, you will work with a supervisory professor. In the initial phase of ENVS 499, you should meet with your supervisory professor to discuss your capstone contract and plan. If for some reason you decide to work with another professor for ENVS 499, please contact the course coordinator.
By the end of the course, students will have not only developed a tangible project but also gained the reflective and professional skills to carry their learning forward into future careers, community engagement, or activism in the diverse environmental sector.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to
- design and conduct research on one major environmental issue or problem;
- effectively design and implement a research project and/or practice that they proposed in ENVS 498;
- access, analyze, and evaluate information from various disciplines on their topic;
- identify the interconnectedness of multiple social and ecological factors in their issue or topic; and
- share and receive feedback from BES program students and faculty.
Outline
Unit 1: From Proposal to Practice—Launching Your Capstone Project
Unit 2: Mid-Project Check-In—Reassessing, Reflecting, and Recalibrating
Unit 3: Final Draft Preview
Unit 4: Final Project and Metareflections
Evaluation
To receive for ENVS 499, you must complete and submit all the assignments and achieve a minimum overall grade of at least for the course. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Refection Journal | 40% |
| Capstone Project | 60% |
| Total | 100% |
Materials
This course either does not have a course package or the textbooks are open-source material and available to students at no cost. This course has a Course Administration and Technology Fee, but students are not charged the Course Materials Fee.
All course materials are available online.
In this course, you will revisit the artifacts and assignments in your PebblePad e-portfolio. However, this course is available via Brightspace, not PebblePad. If you want, you can save some of your materials from this course on PebblePad, but this is not necessary.