Owen Grumbling's nature writers course featured in Sunday Telegram
The on Nov. 14, 2010 published a feature story on a SWAG视频 nature writers course developed and taught by Owen Grumbling, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Studies. Each week students in "The Nature Writers" course read American and British texts before heading outside to experience an environment similar to the one they've been studying. They then write in their journals or in a more formal format. The course encourages students to think about the natural world and the work they do in their sciences classes in the context of the long history of writers who have used their words and experiences to inspire others.
Writer Deirdra Flemining accompanied the class up a plateau on Burnt Meadow Mountain in Brownfield that "was covered in thick fog. Grumbling stopped to explain that on 'Henry David's' first hike up Mount Katahdin, fog was all Thoreau saw. And the view, the place, the wet experience all made him happy, Grumbling said." The story is accompanied by several photos, and students Janel Harrington and Hannah Goodnow are quoted.
Grumbling's nature writers class was also featured on WCSH6's hosted by Bill Green. The TV video is . In 2009 Grumbling was honored by the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with a Lifetime Achievement Environmental Merit Award.