Students from Dr. Daniel Lewis’ Research Methodologies for Environmental History course at Claremont Graduate University have expanded or created articles about environmental history.
The German Green Belt article details the history of an 870-mile nature preserve that rose up in the space where former guard towers and fences once separated East from West Germany. This narrow inlet became home to more than 600 rare and endangered species of birds, mammals, plants, and insects. Students expanded the article on this fascinating intersection of political and natural history from three short, unsourced paragraphs to nine vibrant sections built from 18 unique sources. They also added four photographs.
Other students in the class created an article on an artifact, the Grete Herball, the first illustrated encyclopedia of medicinal herbs in English. That article draws from 28 sources and makes use of the Claremont College library’s special holdings to share five woodblock images found within the library’s original copy of this unique and historic encyclopedia.
Finally, students created an article on 2003’s “Quantification Settlement Agreement,” a controversial water-use agreement in California. With the state’s drought, interest in water topics is high. This article contributes to understanding the state of water use in California, with a detailed background and outline of controversies drawing from 22 sources.
Thanks to Dr. Lewis and his students for some fascinating contributions to Wikipedia’s coverage of environmental history.
