photo by: Contributed

Bob Hagen talking with students in his field ecology class at KU.

He’s spent nearly two decades taking KU ecology students out of the classroom to splash through bodies of water, survey wildlife populations and do other hands-on field work, and now environmental studies lecturer Bob Hagen is preparing to pass the torch.

But before he retires from teaching his field ecology course, Hagen has earned some recognition for his efforts to connect students to nature. He was recently honored with a Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, or KACEE, award for his contributions to environmental education. The award recognizes educators, who are nominated by their peers, for innovation, leadership, achievement and collaboration in the field.

“Well for me, it’s nice to get a pat on the back,” Hagen said. “But I think (what’s) more important to me is recognizing this extraordinary program.”

For the past 18 years, Hagen has taught the field ecology course at KU, which is a part of the university’s environmental studies curriculum, and he plans to retire from teaching the class this year. Before Hagen came into the picture, the class was first taught by former KU ecology and evolutionary biology professor Jerry deNoyelles nearly 50 years ago.

DeNoyelles retired in 2019, but before that, he had completed over 45 years of research, teaching and work with state agencies. DeNoyelles came to KU in 1975 as an assistant professor and held a joint appointment as a Kansas Biological Survey scientist and deputy director from 1986 until his retirement.

photo by: Contributed

From left to right, Jerry deNoyelles and Bob Hagen

“He was probably the person most responsible for bringing attention to the state government (about) the issue with reservoirs and the sedimentation crisis that’s blooming,” Hagen said.

“Jerry is kind of at the center of that program to research the problem and to make people aware that the state has got some interesting challenges of aquifers running out and the reservoirs filling in at about the same time frame, the next 50 to 100 years,” Hagen said. “Which seems like a long time, except that the solutions are going to take almost just as long.”

Hagen said that deNoyelles continued to be involved heavily in the course until he took over in 2007, and they benefited in working together for several years.

“From the very beginning of the program, Jerry and other faculty recognized that it’s one thing to sit in a classroom and hear lectures and read textbooks about issues, but to really understand them, you need to get out into it,” Hagen said.

photo by: Contributed

Students at KU conducting a remnant prairie survey.

The press release from KACEE states that Hagen’s innovative approach engages students in real-world ecological research, from wildlife camera surveys and pond water sampling to collaborative deer population studies with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

“Not only is it important to get students outside doing things, but to introduce them to all sorts of different habitats,” Hagen said. “Half of our time we’re on dry land, and the other half we’re splashing around in streams or on boats in water and ponds.”

Conservation Coordinator Patti Beedles of the Kansas Land Trust said in the press release that Hagen’s “passion for experience-based learning has inspired generations of Kansans, fostering deep connections to the natural world.”

Hagen earned a bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Washington, as the school did not offer an undergraduate program in ecology or environmental science at the time. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University, focusing his research on the evolution and host-plant relationships of tiger swallowtail butterflies.

photo by: Contributed

Students in the field ecology course at KU during a lake ecology lab.

Afterward, he continued his research as a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University before joining the University of Kansas in 1992. There, he taught courses in biology and environmental studies, while also contributing as a researcher and support staff member in both the Kansas Biological Survey and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Since 2011, he has been a full-time lecturer and Field Education Coordinator for the Environmental Studies Program at KU.

While Hagen said that his time in teaching the field ecology class may be coming to an end, he said there’s still a long way to go in science education.

“This involves tens of thousands of teachers and millions of kids gradually understanding that science is an incredibly powerful way of understanding the world, but it has limitations,” Hagen said.

Hagen added that science is often seen to be all about skepticism and asking people to have something to back up their claims, and he encourages his students to tell stories through numbers – or data – to learn about what’s going on in the habitats around them.

“But the flip side of that is equally important, and that’s humility,” Hagen said. “It’s recognizing that you might be wrong. I might be wrong too. So how do we come to a closer understanding (of) what’s really happening, and that’s by looking at the evidence, trying to look at it in different ways and piece the story together again.”

photo by: Contributed

Students in the field ecology course at KU created a deer enclosure to study the impact of deer-free areas on tree growth.

“Climate change, it’s not a matter of opinion, it’s a matter of observations and understanding that’s been built up in lots of different ways,” Hagen said. ” … If someone could find evidence that says it’s not happening … Nobel prize right there. It just hasn’t happened, and I’ve been watching the science for 30 years.”

Hagen, while not fully leaving KU, hopes the next lecturer will build on hands-on education and incorporate modern technologies to record measurements not possible 50 years ago.

“I really do think of myself as a custodian of (the) program rather than somebody who invented things from whole cloth,” Hagen said. “But it’s mine, and I’m handing it on to the next people.”

“I just think it’s been an extraordinary privilege to teach this, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next iterations are,” Hagen said.