McGuire 1

Kelyn McGuire

Writing 2

Tym Chajdas: T/R 8:00-9:50 am

February 21, 2020

Environmentalist Mentality

In the Environmental Studies discourse community the main focus is on the environment

and the physical attributes that it has regarding all natural and human activity. They use multiple

sources to continue their understanding on the topic and to make sure they get the most

information without being drawn to one side of the argument. The environmental studies

discourse community uses different literary practices such as reports from previous experiments,

journals, case studies, and hands on field work in order to benefit their own findings and gain

more insight overall. Practices like these can be seen as conventions that are specific to the

Environmental Studies discourse community. A discourse community is described as a “way of

talking”, it’s a group of people who have a common goal that they want to reach, shared

conventions and genres, specialized terminology and jargon with a mixture between experts and

novices. Discourse communities are useful to the overall public because not only do they share

commonalities between themselves and others, but they also are ever evolving and changing in

order to further benefit the bigger picture. Environmentalists use labs, case studies and data to

gather information based on experiments and field work in order to further develop the

knowledge that is in their discourse community.

Environmentalists use lab research in order to better understand their discourse

community because of the ability to learn more about different topics in a controlled space. Since
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the Environmental Studies discipline revolves heavily on science, it makes sense that any and all

lab research that is found is vital to the success of the discourse community. As seen, in the

article “Comparative transcriptome analysis of wild and lab populations of Astyanax mexicanus

uncovers differential effects of environment and morphotype on gene expression”, written by

Nicolas Rohner, the author explains how a study was going on using a lab in order to evaluate

the differences between lab produced fish versus naturally spawning fish. The thought to

compare the two spawn was so that it “could help dissect the varying effects of environment and

morphotype, and determine the extent to which phenomena observed in the lab are generalizable

to conditions in the field”(Rohner). A number of scientists were a part of this experiment and

prior to their work in the lab, they made it obvious that the study would be important for the

information that it would result in. Conducting lab research is pivotal to the advancement in

information, especially when it comes to mimicking something that is natural toan area that is

artificial.. In labs, the scientists who conduct the experiments are able to have controlled

variables in order to receive the best results possible, then once they gather the data they can

report it so the details can be shared. This is important to the discourse community because it

allows them to test theories that they can’t observe in nature. Lab reports offer scientists extra

evidence to support their claims and theories as well as help further their general education about

the environment.

Members of the Environmental Studies discourse community use case studies from

previous scientists in order to assist their increase of knowledge because of the ability for

information to be compared and the capability to continue testing data accuracy all over the

world. Case studies are used for the convenience and benefit of other scientists because they
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allowthem to disclose their findings with others who are interested in the topic. The

Environmental Studies discourse community shares information. Since their content is about the

Earth and the environment, something that is common between people all around the world, the

majority of information that is discovered or questioned is desired to be known by the public or

shared among others of the same discipline. Which for example can be seen in Sanjiv K. Sinha’s

“Estimation of leaf area index using PROSAIL based LUT inversion, MLRA-GPR and empirical

models: Case study of tropical deciduous forest plantation, North India”. In the opening

paragraph, the author says “To understand the key processes of forest canopies (e.g.,

photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration), reliable and accurate information on spatial

variability of Leaf Area Index (LAI), and its seasonal dynamics is essential. In the present study,

we assessed the performance of…”(Sinha). The article is strictly information about the study in

which scientists conducted on forests. The actual data is not what I am trying to provide as

evidence, however; the way that the data is presented to the reader. The scientists who tested this

experiment actually said that in order to understand the key concepts of a topic, which in this

case is forests, they assess the performance of multiple sources to ensure that there was trial and

error. That is just one example of how case studies can help scientists in this discourse

community find out information that has been tested all over the world, without having to

conduct the experiments themselves. Along with that, often times scientists repeat or mimick

similar procedures in order to collect even more data on the subject and add on to the discoveries

of others. That is beneficial for researchers in the discourse community because they are able to

read and learn more information in different styles depending on who/what/when it was written.
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Environmentalists use data from a variety of different sources in order to gather

information because the more material they can gather without having bias, the better off their

observations will resonate with others. Not only do environmentalists look at case studies from

scientists who studied similar topics in the past, they also conduct their own experiments. Along

with that, they also look at documentaries and educational videos, interviews with other

scientists and lab reports. The more data that they can conjure together, the better they can

support their hypothesis in the end. That is why many times when scientists are presenting their

theories and ideas they have multiple citations and positions from their colleagues to prove their

point.

Reading and doing research myself on these conventions is beneficial to understanding

the Environmental Studies discourse community. However, I decided that it would be even better

for my understanding if I attended a lecture and observed a class online to evaluate the discourse

community on a personal standpoint. The first lecture that I observed was one of my own

lectures that I have taken previously here at The University of California, Santa Barbara(UCSB).

The class is called Environmental Studies 1 and I took it fall of 2019. The class was led by

Professor Peter Alagona, who has a PhD and clearly shows detailed knowledge of the subject.

The second lecture that I decided to study was another Environmental Studies 1 but at Hobart

and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York that was led by Dr. Daniel Wildcat. In both of

the lectures, I quickly noticed that both professors share the passion and care for the environment

and the future that is holds for us as a society. In both classes, students were listening attentively

and taking notes showing interest in the subject. Both of the professors also show data plots and

graphs to prove how the environment has changed over the course of several years.
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Environmentalists in the Environmental Studies discourse community look to focus on

what makes the environment the way that it is. They use various information and sources in

order to discover more about topics in their discipline without looking through only one lense

and possibly being biased towards one side. The Environmental Studies discourse community

has different conventions embedded into it that are used frequently, such as lab reports, case

studies and data from previous experiments. These conventions and literary practices help the

discourse community increase in knowledge and grow in following. The conventions can be seen

directly in lectures and are clearly shown in the ones that I observed. Overall, environmentalists

use these conventions in order to obtain more information on past and future experiments and

field work which will in turn aid them to develop more awareness and a stronger understanding

of their discourse community. Whether it be discussing climate change or describing to children

the different biomes of the world, the exploration and data required to understand the

Environmental Studies discourse community is ultimately trying to teach the world about how

the environment is essential for our future.

Work Cited
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“Environmental Studies Lecture (3/27/14)” YouTube, uploaded by HWSiTV, April 7th, 2014,

URL ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUNFH2Lv1DY).

Krishnan, Jaya, et al. “Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Wild and Lab Populations of

Astyanax Mexicanus Uncovers Differential Effects of Environment and Morphotype on

Gene Expression.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 4 Feb. 2020,

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jez.b.22933.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jez.b.22933

Sinha, Sanjiv K, et al. “Estimation of Leaf Area Index Using PROSAIL Based LUT Inversion,

MLRA-GPR and Empirical Models: Case Study of Tropical Deciduous Forest Plantation,

North India.” Off-Campus Access: Login, www-sciencedirect-

com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:9443/science/article/pii/S0303243419308517?via%3Dihub.

https://www-sciencedirect-

com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:9443/science/article/pii/S0303243419308517?via

%3Dihub