History

The idea of Terrascope began as the educational sibling of MIT's Earth System Initiative. Terrascope's goals are:  to provide students with experiential learning as an alternative to the traditional lecture format of MIT’s core program; to suggest that Earth Systems and the environment provide a context for learning how to tackle real complex problems using the various disciplines of science, engineering and humanities; to teach students how to do independent research and work in teams; to improve all types of communications skills; and foremost to create and provide a welcoming community of scholars that will nurture and support one other throughout their MIT career.

Terrascope joined MIT's cluster of learning communities when it admitted its first group of freshmen in fall, 2002. Housed in its own facilities on the first floor of Building 16, Terrascope is able to draw upon the experiences of its active alumni/ae population as it devises new strategies for the education of first-year students. Students in Terrascope enroll in Mission 20xx (MIT subject 12.000) in the fall where they learn to tackle very complex real problems in the context of a yearly theme. This open ended execise teaches research skills, team work, communications and interdisciplinary collaboration. In the spring students enroll in Communicating Complex Environmental Issues: Designing and Building Interactive Museum Exhibits (MIT subject 1.016) that builds on the material covered in fall, and is designed to develop additional depth in science concepts as well as introduce the engineering and design process. Small teams work to design, engineer, and build an interactive museum-style exhibit that teaches others about some aspect of the topic studied in fall. In 2002-3, students focused on ways to monitor the ecological systems of the rainforest and devise strategies for ensuring its future health. The highlight of the year was a spring break trip to the Brazilian Amazon. In 2003-4, students turned their attention to an issue that has captured significant media attention: proposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The year culminated in a week-long visit to Alaska. In 2004-5, protecting the delicate ecology of the Galapagos became the focus of attention. Students balanced their classroom work with a week in the Galapagos under sponsorship of the Luce Foundation. In 2005-6 students focused their work on developing an early warning system for tsunamis in the Pacific region, followed by a week-long field visit to Chile. Most recently, they have proposed a redevelopment plan for New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and have visited New Orleans.

Through dedicated facilities, seminars, lunches UROPS, opportunities to help in the classroom and dedicated advising Terrascope builds a community of scholars that stays together throughout their MIT career.

Terrascope is sponsored by the Office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education and draws its administration and faculty from the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Planetary Sciences. The Director of Terrascope the 2007-8 is Professor Rafael L. Bras, Edward A. Abdun-Nur Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Sam Bowring, has primary responsibility for Mission 2011.