Alice Baldridge

I believe in creating inclusive, respectful, and authentic relationships with my students. My job as a scientist is to discover the rules and patterns that govern and shape our universe and then to trust the process of science. As an educator I encourage my students to do the same. Scientists claim to know the answers to remarkable questions about the universe. We as scientists and members of the community place what is true over what we want, hope, or believe to be true. The discussion of these topics builds an intellectual, social, and spiritual community in the classroom, supporting the mission of the college.

My basic goals in teaching are to: 1) ensure that basic concepts that are part of the curriculum are learned and reinforced, 2) convey how such information is relevant to the field of Environmental and Earth Sciences and the broader natural world, 3) raise excitement, appreciation and trust of the scientific process through experience and 4) provide insight about scientific practice and thought to develop strong observational and critical thinking skills in all aspects of my students lives.

“…we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”  Laudato Si

Many of my students are drawn to the environmental sciences because they want to make a positive impact on our world. At Saint Mary’s, our Catholic tradition encourages our students to examine what it means to be a good person and EES students in particular recognize the environment as a Common Good. The Saint Mary’s College mission recognized that “the intellectual and spiritual journeys of the human person to be inextricably connected.” My students have a deep intellectual understanding of the “cries of the earth” and through their spiritual journey they also recognize the “cries of the poor.” We as a Catholic community are stewards of our environment and we are all called to be leaders in this stewardship. All of my efforts as director of the EES programs are directly and integrally tied to the mission of the College and continued student stewardship of the Earth long after they graduate.