Writing in the Rubenstein School of
Environment and Natural Resources
Lab Report │ Autobiographical Essay │ Reading-Journal/Reflection │
Popular Article │ Scholarly Papers Requiring Research │Professor Tips
Natural resources is a program designed to allow students to explore many varied topics in
ecology and the human-environment interaction. Within the Rubenstein School, NR majors will
be exposed to a wide range of writing assignments throughout their studies, while other majors
within the college (environmental studies, environmental science, forestry, parks recreation and
tourism, and wildlife and fisheries biology) will be expected to complete several key NR courses
as core requirements. This page is a collection of tips and insights surrounding several of the
main kinds of writing you may encounter in a UVM NR course.
Lab Report
Lab Reports
Lab reports are designed to provide information to the scientific community. Usually they
include the following sections: Title, Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, and
Literature Cited. See a sample lab report.
IMPORTANT: While usually separate sections, many NR instructors prefer these sections to be
combined. Remember that the results section (portion) introduces the reader to the important
data/findings, but does NOT discuss/interpret/etc. It is just “telling” (usually written in passive
voice and past tense). The discussion section (portion) is where you interpret data, draw
conclusions, critically analyze, synthesize data, suggest further study, etc.
Title
Titles must be descriptive and detailed (i.e. the title provides information regarding the report's
content). Example: "An Evaluation of Water Quantity and Water Quality in Brush Brook,
Huntington Center, VT"
Introduction
Begin with a broad statement telling the reader what the report is about and giving a description
of the study area, including features and general location. You may also want to include
references to other sources. Remember not to use “I” in a scientific report. Finish up this short
section by listing the type(s) of data to be included in your report.
Methods
Study Area
Provide a detailed description of the study area, including elements such as location, elevation,
ecosystem type (stream, lake, forest), name of stream, lake, or forest (if it has one), the forest
cover type (e.g. boreal forest, pine-hemlock forest, northern hardwood forest), description of the
topography, and soils information (soil series, soil pH, drainage class, depth of rooting and the
approximate thickness of each horizon).
Procedure
Tell the reader the specific type(s) of data you collected, and how the data were collected. For
forest sites this includes types of vegetation sampled, plot size for each, and number of sample
plots (e.g., number of 0.01 ha plots established to record shrub information). Include the number
of replications. Describe the types of data analyses (if any).
Results and Discussion
In this section, the data are summarized and discussed. When presenting and discussing the
information (either in the text or in one or more tables or figures), adhere to the following
requirements:
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Do not include any 'raw' data; only include summarized data (e.g., average percent cover
by species of herbaceous plants).
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Tables and figures must be referred to in the text before they are presented and must
appear as soon as possible after they have been referred to (preferably, at the end of the
paragraph within which they first appeared; if that is not possible, because of space
limitation, include them at the top of the next page or at the end of the first paragraph on
the next page if a paragraph had been continued from the previous page). Do not attach
figures or tables to the end of your paper; include them within the body of your report.
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Figures and tables must be numbered and must have a descriptive title (if need be, this
title may contain two or more sentences). By convention, titles for figures appear below
the figure, whereas titles for tables appear above the table. Titles must appear on the same
page as the figure or table to which they refer.
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It is extremely important to remember that figures and tables must 'stand alone;’ in other
words, if someone has only the table or figure to look at, he or she must be able to
understand it.
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Make sure your findings are discussed. The type and extent of discussion will depend
upon the data being presented. If, for example, you have prepared a table listing the
species present and the abundance of each, you should tell the reader what the dominant
species were (based on this table) and, if possible, provide a logical explanation for why
those species dominated on that site (i.e. was it climate, soils, topography, land use
history, or chance?).
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Include at least one pertinent reference. Any time you provide information that comes
from someone else's research, ideas or writing, you must attribute it to that person. Here
are a few examples of how to cite sources within your report:
o
The Fraser River Delta provides winter habitat for kangaroos (Belrose 1976).
o
Leopold (1943) implied that hunters who produced cripples were having a
significant impact on the population.
o
Yeager and Rennels (1976) and Joe et al. (1979) concurred with previous findings
on the ecological impacts of DDT.
When citing several sources, the oldest paper comes first and the most recent is last. Note
that only a space separates the author and year within the parentheses. Also, if there are
more than two authors, only the first is listed within the text (although all are listed in the
Literature Cited section). The proper text citation in this case is (Joe et al. 1979). "Et al."
means "and others."
Literature Cited
Anything that is cited in your paper must be recorded in the Literature Cited section. For help
with citation, see UVM Libraries Tutorials and Tips. Remember to check the specific citation
requirements of your assignment.
Sample Lab Write-Up
This sample work can be used to get a sense of how these different sections work together and
manifest in an actual write-up. It is meant only to help illustrate these different sections—labs
will vary in complexity and expected amount of detail.
Autobiographical Essay
One of the core goals of the Rubenstein School is to get you thinking about your personal
identity, as well as your identity in relation to others and to the environment. This kind of
writing assignment is one designed to get you thinking critically about your identity in such ways
by focusing on your interest in the environment and connecting that to explorations of cultural
diversity and issues surrounding “race.” You might often consider past experiences with nature
and what influenced those experiences and interactions with different people and institutions.
Below you can see some tips on Getting Started and Putting Your Ideas Together as well as see a
Sample Paper.
Getting Started
Your particular assignment is going to be looking for very specific things, so be sure to follow it.
Below are some common (general) places where writers might feel “stuck” when thinking about
this kind of writing exercise (and some questions to help get the wheels turning).
#1. Having a hard time expressing what drove you to pursue an education in natural resources?
Find an important or vivid memory involving the outdoors and ask yourself:
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Why were you there?
How did it make you feel?
Was this a single event or something you did a lot?
How did you find your way there?
Was this a shared event or were you by yourself?
What made this important/why does this stick out so vividly?
Thinking about these may reveal plainly some of the things that you find important about nature.
#2. Having a hard time coming up with ideas because you don't think about race or difference
that much? Think critically about a time when you were around people who were “different”
from you (“race,” culture, lifestyle, sexual orientation, etc). Ask yourself:
 Were your actions different than usual? Why or why not, do you think? Is that a good
thing?
 Did their identity (or yours) have a significant or obvious influence on how you acted? In
what way? Why do you think that is?
 Why is it important to both recognize and understand human variation (and the meaning
we give to it)?
 Think about this phrase: it is not about difference itself, but instead the meaning(s) that
we give to difference and how we act on it that is the true matter at hand.
Especially when it comes to “race,” these kinds of reflections can be difficult. Remember that
you are here to explore and to learn as a part of an academic community. Be honest, respectful,
and open with yourself as well as others and you'll really benefit from this assignment.
#3. Having a hard time coming up with ideas because you feel like you haven't interacted with
people of a different “race” or culture in your life much? That's good ground for discussion as
well.
 What's prevented you from doing so?
 Do you feel that this has been limiting in any way? How so/why not? Is that a positive
thing or a negative thing?
UVM cares a lot about diversity:
 What does diversity mean to you?
 What does the environment mean to you and how might that be different from how others
see it? How can exploring different cultural ideas help you to understand these
differences?
 How can understanding difference in general be beneficial, both in general and in terms
of studying the environment and our impacts on it?
While a lot of people are not sure what they can say, there's a wealth of discussion that can be
had even if you feel you have very little experience with these issues.
Putting Your Ideas Together
Organization/Structure: Now that you've got some ideas, the next step most people take is to
organize those ideas into a coherent whole that has some underlying theme or message. Some
possibilities include:
 Organizing important events chronologically
 Sorting your ideas based on how they correlate to a growth in your understanding
There are countless ways to do this—play with your structure until you find an organization that
works well with your goals and the overall experience you are trying to convey to the reader.
Having others read and react to your piece can help you figure out what is working and what
needs work.
Show Don’t Tell: When writing a personal essay remember to show and NOT tell. Don't tell the
reader that you've “come to appreciate differences,” show them through memories of your
actions. Set up a scene for the reader that shows that you acted in a way consistent with that
statement. Construct your paper in such a way as to help the reader share your experience. This
isn't like your standard five-paragraph essay where you state a thesis in the introduction. You
don't necessarily have to state your main point in the beginning of the paper—in fact, many find
it rewarding to put it at the end so that the reader can vicariously go through the same
experiences and come to same conclusions as you, the writer.
Voice: Make sure that your personal, unique voice and experience shines through…this is an
autobiography, make it YOUR story.
Sample Paper
The purpose of this sample paper (nat_sample_autobio.pdf) is to see some of the ways that these
tips have been put into a piece of writing. While there are things that this writer did well and
some things that could have been done better, remember to only use this to get you thinking.
Your paper should be different and distinct to you (you did not have exactly the same
experiences as this writer).
Reading-Journal/Reflection
Tips for Writing Reading Journals/Reflections
The purpose of these reading journals is to help you learn and think about all of the readings
done in class. The time spent on summary and reflection will serve to thoroughly imprint these
ideas into your memory, if you do these assignments with care. Do not shirk them; they are one
of the best ways to gain a better grasp on the content of the course material. Students are often
advised to either summarize each article's main points in a paragraph or have a list of main points
in bullet form, then react to the article in some way in your journal. If you feel like you're
having trouble coming up with something other than a summary, try asking yourself some of the
questions below to dig deeper.
 How does the article relate to you? Can you make it connect to your life?
 Do you agree with some/all of the article's main points? Why or why not? Be specific
and really explore those opinions in depth.
 Consider the definitions of some of the terms we take for granted every day such as
'nature', 'science', and ‘society’. Does it seem like the way the writer uses these terms
matches up with how you use the word or how the public uses the word? How does this
influence the meaning of the writing? Talk about the differences and misunderstandings
that did or could arise.
 Is the writer biased in any way? What could have caused it? Does this unfairly limit the
scope of the article or leave out important points of view?
Thinking about the ideas themselves, as well as the factors that could have influenced the writer,
are good places to look for inspiration. Take some time and think about these things (try talking
with someone about the ideas too!) and record your thoughts—it will help. Again, the idea is to
get you to understand and think about the article…and show it through your writing. This kind of
writing is not just saying whether or not you liked the article (though that can definitely be a part
of your response), but why. Critical thinking and analysis (especially in regards to topics you
have been covering in class) is important, and hopefully some of the above suggestions for
questions to ask yourself will help you get started.
***Remember to follow your TA's expectations! These will provide specifics on how to
format your papers, what specifically he/she will be looking for, and other writing conventions
you should follow.
Sample Paper
This first sample reflection, from NR 002, exemplifies some of the tips that have been given
already and shows some examples of thinking and referencing the reading critically. Just
remember that it's content that matters; copying the format of this paper won't necessarily make
your journal better.
Reflection papers, also called response papers, are assigned in many RSENR classes. This
response paper, from WFB 285, was written in response to a question posed by the assignment.
This type of paper is also frequently assigned in Environmental Studies classes.
Popular Article
Tips for Writing Popular Articles
Popular articles are found in magazines meant for the general public. I always think of TIME
magazine, but National Geographic, Scientific American, and the New Yorker are other good
examples. The defining feature of this genre is that it is informative writing meant for a
nonspecialized audience. This means that writers may write about things they know a lot about,
but they take pains to make it readable for a wider audience than just academics or those very
familiar with the topic. As such, the writer usually stays away from super-specialized jargon
and instead goes for clear, concise explanation—just enough information so that the reader can
“get their feet wet” and learn something, not feel as if they are drowning in information or,
worse, feel as if they can’t understand what the writer is talking about due to a lack of expertise
or previous knowledge. This should be your goal too. Below are some tips to keep in mind
when writing a popular article.
 Try to avoid super-fancy jargon when an idea or concept can just as effectively be
communicated without it. Using jargon can alienate readers who are unfamiliar with it—
it “looks scary” and, many times, it only serves to confuse or disinterest the general
reader
 Be as clear and concise as possible
 Assume that the reader is generally educated but that he/she has very little specific
knowledge about the subject at hand (i.e. they are not professionals and scholars in the
field)
 Include only what you need to make your point and help readers understand; this isn't the
place to show off how much you know
 Consider carefully the purpose of your article. Are you trying to incite activism? Or just
inform? Are you trying to paint a picture for your audience? Use the tone of your piece
and the organization of your article to help create your intended effect.
 Citations (if you have sources to cite) should be done carefully, and many times the style
used for popular articles is different from what you may use in a more formal paper
(again, the goal being to not alienate or overload a general readership)--refer to the
assignment for guidance/expectations in this regard
Scholarly Papers Requiring Research
Getting Started
Research papers allow the writer to explore a specific topic in great detail. Once a topic is
chosen, the next step is to do the initial research. Most Natural Resources research papers require
journal articles as sources; you can start finding them through Google Scholar, JSTOR,
ScienceDirect, and the UVM Libraries E-Resource Portal (Click “Browse by subject” and try
Biology, Environment, Forestry, Plant & Soil Science, or Plant Biology). Be sure to check the
unique requirements of your assignment—you may also need to cite books or web sites, or use
sources from a given list. Once you’ve done some research on your topic, you can make a rough
outline for your paper (see Headings and Organization, below).
Headings
The assignment may specify headings that you must use in your paper; for example,
“Introduction” or “Methods.” If not, you’ll need to come up with your own. Generally, every
time you bring up a new point or idea in your paper, you should use a new heading. Depending
on your research, this could mean a new heading every 2-3 paragraphs, but it’s also okay to have
only one paragraph under a heading, or to have more than a page. Headings should be concise
and directly related to the paragraphs they include. It may be helpful to decide on headings
before you start writing, just to get an idea of the organization of your paper, but don’t hesitate to
change, add, or delete them as you write.
Example Headings from a WFB 161 (Fisheries Biology) term paper on hatchery salmonids:
Salmonids: Their History and Decline; Hatcheries; Genetic Hazards; Parasites, Diseases, and
Contaminants; Ecological Hazards; Behavioral Problems; Hatchery Success; The Future;
Conclusion
Organization
The paper should begin with an introduction to your topic
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Start broad. For example, you may want to mention historical trends or the greater
significance of your topic. This should be about one paragraph.
Next, narrow in on your topic. Write one or two paragraphs explaining the topic in more
detail. You may want to briefly mention the points you will elaborate on later in the
paper.
Be sure to cite sources in this section.
Choose headings that highlight the most important points from the research
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The order of your sections can be rearranged as many times as you want.
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Try to organize the sections so that if someone who was completely unfamiliar with your
topic was reading your paper, he/she would find it logical and easy to understand.
There should be a conclusion at the end. This is usually one short paragraph that
summarizes your topic and refers back to the research to make a point.
Format and Citation
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Always read the assignment carefully for formatting instructions. Certain features, like
cover pages and double spacing, are not expected for all assignments.
Citation requirements will also vary by assignment.
Sample Term Papers
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Term Paper for WFB 161
Kristen Rydziel reviews the scientific literature to examine “The Effects of Hatchery
Raised Salmonids on Wild Salmonid Populations.”
Literature Review for WFB 1
This assignment was to develop a species’ overview in the form of a literature
review. Dylan Miles reviews the literature on the eastern red-spotted newt.
Policy Paper for NR 153
This policy paper was written by Allison Carrier as a final project for NR 153. It is an
example of writing that draws on the social dimensions of the environmental field,
analyzing “The Salmon Stock’s Decline in the Northwestern United States.”
Lab Reflection for WFB 285
TThis is an example of a reflection done before completing a lab. It required outside
research, reflection on that research, and drawing connections related to the future
lab.