Skip to main content

Accessibility menu

Skip to main content Skip to footer

Profile for Alysa Remsburg

Alysa Remsburg profile photo

Contact me

Alysa Remsburg

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Teaching Professor
Environmental Studies
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Alysa Remsburg Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Teaching Professor

Environmental Studies

Specialty area(s)

service learning, forest ecology, dragonfly and damselfly ecology, forest and riparian socio-ecological systems, conservation biology

Brief biography

Alysa Remsburg teaches in the Sustainability & Environmental Studies Program, where she helps students explore how they interact with the environment as individuals and as a society.  She is passionate about expanding ecological literacy.  As a community ecologist, Alysa has researched how habitat features on land and in the water influence dragonfly species diversity.  Broad interests in landscape ecology have also led her to research experiences with ground beetles, mites, frogs, turtles, forest invasive species, and forest ecosystem processes.  As a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow, she investigated how well students learn when other students present information in comparison to when instructors present information.

Alysa grew up in West Michigan, where she frequently spent time exploring lakes and forests. After working in environmental education, Alysa's research in community ecology took her to Yellowstone, northern Wisconsin, South Africa, and Maine.  As Associate Professor of Conservation Biology at Unity College in Maine, Alysa developed an interest in teaching interdisciplinary courses about the environment.  She moved to La Crosse in 2013 to teach full time in an interdisciplinary program and to live near family. Alysa appreciates the strong sense of place that UWL students and community members share: a great pride for the natural landscapes in this unique place.

Current courses at UWL

Introduction to Sustainability & Environmental Studies

Sustainability & Environmental Studies Capstone

Topics in Environmental Studies: The Mississippi River

Topics in Environmental Studies: Woodlands of the Driftless

Topics in Environmental Studies: Food, Culture, and the Environment

Topics in Environmental Studies: Environmental Cinema

Internships in Environmental Studies

FYS 100: Housecats and coyotes: Coexisting with Wisconsin Wildlife

Education

Ph.D.     Zoology, 2007, University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Dissertation: Aquatic and Terrestrial Vegetation Influence Lacustrine Dragonfly (order Odonata) Assemblages at Multiple Life Stages (Advisor: M. Turner)

M.S.       Zoology, 2005, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Thesis: Amount, Position, and Age of Coarse Wood Influence Litter Decomposition (Advisor: M. Turner)

B.A.        Biology, 2001, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio. Environmental Studies minor Department Honors

Career

Teaching history

Environmental Sustainability

Ecotourism and Biodiversity Conservation in Costa Rica

Topics in Environmental Studies: The Environment and Food Systems

Topics in Environmental Studies: Conservation Biology

Environmental Issues & Insights

Conservation Biology

Population & Community Ecology

Environmental Citizen

Field Ecology Experience

Evolution & Ecology

Cell & Organism Biology

Landscape Ecology Topics in Conservation

Species Diversity in Northern Forests

Independent Study

Kudos

published

Jennifer Klein and Alder Yu, both Biology; Nabamita Dutta, Economics; Alysa Remsburg, Environmental Studies; Tesia Marshik, Psychology; and Adam Driscoll, Sociology & Criminal Justice; co-authored the article "New frontiers in student evaluations of teaching: university efforts to design and test a new instrument for student feedback" in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education published on April 5 by Taylor and Francis Online. This article summarizes the efforts put forth by the Ad-Hoc SEI committee with exploring the problematic use of SEIs on campus, selecting and modifying an alternative tool (the soon to be adopted LENS system), and conducting some early findings regarding its efficacy.

Submitted on: April 11, 2023

served

Alysa Remsburg, Environmental Studies, served as Co-Director of Solar on La Crosse Schools, which received the 2021 Inspiring Sustainability Award from the La Crosse Sustainability Institute. Dr. Remsburg is one of three founding members of Solar on La Crosse Schools, which raises money to put solar panels on schools and provides teachers with solar energy lesson plans.

Submitted on: Feb. 11, 2022