Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology (LEAF)

Community-based Anthropology

The LEAF School partners with tribes, government agencies, non-profits, and businesses to engage students through service-learning and community-based research in the hands-on application of traditional environmental knowledge and anthropological research methods to modern sustainability challenges. At the core of the program are summer field courses and year-around community-based activities linked to anthropology courses throughout the academic year. Typical projects include supporting sustainable food production, tribal canoe journey, ethnobotany, wildlife tracking, green infrastructure, and archaeological surveys and excavations. In addition to the field courses and activities undergraduate research supported by external grants and contracts gives students first-hand experience in ethnographic, ecological, and archaeological methods.

Summer 2026 Field Schools

Fish, Wildlife, and Green Infrastructure

The LEAF School partners with the Center for Service-Learning to host fish and wildlife monitoring projects for the City of Mukilteo and Snohomish County and green infrastructure projects with the Cities of Edmonds and Lynnwood, Snohomish Conservation District, and Puget Sound Partnership. Students can sign up to participate in these projects through the Center for Service-Learning. Reports from previous projects are available at Dr. Thomas Murphy's profile page on Academia.edu.

Public Events

In addition to summer field courses and activities throughout the year, the LEAF School and Center for Service-Learning support large public events open to the community. Join us for events at q’^wәld’ali (Place of the Cooking Fire) Cultural Kitchen Campus Community Farm, and stәĺĵx^wáli (Place-of-Medicine) Ethnobotanicall Garden. Help the powwow committee and our Native Student Association host an annual Powwow on the first weekend of May. Sign up for these and similar projects through the Center for Service-Learning.