The Journal

Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Lifestyle

Media Credit: Jamie Ford Jeff DePew, professor of biological sciences, owns Earth Designs, a store near the produce stand on Big Bend Blvd. The store has been open for four years and is housed in an old two-car mechanic's garage. Earth Designs sells environmentally-friendly items, including books, clothing, outdoor supplies and artwork made by local and foreign artists who sell their work exclusively through Earth Designs.

You can't judge a book by its cover - or so the saying goes. But a good look at biological sciences professor Jeff DePew can lend some pretty accurate assumptions. Standing in front of his freshman seminar class, clad in khaki shorts and a faded button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearm and sunglasses hanging around his neck, DePew certainly looks the part of an environmentalist.

And he is one. As a certified sea kayak guide and wilderness emergency medical technician, an environmental researcher and ecologist, and the proud owner of an environmental store, DePew has indeed laid claim to that title.

But he's equally proud of his title as an educator. DePew has been teaching biological and environmental sciences at Webster as an adjunct faculty member for 11 years. During the past three years, he's also taught the freshman seminar "Plants and People."

Freshman Keith Schnacke, a technical direction major, said DePew is good at engaging his students.

"I like how he teaches and gets us all involved in the conversation," Schnacke said. "He listens to us more than other teachers."

DePew is very clear as to what he wants students to get out of his class.

"What I challenge you to do in this class is to experience more," DePew said to his freshman seminar. "The first snowfall - drop what you're doing; see what it's like. Bundle up, go outside and walk for an hour."

DePew's classes regularly go on field trips to places like Shaw Nature Reserve, the Sauget Landfill and Monsanto to get a first-hand perspective on environmental issues such as pollution and biogenetic engineering.

Continued...

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