What is the Brown

Environmental Leadership Lab

(BELL)?

BELL is a unique outdoor learning laboratory. The courses draw their curricula from many different disciplines: biology, chemistry, geology, environmental studies, leadership theory and experiential education. As students live and learn together on the shores of Narragansett Bay, they are challenged both physically and intellectually.
This program is based on the 372 acre Haffenreffer Estate in Bristol , Rhode Island , on the rocky coast of Mt. Hope Bay . Mt. Hope Bay is part of Narragansett Bay, a 147 square mile estuary with 256 miles of shoreline. Narragansett Bay is of national significance as a spawning ground, nursery, and habitat for hundreds of species. The Haffenreffer Estate has acres of woods and open fields as well as volleyball and bocce courts. Students live in large tents on wooden platforms overlooking the water and are in close proximity to a multi-purpose building with showers, bathrooms, a kitchen and dining room, a living room area and an indoor classroom.

BELL has two courses.  While each has a distinct focus, both courses help students develop the leadership skills they need to tackle pressing environmental problems in their home communities. 

BELL I focuses on sustainable development.  In BELL I, students will learn how human demands on the environment often compromise the long-term health of the very ecosystems that keep us alive.  They will also learn about policies, practices and emerging technologies that can help reduce humankind’s ecological impact. 

BELL II examines the science behind current environmental issues.  Students will learn about the latest environmental science research from Brown faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students.  They will also participate in an ongoing research project, and practice designing an experiment and analyzing and reporting scientific data.