Nurturing a sense of place is essential throughout all levels of the education continuum. This session explores how two higher education courses—Rural Communities and Cultures (an undergraduate service-learning seminar) and Environmental Communication (an undergraduate and graduate-level course)—integrate place-based education to deepen students’ ecological literacy, communication skills, and civic engagement. Both courses situate learning in Louisiana’s dynamic landscapes, inviting students to critically and creatively engage with the resilient communities that shape the Gulf region.

Drawing from frameworks of nature place-based learning, service-learning, and communication literacies, we demonstrate how students cultivate a reflexive understanding of their relationship to place through writing, mapping, storytelling, and community partnerships. The honors seminar engages students in field experiences and service-learning projects with rural organizations, fostering awareness of community assets and cross-disciplinary literacies. The communication course uses GIS StoryMaps, visual storytelling, and narrative reflection to connect environmental science with lived experiences, translating research into meaningful stories of nature-society relationships.

Together, these examples illustrate the versatility and impact of place-based pedagogy across disciplines in higher education. Participants will leave with adaptable models for integrating reflection, storytelling, and community engagement into their own courses or educational programs, demonstrating the power of learning in, with, from, and for the natural world.