2023-2024 Academic Year

Fall 2023

ENST 345 Agroecology
How can agricultural systems be designed to nourish a growing human population while sustaining the natural resources upon which agriculture ultimately depends? In this course, students will learn to use ecological principles as a lens to understand and improve the food system. Topics may include crop genetic resources, soil and pest management, the role of animals in agriculture, and agriculture as a producer and user of energy. Class meetings will incorporate significant student participation including presentation and discussion of primary scientific literature and other readings. Laboratory meetings will orient students to agroecosystems in the region and provide opportunities for hands-on learning and scientific investigation. Three hours of laboratory per week.Prerequisites: ENST 162 or BIOL 131.

ENSC 550 Environmental Science Research

Spring 2024

ENST 250 Environmental Data Analysis
Realms of environmental study as different as climate change, land/water management, environmental health, environmental justice, and many others share something in common: they often depend on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. This course will introduce students to data analysis as it is used to answer environmental questions. Lecture will include activities to understand data organization and statistical concepts, and to critique environmental data as it is presented and interpreted in scholarly and popular sources. During lab, students will learn to write code in the R statistical language to import, wrangle, analyze, and visualize data. These skills will be applied to a real-world project in collaboration with a campus or community partner, culminating in a final product that is shaped by the needs of the partner. No previous coding experience is expected or required. Three hours lecture and three hours lab a week. Prerequisites: 162 or BIOL 131.

ENST 305 Environmental Data Analysis
Realms of environmental study as different as climate change, natural resource management, environmental justice, and many others share something in common: they often depend on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. This course will introduce students to data analysis as it applies to environmental studies and science. Lecture will include activities to understand statistical concepts, as well as critique of environmental data as it is presented in scholarly sources and popular media. During lab, students will learn to write code in the R statistical language to import, wrangle, analyze, and visualize data. The course culminates in a project to use a particular dataset to answer an environmental question. No previous coding experience is expected or required. Pre-req: ENST 162

ENST 406 What Does the Earth Ask of Us
The question motivating this senior seminar is drawn from the work of Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, an ecologist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Dr. Kimmerer invites us to consider not only what benefits humans derive from the Earth, but also what gifts we have to offer in return. In this senior seminar, we will explore this question individually and collectively, taking an interdisciplinary approach that draws on both scholarly/creative work and the work of practitioners in the environmental field. We will critically examine paradigms that have been put forward to help repair the human relationship to the Earth (e.g. restoration, reconciliation, regeneration) and case studies in which such paradigms have been put into practice, with varying degrees of success. Students will help lead class discussions and develop a capstone project focused on a particular environmental challenge. Throughout, students will be encouraged to reflect on their education and experiences to identify the gifts they have to offer the Earth in their post-graduation pursuits.