To understand the complexity of humankind's interaction with the environment requires an understanding of the natural world as seen through the eyes of science. This course is a content-based introduction to this particular space, where ecology, and environmental studies intersect. The goal is to understand basic processes of ecosystem dynamics, material cycling, and energy flows, through the lens of humanity's relationship with the environment.
ENVS 270: The Science of Agroecology
This interdisciplinary course will take an in-depth, science-based look at the ecology of food production in the context of emerging 21st century challenges such as global environmental change, depleting natural resource bases, and shifting patterns in global dietary demands. Examples will be drawn from local, regional, and global food systems, with particular focus on smallholder production and traditional knowledge. Classroom discussion will be complemented with hands-on field activities that will introduce students to the ecological foundations of agroecology. The course requires students to simultaneously register for the accompanying lab, ENVS 27000L.
ENVS 280: Agricultural Entomology
According to a recent study conducted in Germany, more than 75% of flying insects have vanished in the past 25 years, in what some are labeling “the sixth extinction”. Many have speculated the implications of insect loss to our ecosystems, but what does this decline mean for our food systems? Will this trend lead to irreversible impacts to food production? Are we part of the problem? Can we be part of the solution? This semester, we will examine the question: What is the role of insects in agriculture and food production? You will have the opportunity to understand the general bases of insect biology, morphology, and behavior, and critically assess the ecology of arthropods, people, and plants in our food systems.
ENVS 350: Advanced Research Seminar
The course walks students through what it means to conduct research in environmental studies. The semester is broken into three units, designed to move juniors progressively towards the goal of conceptualizing and outlining their senior I.S.s. In the first unit, we read several prominent scholarly articles from environmental studies, dissecting them for lessons gained about conducting research in an interdisciplinary field. In the second unit, students begin to comb through literature pertaining to their own individual topics and refine their own research questions. In the third unit, students write a 3200-6000 word proposal that details their research question, review of the pertinent literature, a methodological plan, and a timetable for work over the summer in preparation for Senior I.S.
ENVS 399: Perspectives on Invasive Species
In this course, we will explore the concept of invasive species through a wide variety of fields, including ecology, history, sociology and poetry. We will consider the definitions of native, alien and invasive, asking what conditions lead to biological “invasions” across local, regional, and global scales. We will examine these ideas in relation to the complex history of human movement and changing relationship to the land. Using a global lens, but focusing primarily on the U.S. (including Hawaiʻi) and the Caribbean, we will consider how invasion biology relates to the history of colonialism, immigration policy and land management practices on those places.
ENVS 451/452: Senior Independent Study (I.S.)
The first and second semesters of the Senior Independent Study project, in which each student engages in creative and independent research guided by a faculty mentor and which culminates in a thesis and an oral examination in the second semester.