NTRES 6140

Conservation Controversies Literature Seminar

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This seminar course is designed to give graduate students mid-level understanding of a suite of timely topics in environmental conservation and sustainability. We will discuss contentious topics, exploring different scientific perspectives as well as feedbacks among science, policy, management, and public perceptions. The overall learning objective is to encourage students to think critically and openly discuss the scientific and sustainability dimensions of major challenges in managing the Earth system in the21st century. A recurrent theme will be how these thorny issues are communicated and understood among scientists, decision makers, and the public. The semester will be divided into four thematic modules: 30x30 and the efficacy of protected areas, Carbon as a currency of sustainability, Feeding 9 billion, and Sustainability of renewable energy.

Last 4 Terms Offered 2025SP, 2021FA, 2018FA, 2014FA

Outcomes

• Think critically about pressing challenges in managing the Earth system in the 21st century, and become familiar with current literature on key sustainability issues.
• Gain experience communicating about contentious sustainability issues, and how these topics are understood among scientists, decision makers, and the public.
• Integrate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice dimensions into analysis of sustainability issues.

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