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CS92PROD
Ecological Resilience: The Good, The Bad, and The Mindful

ENVS 369
Spring 2015
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: BIOL 369, E&ES 369
Certificates: Environmental Studies, Informatics and Modeling, Environmental Studies

This course will examine the concepts of resilience, fragility and adaptive cycles in the context of ecosystem and social-ecological-system (SES) structures. These concepts have been developed to explain abrupt and often surprising changes in complex ecosystems and SES that are prone to disturbances. We will also include non-hierarchical interactions among components of systems (termed panarchy) to compare the interactions and dependencies of ecological and human community systems. A systems approach will be applied to thinking about restoration ecology, community reconstruction, and adaptive management theory.
All of the terms--resilience, fragility, adaptation, restoration, reconstruction--are fraught with subjectivity and valuation. We will use mindfulness and meditation techniques (including breathing and yoga) to more objectively and dynamically engage in the subject matter, leaving behind prejudice or bias. Students will be expected to approach these techniques with an open mind and practice them throughout the semester. The objective is to provide students with a more comprehensive framework with which to gain deeper understanding and integration of the science with the social issues.
Credit: 1.25 Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM ENVS
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: [E&ES197 or BIOL197] OR [BIOL182 or MB&B182]
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (BIOL)(E&ES)(ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(IDEA-Biomedical)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on MAR-29-2024
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