General

Are you interested in the topics of urban nature, urban sustainability, and social transformations? How people shape their environments, and how they affect natural and social processes? How global environmental change will affect the sustainability and resilience of local communities? This seminar will help you to develop greater insights into the theory and practice of sustainable urban form and explore what is natural about human interventions. It will go beyond the usual discussion about the greening of cities and regions. During this seminar, we will develop greater insights into the theory and practice behind the design of sustainable urban form, explore how people’s contact with nature is influenced by an increasingly urban world, and why people are seeking more contact with nature in order to reduce stress and improve their health and well-being.

Who can enroll in this seminar? Just about anybody who is curious about the topic. It’s an interdisciplinary semi­nar for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in all majors. Questions??? Contact Laura Musacchio, Department of Landscape Architecture at musac003@umn.edu for more information.

For many Americans, without first-hand knowledge of working farms or environmental science, the media is their main source of information about food production, agricultural challenges, and environmental policy. In today’s fast-paced and media-saturated world, students who want to be the next-generation of effective teachers, industry leaders, scientists, advocates, and policy makers must learn how to communicate effectively with the general public and other audiences in order to ensure the future of these industries.

In this course, students learn how to engage with the public on issues related to agriculture, food and the environment. We will analyze evolutionary changes happening in the mass media, discuss the fundamental strategic communication process, practice important content development tactics, and analyze trends in agricultural and environmental communication. Students will create professional-grade communication work, including technical presentations, magazine articles, press releases, and media advisories. Class format will include brief lectures, hands-on individual and group writing projects, real-world assignments, active class discussion and activities. Contact Dr. Rebecca Swenson, boli0028@umn.edu, for more information

This course will provide an interdisciplinary foundation for understanding the interaction between terrestrial ecosystems and the climate. This course will present a qualitative and quantitative approach to atmosphere-biosphere interactions at local to global scales. Emphasis will be placed on water, energy, and carbon exchange as well as the role of humans in altering the landscape. Topics to be covered include, The Earth as a System, Global Cycles, Physical Climatology, Soil Processes, Terrestrial Hydrometeorology, Planetary Boundary Layer Processes, Biometeorology, Terrestrial Plant Ecology, Global Biogeography, Terrestrial Forcings and Feedbacks, Modeling Land Surface Processes, Land Use and Land Cover Change, Coupled Atmosphere-Biosphere Dynamics, Climate-Carbon Cycle Feedbacks, & The Urban Environment.

Graduate students who have an interest in these topics and who have a background in a physical or biological science or environmental engineering are encouraged to enroll. An understanding of calculus, physics, and chemistry is required.