NR 743/843 Ecology and Society in a Changing Arctic
Semester: Spring
Offered: 2021
Overview: Increases in Arctic air temperatures, loss of sea ice, and melting glaciers threaten ecosystems across the globe. The changing Arctic creates complex challenges for human communities including issues of environmental change, governance, infrastructure, human health, and Indigenous rights. This course is designed to foster knowledge and discussion around the ecological and societal realities of a changing Arctic, which is warming at a rate at least twice that of the rest of the globe.
The course will primarily focus on changes to the terrestrial landscape, particularly the implications of permafrost thaw and other landscape-scale disturbances. This includes topics ranging from the atmospheric realities of climate change, for which there is high certainty, to physical, biogeochemical, and social changes that are less certain. The main objective of this course is for students to gain an appreciation for what is and isn’t known about the ecology and biogeochemistry of the rapidly changing Arctic, and the impact of change on local cultures and the “Lower 48.” The main knowledge delivery style for this course is inquiry-based, peer to peer instruction, and self-driven exploration of literature and data. You will tackle a research project, thus learning not only about the Arctic, but also how to design and execute reproducible and publishable research products.
Course learning objectives:
- Understand linkages between the Arctic physical and social systems
- Understand the potential vulnerabilities to social-ecological linkages in the “New Arctic”
- Understand how to develop a research focus, vet a research idea in the literature, and develop testable hypotheses
- Learn how to gain access to publicly available data and analyze it in R
- Develop tools for working collaboratively in groups and across disciplines
- Hone writing skills to produce a crisp, insightful manuscript
Course format: THE FORMAT OF THIS COURSE IS LIKELY DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS YOU'VE EXPERIENCED! This course is designed to cultivate a research team, working towards the aim of student-driven data exploration and communication to a scientific audience. All course participants will be responsible for the content of this course. The instructor will provide guidance on where and how to access materials of interest and will help guide discussions, but it will be up to all class participants to contribute to the acquisition of new knowledge and to reflect on personal knowledge gaps to be able to actively participate in this research effort. These knowledge gaps may be topical (e.g., human health issues, permafrost geomorphology) or they may be more technical (e.g., running linear regressions in R). As a team, we will tackle tasks towards the aim of contributing new knowledge to the public and scientific literature. The aim is for our product to be a peer-reviewed publication, policy brief, outreach product, or other technical document.
The data synthesis/manuscript topic, which should sit at the convergence of social and natural sciences, will be decided by the students (with the input of the New England Arctic Network, to get experience consulting with stakeholders). We will use data from the Arctic Data Center, DataOne, NASA, USGS, or other repository. We will produce a reproducible and publicly available workflow using RMarkdown, GitHub, and ROpenScience tools.
NR 435 Contemporary Issues in Conservation and Environmental Awareness
Semester: Fall
Offered: 2020
Syllabus
NR 706/806 Soil Ecology
Semester: Fall
Offered: 2020
Syllabus
Schedule 2020
NR 435 Contemporary Issues in Conservation and Environmental Awareness
Semester: Fall
Offered: 2019
Explores the impacts of technology and human activity on our environment and natural resources. Key conservation issues are used as examples of past and present biological, social, and environmental conflicts.
NR 795/995 Ecology and Society in a Changing Arctic
Semester: Spring
Offered: 2019
Overview:Increases in Arctic air temperatures, loss of sea ice, and melting glaciers threaten ecosystems across the globe. The changing Arctic creates complex challenges for human communities including issues of environmental change, governance, infrastructure, human health, and Indigenous rights. This course is designed to foster knowledge and discussion around the ecological and societal realities of a changing Arctic, which is warming at a rate at least twice that of the rest of the globe.
The course will primarily focus on changes to the terrestrial landscape, particularly the implications of permafrost thaw and other landscape-scale disturbances. This includes topics ranging from the atmospheric realities of climate change, for which there is high certainty, to physical, biogeochemical, and social changes that are less certain. The main objective of this course is for students to gain an appreciation for what is and isn’t known about the ecology and biogeochemistry of the rapidly changing Arctic, and the impact of change on local cultures and the “Lower 48.” The main knowledge delivery style for this course is inquiry-based, peer to peer instruction, and self-driven exploration of literature and data. You will tackle a research project, thus learning not only about the Arctic, but also how to design and execute reproducible and publishable research products.
NR 706/806 Soil Ecology
Semester: Fall
Offered: 2018
Overview: Examines the ecological relationships between soil microorganisms and their biotic and abiotic environment, with emphasis on the role of soil microorganisms in biogeochemical cycling. Specific objectives are to examine the biodiversity present in soil systems, factors controlling microbial community composition and diversity, and linkages between soil microbial communities, soil physical properties, and soil organic matter and nutrient cycling dynamics. Prereq: BIOL 412 or PBIO 412, CHEM 403, or equivalent, or permission. Special fee. Lab. Writing intensive.
(NR 706.01) Prereq BIOL 412 or PBIO 412, CHEM 403 or equivalent, or permission.
A Hot Topic in a Cold Place: The Effect of Permafrost Thaw on Arctic Ecology and Society
Semester: Spring
Offered: 2018
Overview: The Arctic is a place of rugged beauty, where life—human, flora, fauna, and microbial—is sustained at the extremes. Climate change is rapidly altering the Arctic. In the terrestrial system, it has already shrunk glaciers, endangered species, increased shrubification, and thawed permafrost .
In this seminar, we will explore the ecological and social implications of permafrost thaw. The seminar series will be fundamentally composed of readings and class discussion, with a few weeks dedicated to developing and probing a research question with archived data. Interested students (with advisor approval ) will also have the opportunity to co-author a synthesis paper about shifts in the structure and function of the permafrost microbiome.