Service-learning
We have a lot to learn from the community we work and live in. The intention of service learning is to benefit both the students and the partner organizations that students are working with and to engage in active reflection and evaluation after the experience.  We’ve piled slash at Mueller State Park, transplanted Ponderosa Pine in Black Forest, and mulched a hillside with Coalition for the Upper South Platte, to name a few. See students in action here.

Courses
I teach courses in the Environmental Program. Some courses are cross-listed with other programs or departments. Consult the course catalogue for the most updated listings.

Sustainable Development (EV141)
This class begins with an investigation of the history and definition(s) of sustainable development and the key actors and institutions in the global arena that have worked to promote it. We then examine issues of population and wealth, rural livelihoods, forests, wildlife conservation, urban development, and climate change. In examining these topics, we look at both the debates around these issue areas and how on the ground efforts in these areas have furthered (or not) sustainable development objectives.

Community Forestry (EV260)
Community-based forestry (CBF) is studied as a robust example of how sustainability can be achieved through institutional change.  It is often said that forest management is not about managing trees, but rather about managing people.  This course focuses on the people, policies and institutions that dictate the use of forest resources.  While multidisciplinary, it is fundamentally a social science course which examines how people at the community level are working to co-manage forests for sustainable social & environmental benefits.  Service-learning and field trips are a required part of this class.

Environmental Management (EV321)
This class focuses on strategies used for the management of humankind’s interaction with, and impact upon, the environment. Case studies allow students to analyze and apply the precautionary principle, environmental assessment, environmental management systems, and planning as strategies of environmental management. Prerequisite: COI

Ecological Economics (EV341)
Ecological economics is a transdisciplinary framework to economic, social, and environmental problem solving.  “Transdisciplinary” implies a problem-orientation that draws from a diverse web of knowledge across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. For years, the myth of a “economy versus the environment” trade-off have existed in much of the public discourse. In this course, we will use ecological economics as a framework to evaluate the goals of addressing both economics and ecology in creating a sustainable future and examine policy tools used to reconcile the “economy vs. environment” trade-off. Prerequisite: EC201 pr COI