Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Conservation organizations must ensure that their efforts are strategic, systematic, results-oriented, and effective. This course provides students with skills and knowledge to assess and plan conservation projects that can be adaptively managed and monitored for effective biodiversity and human wellbeing outcomes. The foundation for the course is the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation—a guidance planning tool used globally by thousands of practitioners and countless government, non-government, and donor organizations in concert with the Miradi open-source modeling software. Students in this course work together to assess and plan two conservation case studies. The management plans developed include essential components for effective conservation: vision, scope, biodiversity targets, viability assessment of targets, goals, stakeholder analysis, direct threats, threat assessment, situation analysis, strategies, strategy prioritization, theory of change, objectives, indicators, and monitoring plans. Teams have the option to work on projects related to their own environmental work, volunteer opportunities, and existing field projects. All participants in the course will be eligible to complete Certification of Steps 1 (Assess) and 2 (Plan) for the Conservation Standards.

Conservation biologists warn that we are in the midst of a great “extinction crisis,” with millions of species threatened due to habitat destruction, climate change, and other anthropogenic factors. This course focuses on examining how we are (and should be) constructing legal regimes and effective political institutions to conserve Earth’s endangered forms of life across multiple levels (ecosystem, landscape, species, population, and genetic diversity). We will examine U.S. legal and political responses to biodiversity loss, with a focus on the Endangered Species Act, as well as the role of international law, especially treaty regimes. We will look at how law is(n’t) succeeding in preserving life on Earth, and pay particular attention to the most effective legal practices to conserve biodiversity. 

This course builds on the principles of biodiversity science across the many components of stewardship. Participants will each identify a study area (local site or area, a county, or larger region) that provides the context for investigating, documenting, analyzing, and promoting biodiversity. Accordingly, students’ projects and course products are highly variable and reflect a wide variety of professional, academic, and personal interests. Skills developed in this course can be immediately applied to real-world needs, and some participants may design their projects and products to address an existing need. 

Human activities are having a cumulative effect on the natural systems upon which life depends. Future land management impacts will likely entail unprecedented change in environmental conditions. Conservation ecology provides insights into the many benefits and services that nature offers, and explores strategies to sustain ecological integrity and plan landscapes for human use. It is an emerging interdisciplinary approach to harmonizing the interactions between people and nature at ecosystem scales.

Human–wildlife conflict resolution is a rapidly growing area within the wildlife sciences that draws upon the need for multi-disciplinary approaches to resolve complex issues associated with human domination of ecosystems. The problems people have with wild animals, and the problems wild animals have with people, require the use of cooperative, collaborative, and innovative approaches if they are to be resolved in ways that maximize both social and ecological benefits. This course draws upon some of the emerging issues associated with human–wildlife conflicts, and through the use of case histories and examples explores the theory and practice of conflict resolution, as well as the practical ethics needed to navigate contemporary wildlife management. 

Eight out of ten Americans now live in cities or towns of 50,000 people or more, and 50% of the world’s human population now lives in urban areas. While it’s a common assumption that cities are inhospitable to non-human animal life, we have ample evidence to indicate that not only do some wildlife species survive in urban areas— they can thrive. One positive outcome is that people can directly enjoy and appreciate wildlife close to home, adding to their quality of life and connection to the natural world. A negative consequence is that conflicts between people and wildlife are on the rise. Urbanization has created new challenges for a variety of natural resource professionals, and most have little or no special training in this area. This course is organized into five learning units: urban landscapes, urban ecosystems, urban habitats and hazards, sociopolitical issues, and special management considerations.