1 / 15

IGERT in Urban Ecology

IGERT in Urban Ecology. Conference for Sustainability IGERTS University of Alaska, Fairbanks October 10-13, 2007. Charles L. Redman, School of Sustainability Ann P. Kinzig, School of Life Sciences Margaret C. Nelson, School of Human Evolution & Social Change.

xaviera-lagunas
Download Presentation

IGERT in Urban Ecology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. IGERT in Urban Ecology Conference for Sustainability IGERTS University of Alaska, Fairbanks October 10-13, 2007 Charles L. Redman, School of Sustainability Ann P. Kinzig, School of Life Sciences Margaret C. Nelson, School of Human Evolution & Social Change

  2. Evolution of an Educational/Research Program • Center for Environmental Studies (CES) and Central Arizona--Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP-LTER) • IGERT 1 • Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS) • IGERT 2 • School of Sustainability (SOS)

  3. Participating Academic Units • Core units • Life science (botany, biology), 12 fellows • Earth Science (geology, geography), 12 fellows • Social Science (anthropology, sociology), 9 fellows • New core unit • School of Sustainability, 3 fellows • Allied units • Engineering, 2 fellows • Public Affairs, 1 fellow • History, 1 fellow • Mathematics, 1 fellow

  4. altered biogeochemical cycles land-use & land-cover change CAP LTER altered hydrology local climate change

  5. CAP LTER Central Question How do the patterns and processes of urbanization alter ecological conditions of the city and its surrounding environment, and how do ecological consequences of development feed back to the social system to generate future changes?

  6. Urbanization: Focus for Developing Sustainable Futures • More than 90% of future global population growth will occur in cities • Cities occupy 2% of land, house 50% of the people and consume 75% of the world’s energy • Fast and unbalanced growth accelerates division between rich and poor, environmental degradation and growing violence.

  7. Globally, we are now engaged in by far the largest city-building experiment in the history of the planet driven, in part, by a rural to urban transition that has been occurring on a scale never to be repeated. Unique Opportunity

  8. CAP LTER Conceptual Framework External drivers Climate change Globalization Geophysical template Ecosystem structure Built structure Habitat structure & diversity Species abundance & diversity Geomorphic structure Food-web structure Socio-cultural-economic template Press or pulse events Land-use change & urbanization Housing development Landscape creation and management Heat island dynamics Atmospheric deposition Hydrologic/geomorphic alteration Natural events Flood Drought Human behavior Institutional and Individual levels Planning & design Regulation Migration Ecosystem function Primary production Organism interactions & behavior Nutrient cycling & retention Fluvial processes Groundwater recharge Human outcomes Exposure risk Quality of life Human health Perception & value Ecosystem services Regulating: Air quality, pest control, water quality, temperature control Supporting: soil fertility, nutrient cycling Cultural: recreation, aesthetics Provisioning: ag After Collins et al. 2007 ISSE

  9. Philosophical Tenets • An integrated view begins with established disciplines. • Experience in a collection of disciplines does not a multi disciplinary program make. • Solution of complex problems requires collaboration. • Effective collaborative groups have flexible participants (Flexible, invertible hierarchy). • Faculty members are also students.

  10. Philosophical Tenets • IGERT Program is graduate-student centered. • There is more than a single track to understanding. • Our goal is to understand how we understand. • Our approach is experiential and empirical. • Research questions are motivated by both basic and applied objectives.

  11. Components of IGERTin Urban Ecology Experience IGERT Activities Disciplinary Activities • Urban Ecology Reading Group • Intellectual Issues Seminar • Collaborative Workshops • Ethics and Values • International Travel • Mentoring Seminar w/ • COURS and REU • Colloquium Series • Study Sessions with Visiting • Scholars, Policymakers and • Industry Reps CAP LTER Activities Department Requirements Technical Skills Course Electives in Complementary Field Professional Meetings LTER Graduate Student Activities LTER All Scientist Meetings LTER Winter Symposium Dissertation Research in Collaboration with LTER Scientists Completion of Dissertation

  12. Urban Ecology Reading Group Brown Bag Field Trips Invited Speakers IGERT Program Activities

  13. Synthesis Center Dedicated space Senior Fellows Organizers Facilitators Liaisons IGERT Program Elements

  14. Program Courses/Requirements • Intellectual Issues • Professionalism and Ethics • Mentoring • Workshops • Individual research; collaborative chapter

  15. Future Prospects • University-wide Graduate Faculty Initiative • Continuing interdisciplinary graduate training in Urban Ecology based out of departments • School of Sustainability

More Related