Sustainability Essays

These essays were submitted by faculty in preparation for the Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences workshop in July 2012. Participants were asked to share their approaches to teaching sustainability in an interdisciplinary context and ideas for exploring opportunities for enhancing the integration of geoscience and sustainability.



Help

Geoscience is by its nature interdisciplinary
David Kobilka, Central Lakes College-Brainerd
David Kobilka, Earth Science, Central Lakes College-Brainerd Geoscience classes, especially those with an environmental component, are by nature interdisciplinary. For example, introductory Oceanography involves ...

The Relevance of Place and Sense of Place to Sustainability
Steven Semken, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
Steven Semken , School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University In response to sprawl and globalization that challenge integrity of ecosystems and diversity of cultures (i.e., environmental ...

Sustainability and Understanding Time
Mary Savina, Carleton College
Mary Savina, Geology, Carleton College When I'm talking with students in geology courses about sustainability, I don't use the word much. As one of my colleagues, Aaron Swoboda, puts it, we know ...

Teaching sustainability through project based learning
James Stone, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
James Stone, Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology My approach to teaching sustainability revolves around an interdisciplinary sustainable design senior/graduate level ...

Demonstrating why sustainability is complex
Cailin Huyck Orr, Carleton College
Cailin Huyck Orr, School of the Environment, Washington State University - Pullman Promoting sustainability is complicated and I am not convinced that we always understand how to do it well. This makes teaching ...

The imperative for chemists to teach about sustainability
Scott Cummings, Kenyon College
Scott Cummings, Chemistry, Kenyon College Chemistry plays a central role in many of the global and local aspects of sustainability: with problems of continued dependence on fossil fuels, and with the promise of ...

Making Connections between Geoscience and Sustainability
Laura Rademacher, University of the Pacific
Laura Rademacher, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of the Pacific My approach to teaching sustainability in an interdisciplinary context has evolved out of years of teaching about the Earth and the ...

Crossing Disciplinary Borders for Sustainability Education
Ellen Metzger, San Jose State University
Ellen Metzger, Geology and Science Education, San Jose State University My relatively recent interest in teaching about sustainability was catalyzed by an unexpected opportunity to reconnect with an old friend ...

Sustainability: The Key To Student Engagement
Ben Fackler-Adams, Skagit Valley College
Benjamin Fackler-Adams, Physical Sciences, Skagit Valley College As an "Instructor of Interdisciplinary Science" at a community college that teaches numerous interdisciplinary, team-taught learning ...

Interdisciplinary Environmental Science Reflection and Communication
Kathleen Phillips, Stanford University
Kathleen Phillips, Earth Systems, Stanford University My approach to teaching sustainability in an interdisciplinary context is to engage the students as both active learners and teachers in class. I teach ...

Geosciences in Sustainability: Upstream, Downstream, and in Between
Laura Webb, University of Vermont and State Agricultural College
Laura Webb, Geology, University of Vermont and State Agricultural College I am relatively new to teaching about sustainability and one year ago I wouldn't have predicted being on this path. The inspiration to ...

Eating for a Healthy You and a Sustainable Planet
Benjamin Cuker, Hampton University
Benjamin Cuker, Marine and Environmental Science, Hampton University For the last three years I have co-taught an honors seminar called "Eating for A Healthy You and a Sustainable Planet." I teach the ...

Using process-focused assessments for teaching sustainability
Meghann Jarchow, University of South Dakota
Meghann Jarchow, Interdepartmental - sustainability, University of South Dakota Thinking about how we assess students is as important as the methods that we use to convey the course content. I think that most ...

Value of Co-Teaching, Project-Based Learning, and Common Communication for Teaching Sustainability to an Interdisciplinary Class
Steven Burian, University of Utah
Steve Burian, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Utah Teaching sustainability to students from different disciplines requires new approaches to course planning, lesson planning, pedagogy, student ...

Feeding the World - Teaching Sustainability in a Plant Biology Course
Susan Singer, Carleton College
Susan Singer, Biology, Carleton College Plant Biology at Carleton is designed to introduce students to the basic concepts of plant anatomy, morphology, evolution, biochemistry, physiology, and development in the ...

Sustainability, Collaboration and Complexity Science
John Motloch, Ball State University
John Motloch, Landscape Architecture & Land Design Institute, Ball State University We are living in an exciting, unprecedented time, when the world within the mind (of an individual or culture) and the world ...

Productive sustainability discourse through insisting on diverse perspectives
Hitesh Soneji, City College of San Francisco
Hitesh Soneji, Engineering and Technology, City College of San Francisco Perhaps the most important step in making a course interdisciplinary is to attract students with a variety of interests and disciplines ...

How Should We Teach 'Sustainability Science'?
Tracey Holloway, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tracey Holloway, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison My main motivation for teaching sustainability is to promote solutions-oriented thinking about environmental challenges. ...

Economics, Sustainability and Teaching Interactive Approach
Nelson Altamirano, National University
Nelson Altamirano, School of Business and Management, National University My discipline is economics and of course I teach microeconomics or macroeconomics most of the time but working at the School of Business ...

Making Sustainability Real
Dan Vaughn, Vincennes University
Daniel Vaughn, Earth Science, Vincennes University I have found in teaching this course (an advanced introductory course open to majors and the non-majors alike), in addition to other classes at VU and other ...