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.

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Historicizing Water and Development
Abigail Schade, Davidson College
This webpage is an academic essay discussing the historical perspectives on water and development, emphasizing how human perceptions and valuation of freshwater resources shape sustainability and economic development discourse, particularly within undergraduate education and systems thinking. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Service Learning in Interdisciplinary Courses
Maureen Padden, McMaster University
This webpage is an academic essay discussing the integration of service learning in interdisciplinary sustainability courses, highlighting pedagogical challenges, student outcomes, and real-world application in higher education. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Feeding the World - Teaching Sustainability in a Plant Biology Course
Susan Singer, Carleton College
This essay page from the InTeGrate project details how plant biology is taught through a sustainability lens at Carleton College, emphasizing interdisciplinary learning, food security, soil science integration, and long-term student projects analyzing agricultural sustainability and policy. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Productive sustainability discourse through insisting on diverse perspectives
Hitesh Soneji, City College of San Francisco
This webpage is an academic essay discussing the importance of fostering interdisciplinary sustainability education by intentionally incorporating diverse student perspectives and multiple disciplinary viewpoints to avoid groupthink and enrich discourse. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

The Waldo Canyon wildfire: A case study of the western urban-wilderness interface
Mari Lee, Colorado College
This webpage is an academic essay discussing the Waldo Canyon wildfire as a case study of urban-wilderness interface challenges in the western U.S., exploring themes of sustainability, forest management, climate stress, and community resilience within an interdisciplinary environmental science and policy context. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Teaching sustainability through project based learning
James Stone, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
A standalone essay page from the InTeGrate project detailing an interdisciplinary, project-based course on sustainability in engineering education, covering water conservation, renewable energy, and life cycle assessment, authored by James Stone of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

The Relevance of Place and Sense of Place to Sustainability
Steven Semken, Arizona State University Campus Immersion
This academic essay page explores the role of place-based education in promoting environmental and cultural sustainability, emphasizing how sense of place fosters ecological integrity and community attachment in contested landscapes, with applications in geoscience and interdisciplinary teaching. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Teaching Sustainability Through History
Derek Larson, Saint Johns University
An academic essay page detailing how interdisciplinary environmental studies programs integrate historical context into sustainability education, emphasizing curriculum design, historical precedents in green building and resource management, and pedagogical strategies for teaching sustainability through history. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Using process-focused assessments for teaching sustainability
Meghann Jarchow, University of South Dakota
An academic essay page advocating for process-focused assessments in sustainability education, emphasizing systems thinking, student creativity, and risk-taking through reflective evaluation of learning processes rather than end products. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Value of Co-Teaching, Project-Based Learning, and Common Communication for Teaching Sustainability to an Interdisciplinary Class
Steven Burian, University of Utah
This academic essay page discusses interdisciplinary sustainability education, emphasizing co-teaching, project-based learning, and shared communication as key strategies, authored by an engineering educator reflecting on pedagogical successes and challenges. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Credibility as a Challenge in the Integration of Science and Sustainability
Holly Ewing, Bates College
An academic essay page discussing the challenge of maintaining scientific credibility when integrating science with sustainability in education, emphasizing the importance of teaching scientific uncertainty and context within interdisciplinary environmental studies. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

The Sustainability Challenge in the Classroom
Tim Lutz, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
This webpage is an academic essay discussing the pedagogical challenge of teaching sustainability by transcending disciplinary boundaries, emphasizing interconnectedness, experiential learning, and transformative education to address systemic unsustainability in higher education. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Making Sustainability Visible
Thomas Beery, University of Minnesota-Duluth
This webpage is an educational essay discussing how sustainability decisions in outdoor education programs can be used to teach critical thinking and environmental behavior, emphasizing transparency in logistical choices like transportation to model sustainable practices for students. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

How Should We Teach 'Sustainability Science'?
Tracey Holloway, University of Wisconsin-Madison
This webpage is an academic essay discussing interdisciplinary approaches to teaching sustainability science at the undergraduate level, emphasizing solutions-oriented thinking, systems dynamics, quantitative literacy, and course design strategies to engage students in sustainability challenges. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Sustainability in an Oceanography Course
Katryn Wiese, City College of San Francisco
A pedagogical essay page detailing how sustainability is integrated into an oceanography course through interdisciplinary case studies, local environmental data labs, and active learning strategies to foster student engagement and real-world application. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Economics, Sustainability and Teaching Interactive Approach
Nelson Altamirano, National University
This essay page discusses integrating geosciences into economics education through interactive, game-based learning to teach sustainability, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches for business students and providing a downloadable PDF of the full text. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Making Sustainability Real
Dan Vaughn, Vincennes University
This webpage is an educational essay in a mini-collection from the InTeGrate project discussing pedagogical strategies for teaching sustainability, focusing on connecting students to environmental realities through interdisciplinary methods, quantitative reasoning, and ethical reflection to foster environmental responsibility. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Geoscience is by its nature interdisciplinary
David Kobilka, Central Lakes College-Brainerd
This webpage is an educational essay discussing how geoscience, particularly in environmental contexts, is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating chemistry, physics, biology, and social sciences, with a focus on teaching methods, current event integration, and sustainability education in undergraduate courses. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Sustainability in Mining Activity
Stephen Kissin, Lakehead University
This webpage is an academic essay discussing sustainability in mining activities, focusing on environmental, economic, and social dimensions, with a case study on northwestern Ontario, and highlighting Lakehead University's initiative to establish a multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence in Mineral Exploration and Sustainable Mining Development. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Sustainability and Hanford Reach
Tracy Lai, Seattle Central College
This webpage is an academic essay discussing the interdisciplinary challenges of sustainability at Hanford Reach, emphasizing the intersection of ecological science, nuclear waste management, Indigenous rights, and environmental justice within a Pacific Northwest historical context. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.