Courses Related to Sustainability in Ecology and Conservation
Course offerings are subject to change. We will try to keep this list updated but please verify information in the Undergraduate Catalog if you see a course that’s of interest.
Courses listed on this page are related to various topics in ecology and environmental conservation including invasive species, ecosystem interactions, and wildlife, marine, and wetland conservation. Several courses address human and societal dimensions of, and impacts on conservation and ecological issues.
Anthropology
ANT 250 – Conservation Anthropology: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Environmental Issues
Conservation is fundamentally a socio-cultural problem. Examines the different types of human/nature relationships that emerge across various cultural, environmental, socio-economic, and political contexts. Through a comparative approach, this course is designed to illustrate how culture is an important variable when creating viable conservation strategies. Themes covered in class include protected areas, indigenous and traditional knowledge, resource management, market-based conservation, environmental economics, and political ecology. Case studies: United States, Africa, Australia, Latin America, and Papua New Guinea.
ANT 464 – Ecological Anthropology
Comparative study of human populations in ecosystems. Topics include the adaptive nature of culture, implications of the ecological approach for anthropological theory, sociocultural evolution and change, and contemporary problems. Case studies from simple and complex societies. ANT 464 and 564 cannot both be taken for degree credit.
Biology
BIO 309 – Sustainability and Conservation Travel Study
The sustainable management of ecosystems is essential for the long-term preservation of biological and cultural natural resources. Today, tropical and subtropical countries are experiencing a variety of unique environmental challenges, all compounded by the effects of global climate change, including loss of biological diversity, invasive species, food insecurity, freshwater scarcity, soaring energy production and storage costs, and accumulation of waste. The scientific solutions to these intractable problems lie in interdisciplinary research efforts. This travel study course examines real-world sustainability and conservation challenges and solutions in an ecosystem under stress due to global climate change. BIO 319 or WLE 200 or SMS 300 are recommended prerequisites. If this course was taken as a topics course in BIO 387, it cannot be repeated for credit.
BIO 455 – Biological Invasions
Analysis of mechanisms behind species establishment in new areas, their impact on native ecology, theoretical bases of invasion-related phenomena, and economic and sociopolitical costs inflicted by exotic species.
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
EES 117 – Introduction to Ecology and Field Sciences
This course offers an introduction to college and provides an interdisciplinary perspective on ecological and environmental issues. The course will examine ecological systems, the interrelationships between human activities and the environment, and the social, political, economic, and technological factors that affect the use of natural resources. Material is presented via lectures, field trips during class hours and special readings.
EES 351 – Energy, Wealth, and Power: a Biophysical Systems View of Nature and Society
Within the biophysical economics paradigm, energy is the unseen arbiter that drives ecological and economic processes. Biophysical systems of nature and human society are organized according to seemingly universal laws that govern the concentration, conversion, and degradation of energy over space and time. These laws explain historic patterns in ecological and societal evolution, and provide a framework for responding to planetary crises of climate change, peak energy, and unpayable ecological debt. Students will apply biophysical systems principles of energy return on investment (EROI), energy hierarchy, transformity, embodied energy (eMergy), and maximum eMpower to better understand the past and better prepare for the future in a rapidly-degrading ecosphere. Students will read historic and current literature, participate in (and sometimes lead) interactive class discussions, and complete individual- or group-projects.
EES 397 – Topics in Ecology and Environmental Sciences Conservation and Management
The conservation and management of natural resources entail dynamic social, economic, and scientific problems. Students investigate a natural resource topic of current national or international concern.
EES 398- Special Seminar in Ecology and Environmental Science
The conservation and management of natural resources entail dynamic social, economic, and scientific problems. Students investigate a natural resource topic of current national or international concern. Course may be repeated for credit, if topics differ, for a total of 9 completions and 27 credits. Pass/fail.
Maine Studies
MES 301 – Rachel Carson, Maine, and the Environment
In this course, students will take a chronological approach to the study of Rachel Carson’s life and work, reading her books in the order in which they were written, with attention to the role of “place,” specifically the Maine coast, in fostering her achievement as a nature writer and in shaping her vision as an environmentalist. Some of the questions the course will pose and attempt to answer are: What role did the Maine coast play in enabling Carson to understand the importance of the conservation of “wild” spaces? In what ways did Carson’s experience of the Maine coast contribute to her knowledge and understanding of the sea (a central theme in her work) in all its physical and metaphorical dimensions? And how did Carson’s establishment of a permanent home on the coast of Maine facilitate her development as a science and nature writer?
Marine Science
SMS 308 – Conservation and Ecology of Marine Mammals
Examination of variations in ecological strategies in marine mammals and investigation of marine mammal conservation and health issues.
Peace Studies
PAX 351 – The Sacred Earth: Ecology and Spirituality
Examines Eastern and Western views on the environment in terms of spiritual traditions. A major part of the course addresses a new approach to spirituality of nature, called Deep Ecology which includes ecotheology and ecofeminist spirituality
Philosophy
PHI 232 – Environmental Ethics
A critical survey of major contemporary discussions of human relationships to nature and the causes of the environmental crisis. Topics will include animal rights, biocentrism, deep ecology, ecofeminism, bio-regionalism, social ecology and sustainability. Special attention will be given to building an ethical vocabulary for interpreting the place of humans in relation to the non-human.
Plant, Soil, and Environmental Science
PSE 360 – Agroecology and Sustainable Cropping Systems
Students will learn about and discuss various aspects of transdisciplinary agroecology and sustainable cropping systems. This will include a synthesis of fundamental topics (e.g. tillage, irrigation, crop genetic resources, diversity) in the context of social and economic realities of contemporary U.S. agriculture. We will explore agronomic and horticultural cropping systems using local, regional, national, and global examples. Students will work collaboratively in on-farm context to assess an agroecology system, understand its complexities, practice research and practical farm management skills (e.g. biodiversity assessment, soil sampling) and make recommendations for improving sustainability.
School of Forest Resources
SFR 220 – Environment and Society
Introduces the concepts and principles necessary to understand the connections between human behavior and environmental conditions. The course includes a review of the conservation and environmental movements in the United States, tracing changing American values towards forests and other natural resources over time. Students learn how to critically analyze the social, economic, and environmental aspects of various case studies concerning society-environment connections by evaluating diverse information sources.
Wildlife Ecology
WLE 230 – Introduction to Wildlife Conservation
Basic principles of wildlife ecology and conservation are illustrated with examples from Maine and around the world.
WLE 323 – Introduction to Conservation Biology
Maintaining the diversity of life forms in the face of environmental degradation involves the study of population ecology, population genetics, and ecosystem ecology plus the socioeconomic and political matrix in which conservation problems must be solved. Class ends before Thanksgiving. Required attendance for one or two Saturday sessions.
WLE 410 – Wildlife Population Dynamics and Conservation
Characteristics of wildlife populations, including principles of population dynamics and population interactions, with application in wildlife population conservation.
WLE 423 – Wetland Ecology and Conservation
Focuses on major concepts in wetland ecology, classification, policy and regulation and issues in wetland conservation. Lecture material focuses on wetland communities associated with hydric soils (forested, shrub and emergent ecosystems). Lecture and field studies.
WLE 461 – Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation
This course is a mix of lectures, invited presentations, hands-on group activities, and peer to peer exercises that provide students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to effectively engage and communicate with diverse stakeholders in collaborative management. The course covers such topics as governance of wildlife, sense of place and community, trust and capacity development, wildlife management as a systems process, collective behavior, engagement of stakeholders, collaborative planning and decision-making, adaptive management and adaptive impact management, identity-based conflict resolution, communication planning, and human dimensions research methodology. Participating in one Saturday or Sunday workshop (TBD) is required. Course may have field trips during class times.
WLE 479 – Wildlife Conservation in a Changing World
The course will focus on the main drivers of global change (e.g. land-use change, climate change) and how they impact the behavior, ecology and population dynamics of wild animals. Each driver will be analyzed for both the causes (e.g., what are the effects of land-use change) and the mitigation (e.g. habitat restoration). The course will contain a mix of lectures, class/home exercises, discussions of relevant journal articles, student presentations and production of a short video.