Science Forward: Urban Biodiversity Conservation in the Anthropocene
Macaulay Honors College Seminar 3: Science and Technology in NYC
Brooklyn College, Fall 2014
Meeting Time: Fridays, 11am-1:30pm
Location: BH-2231B
Course webpage: http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/cornelisse14/
Instructor: Dr. Tara Cornelisse
Email: tara.cornelisse@gmail.com
Office Hours: Friday 1:30-2:00pm and via Skype (tara.cornelisse) or at the museum
Instructional Technology Fellow: Jennifer Corby
Email:jcorby@gc.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 5-7pm
Course goals: In this course, we will examine biodiversity conservation in an urban context. Specifically, we will discuss what is biodiversity, why is it important, and issues we face when attempting to conserve biodiversity in urban areas. In addition, we will examine the link between biodiversity and human wellbeing, look closely at mechanisms for conserving biodiversity, and how context and scale (e.g. location, urbanization) matter when thinking about the many ways we could approach conservation. We will discuss what you can do as an individual to promote sustainability and conservation in the Anthropocene. Finally, we will actively investigate urban biodiversity in NYC in its relation to habitat, species conservation, and/or socioeconomic factors. This course is based on the Science Forward model of teaching, in that we will be examining the way scientists conduct research, draw on many disciplines, and deal with uncertainty when investigating urban conservation, and work toward developing your ‘Science Sense’, or your ability to:
- Distinguish science from non-science
- Recognize how people collect and process facts into knowledge
- Recognize how a collection of facts becomes knowledge
- Question and evaluate information that is presented as scientific
- Be an informed consumer, evaluator, and practitioner of science
Learning objectives: By participating in this course, you will be able to…
- Define biodiversity and threats to biodiversity
- Explain the goals of conservation in an urban setting
- Distinguish science from pseudoscience by evaluating evidence linking urban biodiversity and human health, climate change, and genetically modified organisms
- Measure, collect, and analyze biodiversity data to answer a scientific question
- Communicate differences in biodiversity using graphs and basic statistics
- Explain, formulate opinions on and argue for different methods to conserve biodiversity at varying scales of urbanization
- Critically evaluate how personal actions relate to urban sustainability
Readings and media: There is no required textbook for this course and all course readings will be posted on the course website as pdfs or web links at least one week in advance. There will also be required videos or podcasts to watch or listen to as part of class preparation. Links to these media will also be posted on the course webpage.
Assignments and grading: Your course grade will be based on the following:
Participation – 25%
Small Writing/Blogging Assignments – 20%
Urban Ecology and Mapping Exercises – 10%
Final Project – 30%
Final Paper – 15%
Participation: This class is centered on you- the learner- and I will employ an active teaching approach, which means I won’t be lecturing at you for more than 15 minutes at a time and instead will rely on you to be an active member in your learning by fully participating, actively! In other words, you will be doing something and thinking about what you are doing. Thus, a large portion of your course grade is based on participation because we will do many in-class activities and discussions on the material.
Participation will not only count as attendance, but will also include a scale of active discussion participation, the debate, and daily in-class activities and writing. You can boost your in-class discussion points by actively tweeting about, questions for, and content related to the course using #MHCBiodiversity. If you aren’t on twitter, consider joining, if just for the course and then deleting your account.
Attendance: I expect everyone to attend class every week, especially since we only meet once per week. You are allowed one unexcused absence, but I will deduct from your participation grade after one absence.
Small Writing/Blogging Assignments: We maintain a class blog where you will be able to write reflections and post responses to assignments. These should be about 300 words and I will provide an explanation of expectations and grading criteria (a rubric) for each before they are due. The following are the writing/blogging assignments with their grade value:
Bioblitz Reflection (5%)
Is this Science? (5%)
Science Communication at AMNH (5%)
Ecological Footprint Analysis (5%)
Data Analysis: As part of the Science Sense, we will spend some time discussing and practicing experimental design and data analysis, this will not only help you better understand science as a citizen of the world, but also assist you in completing your final projects.
Urban Ecology and Mapping Exercises: As the course is on urban conservation, it is important to consider all stakeholders involved and the scale at which urban conservation can be achieved; thus, we will examine urban habitat in NYC using a trade-off analysis and Google Earth. These two exercises will each be worth 5%.
Final Project: Biodiversity in the City. Working in small groups,you will have an opportunity to research and explore biodiversity conservation in New York City. You will be able to choose the particular question and methods of your group, but each project should make use of the Bioblitz data. I welcome your own project ideas that incorporate technology, social issues, surveys, mapping, photography, audio-visual, and other methods as well as questions regarding species or site comparisons, habitat assessments, socioeconomic factors and biodiversity, etc. We will discuss project ideas in class and a proposal will be due at the September 23 class. You will be provided with a separate instruction document and rubric for evaluation of the poster, paper, and presentation, but each project will have a question, hypothesis, methods, data analysis, results, conclusions/recommendations based on data, and at least five primary references. This project will form the basis of your culminating Seminar 3 presentation in the form of a poster at Macaulay in December.
Final Paper: This paper will be due as the final assignment for the course and will be a 5-page (single-spaced, 12pt font, one inch margins) research style paper on your final project (rubric to be handed out separately). The paper will be due on December 19th, emailed to me (I will email confirmation). There will be no final exam.
*Late Policy: I do accept late assignments, as I feel it is more to my and your benefit if I grade based on the quality of your work, rather than on your ability to meet a deadline (although, if you can’t, that will catch up with you in life). That being said, I grade late work with more scrutiny and strict adherence to the grading rubric, as more time should equal higher quality work.
Academic Integrity: Plagiarism is the unethical act of taking someone else’s work and calling it your own. The majority of plagiarism cases happen because people do not know what plagiarism is or why it is not tolerated. When you read something to learn about a subject, the point of “learning” is to read the piece of work, think about what you read, and formulate your own thoughts on the subject. The point of learning is not to copy what you read in the first place; that is plagiarism. I do not tolerate plagiarism because it detracts from learning and without learning, what is the point of the course? Brooklyn College has a strict policy on academic integrity that you should be familiar with. It can be found here: http://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/la/Academic_Integrity_Policy.pdf
Macaulay Common Events: The Bioblitz will be at the New York Botanical Garden on September 6th and 7th. The final Science Symposium will be at Macaulay Honors College on December 6th and 7th, where you will present your final project posters.
Course schedule: We will focus on the specific skills that allow one to have good Science Sense. These skills fall into broad categories:Knowledge Sense (KS), Number Sense (NS), and Data Sense (DS). The following table contains the course schedule and assigned readings as they currently stand. Based on the evolving nature of the course topic, there may be substitute readings as new information becomes available, but I will let you know at least one week in advance.
| Date | Topics | Science Senses | Readings and Assignments |
| 8/29 | Biodiversity and its threats in the Anthropocene | KS: applied science, ethics; NS: Measurements | Read in class: Wildlife decline and social conflict |
| 9/5 | Biodiversity and ecosystem services | KS: applied science, critical thinking; NS: scale and context | Read: Before New York; Valuing urban wildlife; Biodiversity assessment handbook for New York City (Pgs. 1-28) |
| 9/12 | Biodiversity and human wellbeing | KS: scientific evidence, critical thinking; DS: collection, analysis | Read: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; Cities and Biodiversity Outlook; Due on webpage: Bioblitz reflection |
| 9/19 | Data analysis; Field trip on campus | KS: practice of science; DS: collection, analysis, interpretation | Read: Biodiversity on Broadway: enigmatic diversity of ants on the streets of NYC; A brief guide to statistics; Due in class: Project idea |
| 9/23* | Socio-economics of urban biodiversity conservation [Google earth lab] | KS: applied science; NS: scale; DS: models, interpretation | Read: The effects of human socioeconomic status and cultural characteristics on urban patterns of biodiversity; Mapping ecosystem services in NYC; Due in class: Project proposal; Due via email by 9/26: Google earth lab write up |
| 10/3 | NO CLASS | Due: collect data for project | |
| 10/10 | Evidence: what is science? | KS: Science vs. pseudoscience, critical thinking, evidence; DS: graph interpretation; NS: scale | Read: Climate change and cities: The IPCC case for action; GMOs and biodiversity; Listen: Radiolab: The Skull; Due: Article for Is this Science? |
| 10/17 | Guest lecturer: Jennifer Corby | KS: scientific evidence, broader context; DS: presenting data | Read/Watch: TBD; Due on webpage: Is this Science? |
| 10/24 | Restoration and reconciliation ecology | KS: applied and social science, critical thinking, ethics; NS: scale, orders of magnitude, context | Read: Urban ecology module; Win-win Ecology (Chs. 1 & 2); Listen: Radio lab: Galapagos; Due in class: Urban ecology module |
| 10/31 | Conservation in the Anthropocene | KS: applied science, critical thinking | Read: Conservation in the Anthropocene; Rambunctious Garden(Ch. 1); The New Conservation; Green is Good |
| 11/7 | Methods of biodiversity conservation in the Anthropocene [Debate] | KS: communication, critical thinking; NS: scale, magnitude | Read: Common Ground Articles (2 short) Due in class: Responses to debate prompts |
| 11/14 | Future of Conservation [Work on project] | Team work | Due in Class: Project Data |
| 11/21 | Science Communication and Education [Practice presentations] | KS: communication, peer-review | Due: Poster draft |
| 11/28 | NO CLASS | ||
| 12/5 | Field Trip to American Museum of Natural History | KS: Communicating science; NS: scale of knowledge dissemination; DS: Data collection and interpretation | Read: Designs for learning: studying science museum exhibits that do more than entertain; Hall of Biodiversity educator guide; Due at AMNH: tweets; Due on webpage: AMNH reflection paper (by 12/12) |
| 12/12 | Sustainability, Conservation and You | KS: applied science, ethics; NS: scale of sustainability | Read: Insects clean NYC streets; Forget shorter showers; Listen: Radiolab: Poop Train; Due at end of class: Ecological footprint analysis |
| 12/19 | Examine week: NO CLASS | Due via email: Final paper |
August 29
Brashares, J.S., B. Abrahms, K. J. Fiorella, C. D. Golden, C. E. Hojnowski, R. A. Marsh, D. J. McCauley, T. A. Nuñez, K. Seto, and L. Withey. 2014. Wildlife decline and social conflict.Science 345 (6195), 376-378. [DOI:10.1126/science.1256734]
http://blog.conservation.org/2014/08/are-wildlife-declines-fueling-slavery-and-armed-conflict/
September 5
Miller, P. Before New York. 2009. National Geographic Magazine. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/09/manhattan/miller-text
Palmer, M. Valuing urban wildlife: critical partners in the urban system or scary, disgusting nuisances? 2013. The Nature of Cities Blog. http://www.thenatureofcities.com/2013/06/16/valuing-urban-wildlife-critical-partners-in-the-urban-system-or-scary-disgusting-nuisances/
Kiviat, E. and E.A. Johnson. Biodiversity assessment handbook for New York City (Pgs. 1-28). 2013. The American Museum of Natural History. http://www.amnh.org/our-research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation/publications/for-policymakers/biodiversity-assessment-handbook-for-new-york-city
September 12
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Biodiversity and Human Health Green Facts. Explore all, but especially Level 2. http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/index.htm
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 2012. Cities and Biodiversity Outlook: Executive Summary
Further reading:
Fuller, R. A., et al. 2012. Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity. Biology Letters 3, 390-394
Magnusson, W.E. 1996. How to write backwards. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 77(2) pp. 88-89
September 19
Pećarević M., J. Danoff-Burg, R.R. Dunn. 2010. Biodiversity on Broadway – Enigmatic Diversity of the Societies of Ants (Formicidae) on the Streets of New York City. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13222. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013222
Gilbert, G.S. A critical reader’s brief guide to statistics. http://ic.ucsc.edu/~ggilbert/envs122/StatsPrimer.pdf
September 23
Kinzig, A. P., Warren, P., Martin, C., Hope, D., & Katti, M. 2005. The effects of human socioeconomic status and cultural characteristics on urban patterns of biodiversity. Ecology and Society, 10, 23
McPhearson, T., Kremer, P., & Hamstead, Z. A. 2013. Mapping ecosystem services in New York City: Applying a social–ecological approach in urban vacant land. Ecosystem Services, 5, 11-26.
October 10
Van Ypersele, J.P. 2007. Climate change and cities: The IPCC case for action, Invited keynote speech at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, New York. http://www.ipcc.ch/graphics/speeches/jean-pascal-van-yersele-may-2007.pdf
Jacobsen, S. E., Sørensen, M., Pedersen, S. M., & Weiner, J. (2013). Feeding the world: genetically modified crops versus agricultural biodiversity. Agronomy for sustainable development, 33(4), 651
Jones, J. D. 2011. Why genetically modified crops? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 369(1942), 1807
Listen: Radiolab: The Skull. 2014. http://www.radiolab.org/story/taung-child/
October 24
Reconciliation Ecology and Landscape Architecture for the Third Millennium. In: Win-Win Ecology: How the Earth’s species Can Survive in the Midst of Human Enterprise. M. L. Rosenzweig. 2003. Oxford University Press. Chs. 1 & 2
Cornelisse, T., M. Weckel, A. Collins. 2014. Community Buzz: conservation of native bees in urban areas. Urban Ecology case study-based exercise, Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners, American Museum of Natural History
Listen: Radio lab: Galapagos, season 12, episode 9, 2014. http://www.radiolab.org/story/galapagos/
October 31
Max, D.T. 2014. Green is Good: The Nature Conservancy wants to persuade big business to save the environment. The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/green-is-good
Kareiva, P., M. Marvier, R. Lalasz. 2011. Conservation in the Anthropocene. The Breakthrough Journal: http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/journal/past-issues/issue-2/conservation-in-the-anthropocene/
Soule, M. 2014. The New Conservation. Conservation Biology 27 (5): 895
Marris, E. Weeding the Jungle and Conservation Everywhere. In: Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World. 2011. Bloomsbury Publishing. Chs. 1 & 9
November 7
Kareiva, P. 2014. New conservation: setting the record straight and finding common ground. Conservation Biology 28(3): 634
Soule, M. 2014. Also Seeking Common Ground in Conservation. Conservation Biology 28(3): 637
December 5
Allen, S. 2004. Designs for learning: Studying science museum exhibits that do more than entertain. Science Education 88: 17
December 12
Elsa Youngsteadt et al. 2014, Habitat and species identity, not diversity, predict the extent of refuse consumption by urban arthropods, Global Change Biology
Jensen, D. 2009. Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change. Orion Magazine: 11
Listen: Radiolab: Poop Train, http://www.radiolab.org/story/poop-train/
