Contact Info
Instructor: Chester B. Zarnoch, Ph.D.
Email: Chester.Zarnoch@baruch.cuny.edu
Office Phone: (646) 660-6239
Office: 707, 23
Office hours: Thursday 1:00-2:00 or by appointment
Lecture: TTh 11:10-12:25 in room 3145 of the Vertical CampusInstructional Technology Fellow: Amanda Licastro
Email: amanda[dot]licastro[at]gmail.com
Office Hours: Mondays 12-3:00pm. I will hold office hours in VC 7235 in the cubicle marked 7230B. And virtual office hours via Google Hangout, chat, or Skype on Tuesdays from 12-3pm (email amanda.licastro@gmail.com to make an appointment).-
Recent Posts
- The Economics of Social Ecological Systems
- Letting The Common Man Learn To Manage The Commons
- Organization is Key
- Elinor Ostrom: Nobel Legacy
- elinor ostrom + ownership
- Presentation tips and tricks
- Complexity vs. Chaos
- Spreading the Discussion on Biodiversity
- Biodiversity Loss and Its Impact on Human Activity
- Biodiversity Loss: What You Need To Know
- Cardinale/Biodiversity
- Biodiversity’s Importance
- Understanding Humanity’s Impact on Biodiversity
- Bottom-Up? Think Again.
- The implications of our Top-Down Systems
- Bottom-Up or Top-Down?
- A New Approach
- A Traditional Theory Reconsidered -Silliman 2002
- Dinner at the Cost of Destroying the Environment
- It’s Not All About the Money
- “We stress again that this is only a starting point.”
- valuation matters
- Not Everything Has a Valuation
- Adding A Monetary Value to Nature
- Heavy costs on resources
- Can Everything Be Quantified?
- A BioBlitz Segment
- GIS workshop at Baruch
- bioblitz-ing
- BioBlitz Experience
- More too offer than just a zoo -Central Park
- BioBlitz: Discovering the Ecosystem of New York City
- A Brief BioBlitz
- Central Park Bioblitz
- Saved By Shakespeare
- Blitzing through central park at 5am
- Something New
- My BioBlitz Experience
- Retrospective Amazement
- Flight of Thought
- Being a Botanist for a Day
- Snails, Anyone? BioBlitz!
- bioblitzing on a muggy tuesday morning
- You are famous! #CentralParkBioBlitz in the news!
- Bio Blitz
- Reading Responses
- Hello world!
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Category Archives: Reading Responses
The Economics of Social Ecological Systems
Elinor Ostrom’s article, “A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems” is very successful in its attempt to connect human behavior and human interaction regarding the usage of ecosystem resources. Right off the bat, it was shrewd of Ostrom … Continue reading
Letting The Common Man Learn To Manage The Commons
What strikes me as most impressive in Ostrom’s paper is her dedication to making her point understood by all – which is also the basis of why she’s arguing in favor of a more complexly defined framework for social-ecological systems. … Continue reading
Organization is Key
Elinor Ostrom was the only woman to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, which is a remarkable accomplishment. Her prize winning work examined how people can manage common resources, such as forests and fisheries, through collaboration and organization … Continue reading
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Elinor Ostrom: Nobel Legacy
In 2009, an American political economist Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize in her category to date. Her winning presentation revealed her organization and care associated with economic governance and the social interactions with … Continue reading
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elinor ostrom + ownership
Let me preface this post by saying that my knowledge of economics is limited at best. Indeed, I am putting off taking ECO1001 until the last possible moment. I do, however, know a fair amount about motivation. And that’s what … Continue reading
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Complexity vs. Chaos
One very interesting point raised in this essay and in Ostrom’s nobel prize speech is that complexity does not connote chaos. Rather, complexity is necessarily a component of a successful system. When I heard that in her speech, I did not … Continue reading
Spreading the Discussion on Biodiversity
A piece primarily focused on summarizing the common results of two decades of research, the Cardinale paper concisely relays some of the effects that losing biodiversity have on the environment, leading to the reduction/great change accelerations of ecosystem functions and … Continue reading
Biodiversity Loss and Its Impact on Human Activity
This article by Cardinale is titled “Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity,” but he provides substantial evidence of the effect of humanity on biodiversity loss. As biodiversity decreases, the efficiency, stability, functionality follows, caused by negative human interaction with the … Continue reading
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Biodiversity Loss: What You Need To Know
In an interesting opening, Cardinale et. al makes clear that “the vast majority of the world’s nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earth’s ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate.” Similar to Antilla’s perspective … Continue reading
Cardinale/Biodiversity
The Cardinale paper begins by explaining the importance of biodiversity in our ecosystem. Biodiversity is the “variety of life, including variation among genes, species and functional traits.” Having biodiversity simply allows for more functions and services of the ecosystem to … Continue reading
Understanding Humanity’s Impact on Biodiversity
“Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity” by Cardinale et al. focuses on how human actions impact the ecosystems and biodiversity. Furthermore, it investigates and questions how further studies can better serve policy and management initiatives, as well as provide … Continue reading
Bottom-Up? Think Again.
It all started at Sapelo Island, Georgia, a place that once was thought to provide the evidence to support the hypothesis that the marsh grass production is controlled by bottom-up forces. Now, due to the experimentation done by Silliman and … Continue reading
The implications of our Top-Down Systems
The Silliman and Bertness article shows the importance of the trophic cascade. The authors essentially talk about how although a bottom-up approach of nutrients in a system can have an effect on an ecosystem, the main method of regulation is … Continue reading
Bottom-Up or Top-Down?
Prior to reading Silliman and Bertness’ paper I thought that most ecosystems were bottom-up systems and that physical and chemical factors had the strongest influence on their organisms. After all, the nutrients an organism is exposed to, the environment it … Continue reading
A New Approach
Up until now, I’ve associated ecosystems with a bottom up perspective-the physical and chemical factors in primary productions. Whether it be the amount of sunlight available to plants, the temperature of the ecosystem, or maybe the nutrients in the soil, … Continue reading
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A Traditional Theory Reconsidered -Silliman 2002
Many people assume most ecosystems are examples of a bottom up regulated system: that the primary producers, physical and chemical factors are what maintain the entire ecosystem and ensure the life of the consumers by controlling the ecosystem structure. Silliman and … Continue reading
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Dinner at the Cost of Destroying the Environment
When we take resources from our environment, we don’t always consider the potential consequences. Choices that seem like they wouldn’t affect the environment that much can actually cause far more damage than we realize. Sometimes altering even one part of … Continue reading
It’s Not All About the Money
In Costanza’s article, it discusses the approximate economic value of ecosystem services. Apparently, the ecosystem services are worth trillions of dollars. Honestly, I don’t think there should be a price on a system that helps the growth of life. Certain ecosystem … Continue reading
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“We stress again that this is only a starting point.”
There’s so much I could go into about how wrong this paper is, but that’d be coming from an “activist” standpoint, so that viewpoint is moot. From a purely objective, “economically-scientific” standing, Costanza is highlighting a necessary evil: in a … Continue reading
valuation matters
Though we’ve touched upon the concept of valuation in class, I’ve never been able to understand it fully. What formulas would one use to calculate the value of, say, the Salt Marsh in Marine Park? According to NYC Parks and … Continue reading
Not Everything Has a Valuation
Costanza’s article makes a great point of explaining how ecosystems aren’t given enough attention because the capital they produce can’t be quantified. Unfortunately, we often don’t realize the value they provide until after they are removed, demolished, or constructed over. … Continue reading
Adding A Monetary Value to Nature
Nowadays, almost everything, even the essentials of life seems to have a price tag on it. Water, food, shelter, medicine, all of it costs money. A lot of what we use requires natural resources to be produced. When natural resources … Continue reading
Heavy costs on resources
Everyday people are using the Earth’s resources and all of the products that people have at home are all from natural resources. However, there are heavy costs on both renewable resources and non-renewable resources. Valuation on the resources are coming … Continue reading
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Can Everything Be Quantified?
Here is something I always think about: People are intruding on nature. Where trees grew, people cut them down. Where marshes formed, people filled them in. By driving, manufacturing, and modernizing, people are polluting, destroying, and diluting what is not … Continue reading
A BioBlitz Segment
On Monday, August 26th, I walked into Central Park without much expectation of an abundance of species (animals, that is) being uncovered by this Bioblitz event. I had been to Central Park multiple times and did not observe anything special … Continue reading
bioblitz-ing
I assumed the Bioblitz was just observing animals. I was wrong. I wasn’t expecting all this work. I was assigned to the insect section and I assumed nothing good would come of that. I’m not the biggest fan of insects … Continue reading
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BioBlitz Experience
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Macaulay BioBlitz event. As August 26th approached, I was eager to explore Central Park with my fellow classmates. I had already set up my iNaturalist Account in anticipation of the event, however, another … Continue reading
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More too offer than just a zoo -Central Park
As the city that never sleeps, New York City is known for it’s constant buzz. The people and machines bring an eclectic variety of noises and smells that fill the city. It’s known for it’s architectural beauty and collection of … Continue reading
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BioBlitz: Discovering the Ecosystem of New York City
It was the first year that the Macaulay Honors College hosted this event and it was something quite intriguing. From a student’s initial viewpoint, the idea isn’t all that exciting. Spending a part of your day in central park observing … Continue reading
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A Brief BioBlitz
My experience at BioBlitz was much different than the other Macaulay students that may have attended. Like many, I too was skeptical of how relevant the visit would be and was pretty reluctant to attend. I had to change out … Continue reading
Central Park Bioblitz
When I first heard about the Bioblitz, I wasn’t exactly very thrilled. All it really meant to me at the time was that I needed to commute into the city for another day, and venture to Central Park from Penn. … Continue reading
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Saved By Shakespeare
I actually signed up to be in the plants group, so think of me what you will. (Read: A friend and I had actually had a ten minute conversation before signing up online about how we’d actually die if we … Continue reading
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Blitzing through central park at 5am
Like many Macaulay Sophomores this year, I wasn’t very fond towards the idea of the Bioblitz. What I wanted out of a common event was something enjoyable and engaging that would prepare me for my seminar. With our first common … Continue reading
Something New
When I first found out about BioBlitz, it had already been too late to register online. All the sections my friends registered for had already been filled and thus I was forced to do a walk-in session. I must admit … Continue reading
My BioBlitz Experience
When I was first told that I would have to go central park and help document the various forms of wildlife and plant life in the park, I was a bit overwhelmed. After all, Central Park is massive and I … Continue reading
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Retrospective Amazement
When I saw the BioBlitz email in my inbox, I thought, this is such a classic opportunity for disaster. Its going to be the type of thing that nobody understands, nobody knows where to go, nobody knows what to do. … Continue reading
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Flight of Thought
In all honesty, I wouldn’t say that I was extremely excited for the BioBlitz event. I am not much of a science person and when I received the email for the event I did not know what to expect from … Continue reading
Being a Botanist for a Day
Living in New York City, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed with the urban area, tall buildings and crowded spaces. Similarly, it is easy to forget how relaxing a stroll in the park can be. I have always seen Central … Continue reading
Snails, Anyone? BioBlitz!
Marked on my iCalendar for over a month, I was quite anxious to partake in the Macaulay Honors College’s “Central Park BioBlitz,” on Monday, August 26th. My first concern was not being able to find the North Meadow Recreation Center … Continue reading
bioblitzing on a muggy tuesday morning
It was still dark out by the time I got to Central Park. It was eerie walking through an otherwise empty park at 5:30 in the morning — but eventually I bumped into a few other Macaulay students and we … Continue reading
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You are famous! #CentralParkBioBlitz in the news!
Take a look at the wonderful press your first MHC common event of the year generated. Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323407104579036873510224720.html New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/science/census-of-central-park-finds-new-tenants.html?_r=0 You took part in a very important, innovative, and unique opportunity that will actually impact the … Continue reading
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Bio Blitz
Your first post will be a reflection on your experience at the BioBlitz on August 26th. Please make sure to categorize these posts as “BioBlitz” using the menu on the bottom right side of your screen. For additional help, here … Continue reading
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Reading Responses
Please use this area to post responses to your assigned readings. Your first post will be a reflection on your experience at the BioBlitz on August 26th. Please make sure to categorize these posts as “BioBlitz” using the menu on … Continue reading
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