Principles of Natural Resources Management

What core knowledge about ecosystem functions helps sustainability and development professionals, no matter where they work? What are the limits of our understandings and when do we need to bring in others to develop site-specific analysis and strategies? Professionals in the sustainability and global development fields often need to work on or assess agriculture, water, and natural resource conservation projects and supply chains across different geographic, ecological, and agricultural regions. While they do not have to be experts in every situation, they do need to be able to learn quickly about complex natural systems in order to work effectively in teams, provide analysis, and make programmatic decisions. Despite the diversity of these natural systems, there are common processes and mechanisms that underpin and connect all of them. There are key questions one can ask in any situation to learn more. If professionals are familiar with these common ecological and physical processes, then they are capable of quickly adjusting their work to new contexts by asking relevant technical questions, recognizing what they do not yet know, and identifying with whom they should consult. This course is designed to cultivate critical thinking as it relates to natural resources management to help each student understand common processes across natural systems and to develop a set of questions that can guide their future work in any given location. The course covers the core characteristics and management of water, soils, forests, pastures, and agricultural systems and how they are interconnected. Specific topics include water resources, river dynamics, and how natural and human-caused ecosystem disturbance such as fire, logging, and grazing factor into the ecology and succession of forests, grasslands, agriculture, and ecological restoration. Students explore these topics through lectures, individual work, and a team assignment focused on a natural resources management and restoration plan in a location of their choice.