Can Big Data Save the Earth?

Catalog description

There is more pressure than ever before on our environmental resources: sometimes we find solutions, but sometimes we also generate unintended consequences. At the same time, technological advances are generating ever more amounts of data - also environmental data. Remote sensing, satellite technology, sensor technology, telemetry and data storage ensure that we have biological data over various time and space scales. The challenge arises how we use this data to do good; increase our understanding, find solutions, and avoid unintended consequences. This course addresses the question: can big data save the earth? We will explore complexity in biological and socio-ecological systems, the nature of causality, models and their relation to sustainability and natural resources management. We will connect data science and its tools to biology and ecosystems through project-based enquiry, by exploring and using real-life data sets, asking big questions and answering them. This course affords students the ability to critically examine and evaluate the principles of the scientific method, model construction, and use the scientific method to explain natural experiences and phenomena.