The Science of Sustainable Development

Catalog description

This course will focus on how human society depends on the environment for its continued existence. It will examine several major topics relating to environmental and social sustainability including ecosystem conservation, sustainability of food systems with special reference to the water-food-energy nexus, and current and future trends in urbanization. Within each of these topics, students will learn fundamental scientific principles and use this information to gain a better understanding of what human behaviors have led to our current resource production and consumption crisis. This class will explore ways people can modify behavior to relieve poverty in developing nations and meeting basic human needs while still affording economic growth, environmental protection, and social equality to all peoples around the world.