The future of conservation in the U.S. and the world will be challenging and changing. While the specific tools and the political means to achieve conservation continue to evolve, one thing remains clear — practitioners of conservation will need to be more adaptable and interdisciplinary than ever before. Our Ecological Planning curriculum will need to continue to keep pace with new ideas from many fields. Balancing fundamentals with general tools and integrative perspectives will always be a challenge. No two year experience can complete the impossible task of being completely prepared. I believe our initial educational philosophy — to learn about learning, to learn in the field, and to learn by doing in an environment where learners challenge each other — is still the right one. As each new Ecological Planning (EP) team takes to the field and the classroom, I continue to be impressed by how much they take control of their own learning and guide the future of the program.

For more information, contact Deane.Wang@uvm.edu

Last modified September 30 2009 07:52 AM