Natural Resources: Integrating Sci, Soc & Policy

Analysis of the interaction between science and politics in ecosystem management. Consideration of various types of science and their roles in shaping environmental management, politics, and policy. Interdisciplinary application of course concepts to case studies of complex ecological problems. Prerequisites: NR 2030, NR 2040.

Online synchronous lectures

NR 3050 is intended to empower you, as a future professional and a citizen, to help govern the environment. Whether you are a scientist or a lawmaker or simply a voter, mastering the ways science and policy affect one another will help you work toward more functional, sustainable ecosystems. Environmental issues are inherently interdisciplinary – it is necessary to manage social as well as natural factors in order to be successful and sustainable. Specialists and technical expertise are necessary, but they are not sufficient to handle the interwinding challenges of science, politics, and society. This course dives into the interaction between science and policy, and the roles of different types of science in ecological politics. Academic, applied, stakeholder, and popular science are all important to ecosystem management, but each has its own possibilities and limitations. All of this plays out within the realm of politics – both the policies that guide management, and the political players whose power and priorities shape the landscape. In NR 3050, we study the interaction of science and policy through the lens of boundary work – how the boundaries between the two fields, and between different types of science, should be bridged or strengthened. You will be introduced to integrative frameworks and issues in the first part of the class, considering the interplay of science and policy. We will then investigate this dynamic through a series of case studies, examining the way that boundary work plays out in ecological management issues. During this time, your work will focus on how these issues, and key course concepts, play out in your home environment. With a focus on natural and social science integration, NR 3050 was developed as the junior year experience in the Rubenstein School Core Curriculum, integrating material from earlier core courses and drawing from expertise across the School’s six majors. In this course, you should layer in the skills and knowledge they’ve gained so far with key concepts and approaches from the course, and apply them to the problems we study.

This class will meet synchronously, with readings that students should complete before each meeting. The class structure is an interactive lecture, with reflection and discussion built into our time. You are expected to join having completed the readings and ready to discuss them, and lecture material, with your peers.

The final grade will be based on participation and attendance (10%), short essay performance (20%), and the quality of personal case studies (60%, 15% each). There will be a final exam (10%).