Category: New Courses

New Courses Seminars, Workshops, Lectures

Courses of Interest to IGC in Fall 2021: Policy Gateway; Microbial Analysis; & Systems Thinking

Post author By jcoker
Post date July 30, 2021

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August 2, 2021

Policy Gateway: Policy and Decision Making in Scientific Domains

Key concepts in policy making, including policy analysis and decision making in complex social and technical settings. Policy process theories and evaluation tools. Concepts of governance including public values, ethics, and variable impacts across communities. Relationships among public policy decision processes and science, technology, and engineering, including disciplinary norms.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Instructors: GCC Affiliate Todd Schenk (SPIA), and Karen Hult (PSCI)

PSCI 5104 (SPIA 5104) (STS 5104): Policy Gateway: Policy and Decision Making in STEM-H Domains | Wed 4:00-6:45 pm | CRN: 92410 in-person or CRN: 92413 online | 3 credits

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Introduction to Microbial Community Analysis

Do you need to characterize the impact of the microbial communities in your study system? Do you already have sequence data describing microbial communities that you need to process? Are you curious about the current state of the science for studying microbiomes?

GCC affiliated faculty from the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences , Drs. Brian Badgley and David Haak (SPES) are again offering a broad-based soils course for those that have had little exposure to the below ground world.

Interested students from all backgrounds are encouraged to participate, regardless of previous formal training in microbiology. This course is designed to provide students with a practical, hands-on introduction to current state of the art approaches to characterizing microbial communities in a research context. Students can participate in the course using either sequence data from their own research or will be assisted in finding publicly available data to analyze.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

SPES 6984: Introduction to Microbial Community Analysis | Thurs 8:00 – 9:15 am in-person | CRN: 92700 | 3 credits

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Systems Thinking Pedagogy & Praxis

Strategies promoting systems thinking in formal and non-formal educational and community contexts. Instructional design for developing systems thinkers. Systems approaches to understanding problematic situations and creating change using agricultural, community-based, and extension education examples. Foundational complex systems concepts and systems thinking perspectives for social and socio-ecological systems. Pre: Graduate standing (3H, 3C).

Having successfully completed this course, the student will be able to:

Differentiate foundational complex systems ideas and systems thinking perspectives
Evaluate systems approaches for their utility in educational contexts
Implement teaching and learning strategies for promoting systems thinking as well as revealing perspectives and assumptions in educational and community contexts
Design an educational intervention or tool to foster systems thinking in a real-world educational and/or community context

Course topics

Foundational complex systems concepts and systems thinking perspectives
Using systems approaches to understanding problematic situations and creating change in educational contexts
Teaching and learning strategies for promoting systems thinking in educational and community contexts
- Framing complex problems as systems problems
- Systems thinking approaches to working with groups for change
- Using a critical lens to reveal perspectives and assumptions
- Teaching systems thinking in formal educational contexts
Instructional design for systems thinking in educational and community contexts

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Instructor: Hannah H. Scherer, PhD (hscherer@vt.edu); Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, STEM Education in Agriculture

ALCE 5704: Systems Thinking in Pedgogy and Praxis | Thurs 2:00 – 4:45 pm in-person | CRN: 91223 | 3 credits

*course will be taught again in Fall 2023[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row]

New Courses Seminars, Workshops, Lectures

Courses of Interest to IGC in Spring 2021

Post author By jcoker
Post date October 30, 2020

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Science of Team Science

(formally known as Freshwaters in the Anthropocene)

Dr. Cayelan Carey is teaching a graduate-level course on “Science of Team Science” during the spring 2021 semester. The course analyzes literature from many disciplines – including business management, organizational psychology, philosophy, and ecology – to provide an overview of the emerging discipline of the Science of Team Science (SciTS), with a particular focus on SciTS applications for the environmental sciences.

The goal of this course is to help students gain practical skills about how best to work effectively with team members, develop their own leadership philosophy and collaborative plan, and assess team performance to produce high-impact research outcomes. The course will be centered on reading discussions, supplemented by weekly reflections and student presentations. I envision the course to be a low-stakes way to help students become more confident and effective as leaders in new scientific collaborations and strengthen existing ones.

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Example Syllabus from Spring 2020

BIOL 6064: Special Topics in Freshwater Ecology: Science of Team Science | T & R 9:30-10:45 am | CRN: 20507 | 3 credits

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Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry

Drs. Rachel Reid and Ben Gill are offering a joint graduate/undergraduate course Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry in spring 2021. The course will explore how stable isotopes can be used to address a variety of research questions in geology, paleobiology, ecology, and other environmental sciences. Lectures will focus on the systematics and applications of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur isotopes in modern and past marine and terrestrial systems. Through individual or small group research projects, students will learn to collect, prepare, analyze, and interpret stable isotope data.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Tentative Syllabus Outline

GEOS 4984/6604: Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry | MWF 9:05-9:55 am | CRN: 20866 | 3 credits

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Interfaces of Global Change IGEP New Courses Seminars, Workshops, Lectures

Fall 2019 Course of Interest to IGC: Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife

Post author By jcoker
Post date July 15, 2019

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July 15, 2019

GCC Faculty member, Dr. Ashley Dayer, is teaching a course titled Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife this Fall:

This course will prepare students to address the human dimensions of fish and wildlife conservation in their research and/or future careers – as managers, conservationists, biologists, interdisciplinary scientists, or social scientists—using the best available social science. Through readings on social science theory and its application in fish and wildlife management and conservation, students will learn how current domestic and international issues can be addressed through an understanding of human thought and behavior. In-class activities, case studies, and individual and group projects will enhance students’ skills in articulating the role of human dimensions and interpreting and applying social science theory and results. The course will begin with reflecting on how people intersect with fish and wildlife management and conservation and an introduction to the human dimensions field of study (also known as conservation social science). This will be followed by a review of social science disciplines that are used in human dimensions research and key theories and concepts from those disciplines. The course will provide an overview of quantitative and qualitative research methods, and finish with an examination of how human dimensions research is applied by public agencies and in private lands conservation.

FIW 5464: Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife | CRN 84695 | 3 credits

MWF 1:25-2:15 (meeting with FIW 4464) and an additional hour for weekly discussion between Dr. Dayer and graduate students at a mutually convenient time.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Ideas New Courses News Research

Biology professor aims to better educate students on sex and gender

Post author By jcoker
Post date February 13, 2019

From the Collegiate Times

By Mike Liu | February 12, 2019

Sex and gender are two different concepts. The distinction is that sex is purely based on an individual’s reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics while gender is a person’s social role or personal identification of one’s own sex based on an internal awareness.

The differences between sex and gender has sparked many discussions in today’s society. Prominent news agencies such as The New York Times and BBC often publish articles to discuss and introduce new ideas about sex, sexuality and gender. In a society that is looking at the differences between these terms, it is critical that one should educate oneself about the basics of sex and gender.

Biology of Sex is a course at Virginia Tech intended for non biology majors. It is taught by Ignacio Moore, who is a professor in the department of biological sciences. The course has no prerequisites and can be used to fulfill one of the Area 4 courses for the Curriculum for Liberal Education (CLE) requirements, which a student needs to complete in order to graduate.

“There’s a lot of discussions nowadays with things like transgender individuals and who gets to compete in athletics as a female versus a male. We address all these types of questions. But again, I’m trying to understand the biological basis of these questions so the students are better informed, so when they become voting members of society, they can make informed decisions,” Moore said.

The course discusses sex both as a noun and as a verb. In addition to studying the biological differences between males and females, the course also examines the difference between sex and gender.

According to Moore, he believes that one of the problems in society is a general lack of scientific interest and understanding when it comes to sex and gender. That’s why he believes teaching a course like this could better educate people so that they can understand the concepts in a more scientific way.

“Genetics, hormones, differences in morphology or body type, and differences in behavior. We look at all these things and a lot of these questions are interesting political and social questions, but we try to address them from a pretty strict biological basis,” Moore said.

Moore often used discussions as a way to promote active learning among his students. In many lectures, Moore breaks students up into different groups and presents a series of questions for different groups to answer. Then the class reconvenes at the end to review each group’s answer.

“Basically, I just play devil’s advocate,” Moore said. “In a lot of these questions there aren’t right answers and that’s fine. The point is that they sit there and think about it and try to come up with some sort of coherent ideas.”

Moore hopes his course can help students become better thinkers when it comes to questions about sex and gender.

“When people consider these questions that they try (to understand), don’t be afraid of the science behind these questions. Instead of just having a knee jerk reaction, try to think about it,” Moore said. “You are students at Virginia Tech, you’re going to have college degrees here, supposedly educated, right? Use your education and think about what these questions mean because they’re really important questions.”

Moore also encourages students to ask questions if they have trouble understanding some concepts of sex and gender.

“There is no such thing as a dumb question, only dumb people because they don’t ask questions,” Moore said.

Although the course is not available in spring semester, it will likely be offered in the fall semester of 2019.

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Invasive Species invasive species working group New Courses Science Communication

New Course for Spring 2019 – Advocacy, Science, and Policy of Invasive Species

Post author By jcoker
Post date November 10, 2018

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November 9, 2018

New Special Topics Course Announcement:

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Instructors: Drs. David Haak (SPES) and Scott Salom (ENT)
Course Number: GRAD 6984
Semester: Spring 2019
Credit Hrs: 1
Anticipated Enrollment: 10
[Flyer PDF]

[/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Course Goal: Provide Virginia Tech graduate students with exposure to the tripartite integration of Science, Advocacy, and Policy that shapes regulatory responses to biological invasions.

Course Description: In this course, we will travel to Washington DC to meet with Government Agency officials, NGO and Lobbying advocates, and Policymakers. The goal of this meeting will be to identify the ways in which the connections between this ‘regulatory triangle’ are formed, reciprocally influence each other, and affect outcomes in prevention and management of invasive species. Students will be asked to prepare a set of questions to be addressed by each participating body and prepare a written report on the outcomes after the trip.

Note: This course will meet two times prior to a 3-day 2-night trip to DC and one time post trip.

Learning Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Identify the key areas in which Science, Advocacy, and Policy overlap and influence the management of invasive species.
Describe the basic principles governing the formation of new regulation regarding invasive species.
Learn how to engage points of contact with appropriate government agencies and/or advocacy groups for the dissemination of scientific information.

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/5″][vc_column_text]Course timeline:

2/25 – Discussion of trip, outline questions

3/4 – Submit questions

3/13 – AM Drive to DC, meet with Agencies

3/14 – Meet with Agencies and Advocacy Groups

3/15 – Meet with Policy Makers, return to Blacksburg PM

3/19 – Post trip debriefing

4/1 – Final report due[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/5″][vc_single_image image=”26426″ img_size=”250×275″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”right”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Performance Assessment: Given the practical nature of the course, the bulk of student assessment (75%) will be largely in the form of the developed questions and final report. The remainder of assessment (25%) will be student participation. Students will be provided with a participation grading rubric.

Cost to student: There will be no costs to students for most travel, lodging, and some meals. Incidental costs such as Metro tickets and dinner on free nights will not be covered.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”” h4=”Interested students should contact the instructors:” txt_align=”center” add_icon=”top” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-envelope” i_on_border=”true” el_class=”xs-cta”]

Dr. David Haak (SPES) dhaak@vt.edu
Dr. Scott Salom (ENT) salom@vt.edu

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New Courses

New Course: Intro. to Microbial Community Analysis

Post author By jcoker
Post date October 24, 2018

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October 2018

Drs. Brian Badgley, David Haak (SPES), Lisa Belden, and Frank Aylward (BIOL) are offering a new, broad-based soils course for those that have had little exposure to the belowground world. If you are interested in…

Faculty from the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Department of Biological Sciences, with support from the Global Change Center, are offering a new graduate class to address this need. Interested students from all backgrounds are encouraged to participate, regardless of previous formal training in microbiology. Students can participate in the course using either sequence data from their own research or will be assisted in finding publicly available data to analyze.

GRAD 6984: Introduction to Microbial Community Analysis | MW 2:30 – 3:20 | CRN: TBD

Intro. to Microbial Community Analysis Course [Flyer]

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Please contact Brian Badgley at 231-9629 or badgley@vt.edu with questions.

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Blog New Courses Postcards Science Communication Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Experiential Learning Water

Interdisciplinary REEU program studies real world issues at the “Confluence of Water and Society”

Post author By jcoker
Post date October 9, 2018

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Postcard from Leigh-Anne Krometis

October 9, 2018[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]If you live in the New River Valley, chances are that your local news (and perhaps your social media feeds) have included mention of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) construction, which began in Spring 2018. Debates over the MVP bring up a wide variety of tangled issues, ranging from economic cost-benefits to property rights and individual freedom to environmental quality and the role of regulators.

This summer also marked the first year of our USDA-funded REEU: “Confluence of Water and Society” summer program. The USDA REEU program – Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates – is similar to NSF’s well-known summer REU programs, which aim to provide undergraduates with hands-on research experience and to encourage these promising students to consider graduate degrees and research careers. The second “E” in the REEU program – extension – indicates that undergraduates in these programs are expected to gain not only research skills, but also experience directly communicating with stakeholders. Their research is supposed to directly relate to community needs and concerns, and students need to gain experience communicating with these communities. Given the complexity of the issues surrounding MVP, the numerous questions local communities have asked various Virginia Tech faculty about potential environmental impacts, and its location essentially in Virginia Tech’s backyard, this issue proved a compelling and challenging framework for our interdisciplinary research efforts associated with the REEU this summer.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”25880,25878,25879,25877″ img_size=”300×200″][vc_column_text]Along with my co-program directors, Cully Hession (BSE), Brian Badgley (SPES and GCC), and Amber Vallotton (HORT), we immersed our eight students in the unique local culture and hydrology of the southern Appalachians during their nine-week stay in Blacksburg. Students learned about Appalachian history and culture from Dr. Theresa Burriss, the head of Appalachian Studies at Radford University, visited an active natural gas extraction site in Buchanan County with Dr. Nino Ripepi from Virginia Tech’s Mining and Mineral Engineering Department, visited local farmers dependent on water resources in the New River Valley, and experienced the reality of karst geology firsthand during a local caving trip with the Department of Environmental Quality.

The goal of these speakers and trips was not simply for students to “download” background information, but to provide a real-time opportunity to start conversations with – and listen to! – local stakeholders with a variety of perspectives. Sustainable solutions to difficult issues in the food-energy-water sectors require an ability to be comfortable in the midst of complexity and understanding even when emotions run high.

Although our formal analysis of student outcomes is ongoing, early indicators suggest that students appreciated the opportunity to step out of the laboratory (or away from the computer) to talk to members of the local community, and that these conversations added nuance to their understanding of the MVP issue. Several intend to pursue careers that directly involve some science communication.

Our eight students spent their summer working collaboratively on three intersecting research projects focused on environmental and social aspects of the MVP, aided by a similarly diverse set of faculty mentors, including Global Change affiliates Bryan Brown, Julie Shortridge, Erin Hotchkiss, and Ryan Stewart, and IGC PhD student Lauren Wind. Student project specifics and perspectives on the summer program were recently covered by VT News. This specific REEU will continue for another two years, focusing on a different multi-faceted freshwater issue each summer. Send interested undergraduates our way![/vc_column_text][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Leigh-Anne Krometis

Biological Systems Engineering

krometis@vt.edu[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Evolution New Courses Uncategorized Undergraduate Experiential Learning

New Undergraduate Study Abroad Course Announcement: Darwin’s Galapagos

Post author By jcoker
Post date September 26, 2018

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New Course Announcement:

Darwin’s Galapagos: Evolution in the Anthropocene is a new course that will be offered by Drs. Ignacio Moore, William Hopkins and Peter Graham in Spring 2019.

Department of Biology/Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Course Number: 3954
Course Title: Darwin’s Galapagos: Evolution in the Anthropocene
Credits: 4
Semester: Spring 2019
Time: TBD

Co-taught by professors in 3 departments:

Ignacio Moore, Biological Sciences
William Hopkins, Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Peter Graham, English[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Course Description:

Voyage in Charles Darwin’s wake in the Galapagos Islands and see firsthand what inspired the unifying concept of life on earth: evolution by natural selection. Gain historical and on-the spot perspectives on how Darwin’s big idea took shape, and learn how current evolutionary processes are influenced by rapid environmental changes caused by human pressures such as introduced species, over-fishing, pollution, climate change, and ecotourism.

The course is open to all majors and is reading-, writing-, and discussion-intensive. Students will have extensive readings each week followed by in class discussion and reflective essays. 10-day trip to the Galapagos will occur over spring break. Students enrolling in the course should be good swimmers and not be prone to sea sickness.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”25459″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”right” onclick=”custom_link” link=”http://www.globalchange.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Galapagos-2019-Flyer_web.pdf”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

To Apply – Contact one of the professors: itmoore@vt.edu; hopkinsw@vt.edu; pegraham@vt.edu

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New Courses Seminars, Workshops, Lectures

Courses of Interest to IGC in Fall 2018

Post author By jcoker
Post date July 31, 2018

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NEW COURSE | Advanced Careers in Conservation

Dr. Ashely Dayer is offering a new course this fall that is designed to introduce graduate students to the diversity of conservation career options available, enhance awareness of how to be competitive for those positions, and build their skills in exploring careers and networking.

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Graduate students:

Not sure what career path is the right fit for you?
Interested in non-academic jobs but don’t know where to start?
Heard that networking is important to finding your dream job but don’t have the skills?

This is your class!

Flyer (PDF): Adv Careers in Conservation[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”24518″ img_size=”300×300″ alignment=”right” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

FIW 6004: Adv Careers in Conservation | T 3-4 pm | CRN: 90926 | 1 credit seminar

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COURSE OF INTEREST | Ecosystems and Climate

Dr. Quinn Thomas is teaching a course titled Ecosystems and Climate, suited for students interested in learning more about climate change. The course is an exploration into the fundamentals of terrestrial ecosystem and climate interactions. It will challenge students to think about the Earth as a system, climate change, and the role of the biosphere in climate patterns.

The central teaching tool is the incremental development of a simple Earth System model, in the programing language R, that addresses key mechanisms in ecosystem and climate dynamics. No prior experience in R programing is required, just a desire to learn it quickly through the course.

Course Syllabus (PDF): Eco Clim Fall 2018 Syllabus

FREC 5204: Ecosystems and Climate | MW 9:05-9:55 am & T 3-5 pm | CRN 89983 | 3 credits[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row]

New Courses

New Online Course in Fall 2018: Navigating the Social Complexities of Sustainability

Post author By jcoker
Post date February 28, 2018

Taught by Dr. Marc Stern, a new online course offered this Fall is designed to provide students with a variety of tools for navigating the social complexities of environmental and other sustainability-related initiatives.

Having successfully completed this course, students will be able to:

Describe the social dimensions of sustainability challenges.
Communicate about social science theories effectively.
Demonstrate the ability to apply social science theories to real-world problem-solving within the context of environmental sustainability.
Articulate both the value and limitations of social science theories for problem solving.

Students will learn about a wide array of social science theories that help to explain human behavior. They will use these theories to develop strategies for approaching real world problems. Students’ own interests will dictate the specific problems of focus. Through readings, presentations, discussions, and strategy development exercises, students will develop new tools for approaching sustainability-related challenges and interacting with diverse stakeholders.

An early draft outline of the course is available here: Navigating the social complexities of sustainability [Draft Outline]