Environmental Studies 480
Interdisciplinary Investigations of Environmental Issues
Sustainable Development: The Adirondack Challenge
Instructors:
Bruce Selleck, Department of Geology
304 Lathrop Hall
Office phone: 228 7949
Office hours: M,F: 8:30-9:00am, T: 2:00-4:00pm, Th: 8:30-9:30am
Ellen Percy Kraly, Department of Geography
17 Persson Hall
Office phone: 228 7423;
Office hours: M-F 8:30-9:30am
Goals of the Course:
This course examines current environmental issues from social and natural science perspectives. Students form teams to investigate local or regional environmental problems in the Adirondacks, with each student bringing a special expertise to the project. The goal is for students from different disciplines to understand interdisciplinary perspectives by interacting and cooperating in data collection and analysis of a specific environmental problem. Topics for investigation will be outlined by Professors Selleck and Kraly. The course is designed to give students practical experience working as an interdisciplinary team to prepare a detailed proposal for policy relevant research concerning the selected environmental issue. The ultimate goal of the proposed research project will be to inform policy decisions which might be made at the local, New York State, national or international level concerning issues in the Adirondack Park. In so doing, students’ research and analysis will parallel the activities of professional environmental scientists seeking to secure institutional and financial support for projects addressing specific environmental problems.
In pursuing sustainable development, Adirondack communities face a wide range of challenges in the 21st century which are particular to the environmental, economic and political context in which the region is embedded. Some of these issues include public and private land ownership considerations and the role of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC); community composition and year-round and seasonal residents; tourism as an economic base; affordable housing; employment and age demographics; preservation of environmental and cultural heritage; regionalization; external sources of environmental change. In seeking to understand these challenges, the following questions of planning and policy might be posed: What Adirondack communities are currently engaged in planning efforts? Who are the community leaders involved in these efforts? What are some good examples of successful community planning efforts, in the Adirondacks or elsewhere that have promoted sustainable development?
Within the context of our seminar, we might also ask: What community-based research projects might students usefully undertake to contribute to planning for sustainable development and environmental conservation and preservation within the Adirondack region. In answering these questions, we can draw on our training within the Environmental Studies curriculum to identify those analytic approaches that have been successful in presenting analytical results to policy-makers and members of communities. In developing meaningful messages for policy-makers social and natural scientists can (1) conduct surveys and group interviews as tools for community input for planning and development; (2) undertake inventories of physical and cultural resources in the region; (3) present and analyze natural scientific and social scientific data in geospatial framework using geographic information systems approaches; (4) develop and implement appropriate and effective communication tools to transfer the results of research to community members; and (5) foster community discussion of policy issues and options.
Approaches to Course Material:
This course will be taught as a seminar in which students and faculty work in a collaborative style to critically evaluate course readings, conceptualize environmental issues and problems in the Adirondacks, organize research plans and strategies, and development recommendations for environmental policy and policy relevant research. These pedagogical goals will be met through active discussion and intellectual exchange among all class participants, field trips to examine environmental processes and issues in the regions, meetings with government and program officials who play roles in environmental management and policy in the Adirondack Park, and interaction with persons and groups actively involved in environmental research and policy formation in the region. Our discussions will be benefited from attending the day-long symposium hosted by the Adirondack Museum on “Living with Wilderness: Community and Nature in the Adirondacks,” September 29, 2006 in Lake Placid. We will also visit Old Forge and the Route 28 corridor for which we will be conducting research and analysis on Saturday, September 16. Additional trips will be planned as required.
Texts (available at the Colgate Bookstore):
Terrie, Philip G. 1994. Forever Wild: A Cultural History of the Adirondacks. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
McMartin, Barbara. 2002. Perspectives on the Adirondacks: A Thirty-Year Struggle by People Protecting Their Treasure. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
Cox, Robert. 2006. Environmental Communication in the Public Sphere. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Resources on Reserve in Cooley Science Library:
Jenkins, Jerry and Andy Keal. 2004. The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press and The Adirondack Museum
Course Requirements and Basis for Final Grade:
The final grade in the course will be based on the completion of the following requirements:
Class participation, preparation and attendance: 10
Reflection on Environmental Studies: required
Characterization of local areas 15
Exam on history, policy and environment 15
Analysis of public relations materials 5
Community service project
Preliminary report 15
Final report 25
Presentation to the community 15
Schedule of Class Discussions:
August 28 Half-day class
August 29 Discussion of goals of course, student interests and the meaning of
interdisciplinarity
Reading Graybill, Jessica, et. al. “A rough guide to interdisciplinarity: graduate
student perspectives” (available on the class website)
August 31 The geography of the Adirondack region
Reading: Jenkins and Keal, The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the
Adirondack Park (on reserve in Cooley Library)
Discussion of service learning project for CAP-21
September 5 Demographic data and analysis
www.empire.state.ny.us/nysdc
September 7 GIS analysis and data sources
http://www.apa.state.ny.us/
http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/
http://cugir.mannlib.cornell.edu/index.jsp
September 12 Environmental policy framework
Reading: McMartin, Perspectives, Parts I and II; skim Terrie 1997
September 14 Environmental policy framework
Reading: McMartin, Perspectives, Part III; review websites of APA and
NYSDEC
September 16 (Saturday) Field trip to Old Forge
September 19 Characterization of selected localities within the Adirondacks drawing on
information presented in The Adirondack Atlas
Discussion of Old Forge and Mission of CAP-21; selection of research topics
Due: Analysis of places in the Adirondacks
September 21 Discussion of issues confronting sustainable development in the central
Adirondack region
Erickson, “Sustainable Development and the Adirondack Experience”
September 26 History of the Adirondack region
Reading: Terrie, Forever Wild
September 28 Travel to Lake Placid
September 29 Symposium, “Living with Wilderness: Community and Nature in the
Adirondacks”
October 3 Analysis of promotional materials for the region
Andereck, “Evaluation of a Tourist Brochure” (available on the class
website)
October 5 Discussion of Group Projects
October 10 Mid-term Examination
October 12 Data Sources for LWRP Project
October 17 Mid-semester break
October 19 Effective Communication in Environmental Policy
Cox, Parts I-III
October 24 Effective Communication in Environmental Policy
Cox, Parts IV-V
October 26 Plan for LWRP inventory research, analysis and presentation modes due
October 31 Critique of plans
November 2-14 Group work; faculty-group consultations
November 16 Sharing of work with seminar members
Submission of bibliography and resources
November 21 Draft of LWRP Inventory report due; issues analysis groups assigned
November 23 Thanksgiving
November 28 Analysis groups meet
November 30 Revisions of inventory
December 5 Presentations to community
December 7 Presentations to community
Date of Final exam: Final inventory report due, incorporating critiques of CAP-21 officials