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11 - Environmental Literacy

The Systems Ecology Paradigm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2021

By
Robert G. Woodmansee ,
John C. Moore ,
Gregory Newman ,
Paul H. Evangelista  and
Katherine S. Woodmansee
Edited by
Robert G. Woodmansee ,
John C. Moore ,
Dennis S. Ojima  and
Laurie Richards
Robert G. Woodmansee
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
John C. Moore
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Dennis S. Ojima
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Laurie Richards
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
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Summary

Ecosystem science and the systems ecology paradigm co-evolved starting in the late 1960s within the milieu of substantial research funding from the US National Science Foundation-supported US International Biological Program (IBP). Nationally, educational programs focusing on ecosystem structure and functioning, and mathematical modeling, were slow to develop except at Colorado State University (CSU). There, leaders in the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL) and the Department of Range Science (DRS) established internationally recognized interdisciplinary programs and outreach in basic and applied ecosystem science and systems ecology. Operating from the sound research base within a major Land Grant University (CSU), the NREL, with IBP funding, supported many graduate students housed in the academic DRS. As the systems ecology approach expanded, other ecosystem-focused research programs developed, and graduate students entered other academic departments. Outgrowths from the early diffused educational training were innovative cross-departmental and cross-college programs addressing the systems ecology paradigm. Recently, a new Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability was established housing both graduate and undergraduate programs. As formal academic training developed on-campus, environmental literacy efforts were developed, including: training programs for K-12 students and teachers; online distance education programs; Citizen Science training; and numerous institutes, short courses, and workshops.

Keywords

systems ecology trainingecosystem science educationnatural resource management traininginterdisciplinary ecological educationK-12 environmental educationonline ecosystem educationpublic engagement in ecosystem science learningCitizen Science
Type
Chapter
Information
Natural Resource Management Reimagined
Using the Systems Ecology Paradigm
 , pp. 335 - 352
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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