Themester

Must cities be disconnected from nature? Or can our cities be greener places, more alive with trees, birds, and other wildlife? Can such greener cities actually be more functional cities, which deliver essential services like food and clean water and air with less pollution and overall higher quality of life? Around the world, biodiverse green spaces are increasingly recognized as “green infrastructure” capable of providing lower cost, more resilient, and often healthier services to humans than can the corresponding energy intensive “gray infrastructure” of the built environment. This course examines urban nature through the lens of ecology and social-ecological systems science, taking a place-based approach to biological diversity and its relationship to creating sustainable and resilient cities.

Prerequisite: A 100-level Biology or Environmental Sciences course

Instructor: Dr. Heather Reynolds

Read an interview with Dr. Reynolds