The Course

My main objective in this course (that receives a number of non-majors seeking to fulfill their science requirement) is that students will gain an improved understanding of and appreciation for the natural environment and how human activity alters its functioning, which will promote critical thought regarding sustainability in both their professional and personal lives.  I attempt to meet this objective using a number of assignments and projects, as well as the traditional lecture format.  For my innovation fellowship, I am focusing on the nature blog project I have the students conduct over the semester, which fulfills one of the student learning outcomes of the course: The students will be able to document their everyday interactions with the environment and evaluate how various actions influence that environment.  This nature blog is entitled A Travis County Almanac and is inspired by a classic text in the fields of environmental science and ecology A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (1949). Continue reading →