I teach several undergraduate and graduate courses, focusing on Soil and Crop Management for Sustainability (PLSCI 3210) and Nutrient and Carbon Cycling and Management in Ecosystems (PLSCI 4720/6720), as well as an interdisciplinary course Environment and Sustainability Colloquium (ES 2000).
PLSCI 3210: Students learn about agronomy and recent advances in sustainable soil and crop management, and gain a lot of practical farming knowledge. Integrated perspectives on the physical, biological, and chemical aspects of soil management in the broader context of agroecosystems are explored. Soil and crop management practices and resulting interactions between soil, water, organisms, and organic and chemical inputs form the basis for discussions on diverse cropping systems, soil health, water quality and quantity, bioenergy, greenhouse gases, and sustainability.
PLSCI 4720/6720: Building on knowledge of basic physico-chemical and microbial nutrient and carbon transformations in soil, we will examine the pathways of carbon and nutrients in ecosystems from the rhizosphere to the landscape level. An important aspect will be the understanding of environmental impacts by agriculture, forestry and agroforestry and the development of sustainable land use systems. We will explore various tracer methods for the study of carbon and nutrient cycling including stable and radio-isotopes as well as rare elements and biomarkers. You will expand you knowledge in discussion groups and through presentations and work in-depth on a project which involves both field and laboratory experimentation. The results of the project will be presented in a poster conference.
ES 2000: This colloquium presents students with diverse approaches used to interest, educate and motivate people to consider, address and solve environmental and sustainability challenges. The 1-credit version consists of a series of lectures given by experts, people with different expertise and perspectives who are addressing a variety of environmental and sustainability problems.
