Introduction To Sustainability

This course introduces the academic approach of Sustainability and explores how today's human societies can endure in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations. The course focuses on key knowledge areas of sustainability theory and practice, including population, ecosystems, global change, energy, agriculture, water, environmental economics and policy, ethics, and cultural history

In It Together' Game

The In It Together game is a serious game that brings stakeholders together around a map of the Estuary to cooperatively explore adaptation strategies, weigh their tradeoffs, and achieve greater local resilience. The aim of the game is to educate and spark conversations about how climate change impacts Estuary neighborhoods. Players represent diverse communities and agencies within the Estuary, each with unique goals to build long-term resilience and meet immediate-term needs.

Goodbee Subdivision Reduced In Size, Remaining Portion To Be Left As Wetlands

Residents of the Goodbee area northwest of Covington who have been fighting the development of new subdivisions in the flood-prone area for years got some good news at the St. Tammany Parish Zoning Commission's Feb. 4 meeting. Commissioners approved a request to reduce the size of the planned unit development formerly known as The Preserve at Goodbee Lakes from 75 to 32 acres and rezone the remaining 43 acres to A-1 Suburban District so they could be maintained as wetlands. The number of homesites would be reduced from 92 to 66.

Global Change Explorer

The Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) outputs are derived from a pair of models. A demographic model generates population projections for all counties of the conterminous United States to the year 2100. Those projections drive a spatial allocation model that distributes new housing units across the landscape in response to population growth.

Gecoserv

This online database provides a searchable inventory of valuation studies for ecosystem services that focus on an identified ecosystem and provide monetary value for these services. Ecosystem valuation data are abundant, yet they are often hard to find. GecoServ functions as a centralized source and user-friendly interface for the information. It promotes the distribution and sharing of these valuation studies, provides researchers with background information for future studies, and helps resource managers include ecosystem services in the decision-making process.

Fundamentals Of Remote Sensing

Participants will become familiar with satellite orbits, types, resolutions, sensors and processing levels. In addition to a conceptual understanding of remote sensing, attendees will also be able to articulate its advantages and disadvantages. Participants will also have a basic understanding of NASA satellites, sensors, data, tools, portals and applications to environmental monitoring and management.

Effects Of Urbanization On Ecosystems

Development can have negative effects on streams in urban and suburban areas. As a watershed becomes covered with pavement, sidewalks, and other types of urban land cover, stream organisms are confronted with an increased volume of storm water runoff, increased exposure to fertilizers and pesticides, and dramatic changes in physical living spaces within the stream itself.