EHSM 302 - Sustainable Cities

4 Credit(s)

This course will facilitate students’ understanding and appreciation of the ecology, design, and management of sustainable cities. Students will explore (1) urban biodiversity, natural history, and natural resources management through urban parks and preserves, (2) ecological processes due to which disturbance, invasive species, and other factors affect urban biodiversity in both aquatic and terrestrial urban ecosystems, (3) the structure and function of urban ecosystems, and the modeling of those processes to estimate urban energy, water, and materials demands, ecological footprints, waste impacts, toxicology, and ecosystem services, (4) how the above attributes of urban environments affect public health, including disease epidemics, especially in this time of rapidly changing global climate, and lastly, (5) the socio-ecological challenges to urban design and re-design for sustainability and urban environmental justice, especially focused on our region and our Widener University campus. 3 hours lecture, 3 hours lab.
Prerequisite(s): EHSM 151 and EHSM 152 or permission of instructor