Environmental Studies Program

Humans are changing the biosphere in unprecedented ways, leading to two of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced: meeting the needs of people today and in the future, and sustaining the life support systems on the planet. Transitioning to a sustainable biosphere requires that we cultivate integrative, global thinking while marshalling new knowledge, tools, and approaches. Answering current problems require scientific and social expertise, as well as the ability to understand complex socio-environmental interactions and to integrate seemingly disparate forms of knowledge.

As a field, environmental studies seeks to understand natural phenomena and human social institutional beliefs and practices and their interrelationships. To do this, it must engage in the scholarship of particular disciplines, as well as in the scholarship of integration. Goucher’s Environmental Studies Program is designed to encourage thinking across disciplinary boundaries in order to prepare students for meaningful engagement with the central environmental questions and challenges that face our societies today and for their role as stewards of the global environment. The program offers students a major and a minor designed to encourage thinking across disciplinary boundaries, with a curriculum that bridges the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students learn to understand the premises of diverse disciplines while developing skills such as systems thinking—the ability to think systematically about complex problems.

Program Faculty

Associate Professor

Germán Mora, director and Meyerhoff associate professor

Visiting Assistant Professor

Nathan Dinneen

Affiliated Faculty

Associate Professors

Sasha Dukan (physics), Shirley Peroutka (communications and media studies)

Assistant Professors

Birthe Kejellerup (biology), Cynthia Kicklighter (biology), Gina Shamshak (economics)

Goucher Semester-Abroad Program at the Monteverde Institute in Costa Rica

• BIO 243 - Field Methods in Tropical Ecology (4 Cr.)
• BIO 244 - Environmental Sustainability (4 Cr.)

Goucher/Antioch Semester-Abroad Program in Brazilian Ecosystems (12 Total Credits)

• Ecology and Biodiversity of Brazil (4)
  This course focuses on the value of biodiversity, the causes and patterns of biodiversity loss, the ecological significance of anthropogenic disturbances, and methods of hypothesis testing in the in the field of conservation biology. Students review the theoretical principles involving these topics during the pre-program orientation lectures and through assigned readings. Throughout the program the class examines species and habitat diversity characteristic of several Brazilian biomes. In addition to lecturing on ecology and serving as natural history guides, Brazilian botanists, zoologists, and ecologists work with students on field problems designed to illustrate the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function. These field problems are exercises that follow the scientific method from hypothesis formulation through statistical analysis and interpretation of data collected. The impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem function are also directly observed and discussed throughout the course.
• Brazilian Natural Resource Management (4)
  This course introduces the need for sustainable management of resources in terms of the value of ecosystem goods and services. Students will examine the application of sustainable management practices in agriculture, forestry, and park management. The role of environmental policy and the influence of nongovernmental organizations in affecting environmental stewardship are also examined. This topic further includes consideration of local cultural attitudes in policy development and implementation. Meetings with land managers and environmental groups are followed with structured group discussions that focus on evaluation (a) the sustainability of observed land use practices, (b) resource use policies in terms of scientific rigor and accuracy, and (c) the agencies seeking to modify existing policy or establish new policies.
• Field Internship (4)
  The final four weeks of the program are devoted to a science internship, working with a faculty supervisor on-site. Internships involve participating in a research team project, assisting in an educational program, or volunteering with an environmental agency project.
  Course objectives:
  • To understand the perspectives of Brazilian scientists, conservationists and government officials through direct involvement and interaction.
  • To gain knowledge and understanding of one focused area of scientific research and/or environmental concern.
  • To develop a comprehensive understanding of a particular environmental issue from social and biological science perspectives.
  • To work independently with Brazilian scientists and/or community members in a constructive research or field project