Transcript The Role of Interdisciplinary and Diverse Approaches in

Rapid Environmental Change and the role
of Interdisciplinary and Diverse Education
February 18, 2010
Carmen J. Cortez, Ph.D. Student
Graduate Group in Ecology
Environmental Policy and Human Ecology
University of California Davis
Overview
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Rapid Environmental Change (REC)
REC in California
Interdisciplinary response
California public universities mission
University of California graduate student
profile
 My involvement
Rapid Environmental Change (REC)
 Pollution
 Habitat fragmentation (e.g. urban development,
deforestation)
 Invasive species
 Over harvesting
Rapid Environmental Change
Climate Change:
 Species distribution and extinctions:
-Poleward range shifts of species are occurring and
range restricted species show sever range contractions
(Parmesan 2006).
-15-37% of species committed to extinction by 2050
with current climate scenarios (Thomas et al. 2004).
 Ocean acidification
REC in California
 Decrease in snow pack
More winter rainfall/less
snowfall—earlier seasonal
peak in runoff, increased
fall/winter flooding,
decreased summer water
supply
(IPCC 2007 WG2T-ARchap15)
Source: NASA Terra Satellite 2004
REC in California
 Implications:
Exacerbate water allocation
issues
 Water Wars: Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta
Farmers, endangered species,
urban water supply.
 Vulnerable populations:
Disproportionate effect on low
income and communities of
color
How do We Respond?
 Interdisciplinary Approach:
Resource Management
 Natural and Physical Science
 Social Scientist
 Economic
 Political Science
 Sociology
 Anthropology
Communicating Our Science
 To the public
 To the stakeholders
 To decision makers
Public Universities: Teaching,
Research, Public Service
“Teaching, research, and public service are goals
that date back to UC's origins as a land grant
institution in the 1860s. Today, through its public
service programs and industry partnerships, UC
disseminates research results and translates
scientific discoveries into practical knowledge and
technological innovations that benefit California
and the nation.”
-University of California Mission
California
Mission of Public Universities
The California Master Plan for Higher Education:
Adopted by the state in 1960, helps integrate the
missions of these colleges and universities in meeting
the educational needs of Californians.
 10 UC campuses,
 23 CSU campuses
 108 campuses community college system
 independent institutions throughout the state
“Science is a social field of forces, struggles, and relationships
that is defined at every moment by the relations of power among
the protagonists. Scientific choices are guided by taken-forgranted assumptions, interactive with practices, as to what
constitutes real and important problems, valid methods, and
authentic knowledge…The strategies used by science are at
once social and intellectual for example strategies that are
founded on implicit agreement with the established scientific
order are thereby in affinity with the positions of power within
the field itself.”
-Bourdieu 1991
UC Graduate and Professional Degree
Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity, Fall 200-2008
Source: UCOP Corporate Student System University of California Accountability Report 2009
UC Davis Graduate Group in Ecology 2009
•My Research Interests: Human
Ecology
Indigenous land management and
conservation, land rights, human
manipulation of ecological process
•NSF-REACH IGERT (Integrative
Graduate Education and Research
Traineeship)
•Kevin Rice Lab in collaboration with the John Muir
Institute for the Environment (Environmental Leaders
Program): Broader Impact Seminar