Based on my experiences teaching a 'Global Environmental Change' class to senior undergraduates and graduate students, I would strongly suggest you consider abandoning the text books, and instead using review papers that cover the topics treated in your course. Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Annual Reviews, and the disciplinary journals have reviews that are more up to date, better written, and more engaging and thought-provoking than the textbooks. ESA's Issues in Ecology, and the Network of Conservation Educators & Practioners (NCEP) curricula are also invaluable. When covering climate change, the IPCC reports are the best source.
Besides being more current and more interesting, reading reviews from a diversity of authors and sources will help graduate students develop the skills of carefully reading and analyzing different styles of academic papers. Last but not least, it will be FAR LESS EXPENSIVE to provide review papers (presuming you or your institution have digital access to the papers) that textbooks. Tom Langen Associate Professor Departments of Biology & Psychology Clarkson University Box 5805, Clarkson U., Potsdam NY 13699-5805 Phone: 315 268 7933, Fax: 315 268 7118 www.clarkson.edu/~tlangen -----Original Message----- On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 12:18 PM, Leonard Scinto <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello All: > > I teach a course at the beginning Graduate Level titled "Environmental Science and Sustainability". The course is designed largely to introduce first term graduate students with a survey (very wide range) of basic science behind "Environmental Science" especially as it applies to issues of sustainability. This course is meant for those students without strong backgrounds in physical/biological science but that hope to pursue advanced studies in policy and/or education. I have been using the Miller and Spoolman "Environmental Science" texts augmented with "light" reading from the literature. The M&S is fairly basic for grad level and some students complain that they want more discussion and find the M&S somewhat rote. I would probably agree - though it is surprising how many people want to enter deep discussions of supposedly novel ideas to solve environmental problems without a basic understanding of the physical realities - and would like to ask for suggestions from the List on other potential texts. I also find M&S over "politically-correct", often ignoring discussions that are uncomfortable. I would appreciate hearing ideas/opinions of others that are in similar situations. Thank You. > > Leonard J. Scinto, Ph.D. > Interim Director, Southeast Environmental Research Center and > Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environment > OE148 - SERC/FIU > Florida International University > 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33199 > > Office:305-348-1965 > Fax: 305-348-4096 > [email protected]
