ENSP 399E - Introduction to EcoHouse

Fall 2009

• Syllabus - Fall 2009

• Course activities - Checklist
• Assignment details and guidelines

Class topics & Related reading assignments

Nov 17 - Resume & cover letter workshop

• Bring your laptop

Nov 24 - No Class - Thanksgiving Break

Dec 1 - TBA

• For December 8 - Bring plates and a drink

Dec 8 - Semester wrap-up

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Sep 1 - Introductions & Welcome; Defining Sustainability

• NY Times article: Seeking to Save the Planet - with a Thesaurus

Sep 8 - Framing the Issues & Setting Goals

• Which is the Best Carbon Footprint Calculator?
• Best Foot Forward
• How Big is Your Ecological Footprint? (required)
• One Planet Living Footprint Calculator
• Resurgence Carbon Calculator
• Safe Climate Calculator
• TravelMatters.org
• The College Sustainability Report Card (required) - Once at the site, use the tabs along the top of the page, to navigate to the following pages:
  -- The Executive Summary
  -- Then choose 2 "Categories" & read those,
  -- Finally, use the "Schools" tab to navigate to the report for the Univ of MD (it is on page 8 of the school listings - page numbers are along the bottom)
• The Princeton Review Honor Roll - recommended by Mark Stewart, UM Sustainability Coordinator
• For Saturday: A River Ran Through Us - The Anacostia River (required)

Sep 12 - Saturday - Anacostia River Canoe Tour

Sep 15 - Sustainable Living - On campus

Sep 22 - No class - Project planning time

Sep 29 - Biodiversity & Suburban Landscapes

• Aldo Leopold - The Land Ethic
• Bolund & Hunhammer - Ecosystem Services in Urban Areas
• Burghardt, Tallamy & Shriver - Impact of Native Plants on Bird and Butterfly Biodiversity in Suburban Landscapes

Oct 6 - Sustainable Living - What we eat

• "13 Ways of looking at pasture" - from Omnivore's Dilemma
• "Diet & the environment: does what you eat matter?"
• "Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change

Oct 13 - No class - Project planning time

Oct 20 - Conservation and Preservation

• Re-Wilding North America (required)
• Hawaii 2050 Plan (required)
• Choose (1) one:
  • Re-Wilding North America - A Response
  • Saving Species Privately

Oct 27 - Society - Environmental Justice

• Case study

Nov 3 - Energy & Economy

• Required for everyone - National Geographic article on biofuels -- or -- an article of your own choosing, which follows our article guidelines, that discusses biofuels and their broad implications in relation to government and economics.
• ALSO:
  • Algae group - SOLIX Biofuels article
  • Cellulosic group - Grassoline article
  • Corn group and Ethanol group - Ethanol.org article
  • Hydrogen group - Fuel cells article

Nov 10 - "Eat Local!" Why it's good for Maryland's economy.

• Lecture, PG Room, SSU 7:00 p.m