ENVSTY 325: Biodiversity Conservation: Bridging Nature and Culture

This course examines the interdependencies between humans and biodiversity through a biocultural approach to conservation. A biocultural approach aims to understand how ecosystems, species, and human cultures co-evolve toward centering local values, perspectives, and needs into biodiversity conservation strategies. Topics include biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity patterns and threats; human-wildlife systems; Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities; zoos, aquariums, and natural history museums; human-wildlife conflict and coexistence; and biocultural diversity in urban ecosystems. Students will also gain insights into conservation science and practice through exercises in documenting local ecological knowledge; developing social science surveys; conducting fieldwork; and communicating research results.