Plant Biology: Community Climate Solutions

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Prereqs: BCOR 1400 / 1450 or BCOR 1425 or BIOL 1400 / 1450 or PBIO 1040; This service-learning course will include an in-person, community-based project

This four-week intensive, service-learning course offers an experiential opportunity for UVM students in the life sciences interested in topics related to food, environment, and sustainability. Students will learn in-person in the classroom, at the UVM Greenhouse, and at project sites with community partners. All community projects seek to mitigate the effects of climate change, increase biodiversity, diversify the food supply, and improve water quality. Our efforts in the class focus on implementing nature-based climate solutions and highlight the essential contribution that our public spaces have in addressing the climate emergency.

Students should expect to spend approximately 8-10 hours a week on coursework related to this class to achieve the following outcomes: 1. Collaborate effectively on a team and with community partners to install nature-based solutions in various local projects as part of Burlington’s Open Space Plan. 2. Understand your potential for positively influencing your environment with nature-based strategies. 3. Describe your values and those of others as they relate to addressing global change. 4. Gain transferable skills for career development, networking, and future potential projects. 5. Approach problems, identify answerable questions, and select and evaluate appropriate solutions through the application of multiple perspectives. 6. Produce clear, effective, evidence-based writing. 7. Prepare and confidently deliver an engaging and effective presentation.

Students will be evaluated through the following assessments: 1. Daily participation: Showing up on time and not leaving early, engaging in discussions with community partners, and fully participating in activities on campus and at the project sites. 2. Weekly reflections: Summarizing a description of work completed, field observations, transferable skills gained, community members networked, and/or personal reflections. 3. Weekly homework: Student are assigned weekly readings corresponding writing assignments from a variety of sources to explore the intersection of ecological, economic, and social sustainability. All readings (i.e., articles, fact sheets, and book chapters) and assignments are available on Brightspace. 4. Final project presentation: Student prepare a group presentation based on the community projects completed over the four weeks. Weekly assignments and in-class time help support presentation development over the four weeks.