Conservation Books, Cases and Ideas
I'm teaching conservation biology in the spring (to a class of about 10, 3 days a week, no lab), and want to use lots of case studies and current info.
I'm thinking about assigning some sort of popular book review, but I need help with book recommendations (telling my students to find one will not work). Top choice is current conservation biology paperbacks, preferably specific to a species or a system with a good story. Also considered would be general conservation (An Inconvient Truth, Cadalliac Desert, Notes from a Catastrophe) and historical conservation (Silent Spring, Sand County Almanac). Any suggestions?
I'm also wanting each student to follow a cons bio issue that is likely to be in the news throughout the spring (wolf de-listing and controversy comes to mind, bats are a big issue here) but I also need some suggestions. Will pollinators make the news in the spring? Coral bleaching? Wetlands and hurricanes? Are polar bears passe or will they still be in the news cycle?
Good case studies that aren't in the news also accepted.
3 comments:
Song of the Dodo might be a good book with some case studies.
I just started reading 'Bottomfeeders', can't remember the author's name at the moment. It's about seafood and goes through some specific examples (I think each chapter is a different species), how its caught, environmental implications and also the health considerations of eating certain types of seafood. It lists in the back also what seafood is both environmentally good/bad. Right now I'm reading about monkfish. It might be a good example of how economics and trends influences our conservation efforts and capabilities.
Thanks Cheryl.
What about wind energy? I read an article in a PA forester newsletter, and the guy said it's better off in the plains where there's no trees and diversity is low! They could compare wind turbines in forested areas vs. the plains, and learn something about the plains.
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