The BiodiverCITY Project: Rethinking science education for sustainability with an integrated approach to applied urban ecology research, teaching and community engagement

Background/Question/Methods

A science for sustainability requires reconsideration of traditional approaches to education, research, and community engagement; it beckons an integration of these activities through student interest-driven community projects that tie into longer term and spatially broader monitoring and research efforts. A science for sustainability seeks to understand the challenges faced but places a greater emphasis on finding, evaluating, and implementing solutions. Models such as Challenge Based Learning  (CBL) could serve as a platform for this integration. Drawing on technological tools such as digital photography, Google Earth, and social media outlets, CBL is poised to make learning more relevant and applicable. During the spring of 2013, three courses were offered including an undergraduate content-based environmental science course, an undergraduate environmental science laboratory course, and a graduate level environmental research methods course. Each course had ties into a broader applied urban ecology project, The BiodiverCITY project. The BiodiverCITY project, based in Pittsburgh, PA, seeks to increase awareness, engagement and best management of the city’s biophysical resources. 

Results/Conclusions

Within the three courses, students were exposed to a challenge-, place- and project-based approach. Emphasis was placed on science as a process versus an authoritative body of facts. Course projects were developed in concert with community partners and included topics such as biodiversity sampling, land use mapping, and evaluation of citizen science tools. A sustainable policy was implemented for the construction of equipment including street science suitcases; reuse was emphasized when possible. Overall, students in the courses increased in their willingness to be outdoors, increased in their excitement about the natural environment, became aware of the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability challenges, and became increasingly curious and knowledgeable about regional issues that pertained to the BiodiverCITY project. While the courses were solution focused, this aspect could be strengthened. Leadership and motivation among students rotated without prompting; this dynamic could be facilitated and evaluated in a more structured manner. Importantly, explicit and regular reminders of the CBL method and benefits was key to increasing the student’s acceptance of the novel course format. Future work will seek to better understand the long-term consequences of this learning experience on the student’s understanding and use of science in the context of sustainability and their personal and professional choices.