Interested in a Master of Science in Environmental and Sustainability Studies at the College of Charleston? Let’s take a look at one of its featured courses, Biodiversity Management (EVSS 671), to get a better sense of what a typical day looks like for a graduate student.
Source: EVSS Instagram
This course reviews the methods to measure and manage biological diversity in an era of rapid change. Through international case studies, students will review how a biodiversity framework guides sustainable resource management, such as in endangered species recovery, invasive species management, wildlife trade regulations, coastal resiliency, and a variety of marine and terrestrial conservation programs.
There is also an optional co-requisite course with EVSS 671, Biodiversity Management. This field-based laboratory course introduces students to the sites across the Lowcountry where biodiversity management takes place. Students will be evaluated on their field notes and participation.
Source: EVSS Instagram
We were also able to hear from Dr. Andrew Shedlock, who currently teaches Biodiversity Management to students as part of the M.S. in EVSS program.
“The class takes an experiential learning field-oriented in situ stakeholder engagement approach that considers biodiversity as a holistic resource that must be managed sustainably by embracing the messy contentious human dimension of stakeholders and indigenous knowledge on the front end of the science and the broader impacts and educational outreach and equitable policy development within and among communities on the back end of the science.
Our immersive shared active learning approach gives students a chance to visit a broad mix of important managed landscapes and biodiverse resources throughout the SC Lowcountry under the stewardship of local professionals who exemplify best practices in meeting the challenge of coastal resiliency and sustainability in the face of economic development and anthropogenic stressors.
We also inform these in situ field engagements with interactive group discussions of peer-reviewed primary literature exploring the highly integrated holistic nature of biodiversity and then implement student learning across disciplines through individual creative synthesis project proposals designed to provide immediate solutions to complex real-world site-specific problems in biodiversity management as a key priority for ensuring human survival in the 21st Century.”
– Dr. Andrew Shedlock
Source: EVSS Instagram
There we have it! If you’re looking for a holistic and rewarding challenge that immerses you in fieldwork with local professionals then you’re in the right place! Special thank you to Dr. Shedlock for sharing his valuable insights and to the EVSS program for making a difference in our community every day! We hope to see YOU in the next cohort!
More information about M.S. in EVSS below:
