Sustaining The Nature of New York
A new course is offered this spring at CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise. [more]

Cleaner waters
Hudson River Foundation issues report showing that health of New York Harbor has improved. [more]

Real-time monitoring
Stevens Institute of Technology launches New York City's first marine observatory. [more]

Deep Urban Nature
Explore some of New York City's best nature preserves with the Parks Department. [more]

The latest Buzz? Rooftop Honey
Wild Honey Bees roam the Cityscape in search of flowers to pollinate. [more]

A Cooler New York
Learn how green roofs can bring temperatures down and improve water quality. [more]

The Nature of New York : Its Natural History and Environment

This new interdisciplinary course was created by the School of Professional Studies and Nurture New York's Nature. Starting in August 2004, it explores the historical and present-day relationships between nature and people of the New York City region. The course examines broad patterns of settlement, utilization of natural resources, and the resulting environmental consequences. Students initially will be introduced to the geography, climate, hydrology, and the biology of the New York metropolitan area. Focus will then turn to habitat change, contamination, and sprawl due to the ever-expanding urbanization of the New York region. During the course students will be repeatedly presented with the question: How big is the metropolis of New York? That is, what is New York 's environmental impact or “ecological footprint?” This question will be used to help summarize the concepts and content of the course.

Course Coordinator: Dr. William Wallace (College of SI) - wallace@postbox.csi.cuny.edu (718-982-3876)

Teaching Assistant: Andy Bernick (CUNY Graduate School) - bernick@mail.csi.cuny.edu (718-982-3997)

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Course description: outline of course content, expectations, required readings and ancillary activities (download as pdf-document).

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Course syllabus and calendar: schedule of course session dates, with detailed syllabus relating each session topic and names of lecturers (download as pdf-document).

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Course Materials - a week by week account providing abstracts of specific lectures, biographies of speakers and suggested reading materials (available as pdf-download):

• Week 1 - David Rosane and Tony Hiss
• Week 2 - Allan Ludman
• Week 3 - Eric Sanderson and Anne-Marie Cantwell
• Week 4 - Reza Khanbilvardi
• Week 5 - William Wallace and John Waldman
  • Course reading
• Week 6 - Jeff Levinton
• Week 7 - Albert Burchsted
• Week 8 - William Wallace
• Week 9 - John Waldman
• Week 10 - Richard Veit
• Week 11 - Steve Clemants
• Week 12 - Liz Johnson and John Waldman
• Week 13 - Michael Klemens
• Week 14 - David Rosane and William Wallace

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Bibliography - a selected list of required and suggested readings (download as pdf-document).

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Field-Trips - a schedule of 'Nature of New York' optional week-end field trips, with listing of trip destinations and content. Participants must sign up for trips in class (download as pdf-document).

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