Case Study

We have developed a 3-4 session Case Study to engage students in considering the interface between ecological research, public policy and social concerns. Students are introduced to an environmental issue, e.g., the influence of West Nile Virus in Dutchess County, the role of riparian buffer strips in the watershed protection associated with New York City's water supply in the Catskill Mountains, or the mitigation of PCB contamination in the Hudson River.

We ask students to consider how ecological research influences the identification, framing, monitoring and solving of the problem, and to examine ways in which ecological research and/or ecological researchers have been influenced by the efforts of various parties to address the issue. After exploring the issue through readings, discussion, field trips, and/or interviews or panel discussions with representatives of various groups involved in the issue, students write an essay for potential publication in an appropriate newsletter, a journal and for an online Undergraduate Ecology Research Reports publication. The case study is designed to give students a real-world emersion in thinking about the complex interplay between science and society.

Case Study Panel Discussion - 2001.