Understanding Our Changing Forests

Steve Smith
Summer 2020
Tuesdays |  
10 AM - 12 PM
June 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2020
Course Format: Hybrid
Tuition: $145

Please Note: Summer 2020 Course Registration Opens Online on Monday, May 11th at 8AM

Forests represent the predominant ecosystems of the Earth’s land area. They are a critical element in many processes that affect the environment, human society, and our global economy. Forest structure, composition, and function are being altered by human activity, most critically by climate change. In this course we will examine the variety of the Earth’s forests, the particular characteristics their occupants exhibit, and the roles that they play. We will discuss many of the ways in which forests and humans are connected and how these are rapidly changing. This includes carbon storage and release, deforestation and forest conversion, water and soil conservation, wildland fire, the production of wood energy, lumber and pulp, and forests as sources of biological diversity, food, and human well-being.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

  • All Summer 2020 courses will be ONLINE ONLY.
  • Courses will be delivered online via the Zoom video conferencing platform. All courses will be password protected and only available to enrolled students.
  • All class sessions will be recorded and made available to enrolled students for a limited time to assist those who may not be able to attend the live class times.
  • Enrolled students may withdraw from a course and receive a full tuitionrefund if the request is received before the second class session. (Our normal refund processing fee of 15% will be waived).
  • The Humanities Seminars Program reserves the right to cancel any seminar that fails to meet registration minimums. If a course is canceled all students enrolled in the canceled course will receive a full refund.
  • Summer registration will open on Monday, May 11 at 8 AM (AZ Time)

Syllabus
Required Reading

No textbook is required. All readings and class materials will be distributed to students electronically.

Meet Your Instructor

Steve Smith
Associate Professor

School of Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment

STEVE SMITH is an Associate Professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona, where he has been on the faculty since 1984. He grew up in the central valley of California, where he first began working with plants under the supervision of his father, a commercial plant breeder. After receiving a B.S. in Plant Sciences from the University of California, Davis, he received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University in Plant Breeding and Botany. Postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison preceded his arrival in Arizona. His research interests reflect his training in application-oriented plant improvement and his fascination with plant adaptation in natural plant communities in arid environments. He is also consulting with other researchers on experimental design and analysis. Dr. Smith teaches undergraduate courses in biology, field botany, and sustainability. He received the Bart Cardon Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona and the Ted and Shirley Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award from the Humanities Seminars Program.

Ted and Shirley Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award 2019, 2022

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