Natural Resources Institute - Field Courses

This course is designed to introduce students to, (i) the natural history and conservation of flora and fauna of Grenada, (ii) the socioeconomic roles and potential roles of Grenadian flora and fauna, and (iii) the role and potential roles of sustainable tourism in contributing to conservation of flora and fauna, and concurrently, the socioeconomic well-being of local communities. The course will integrate theoretical and practical perspectives, and will embed Grenada as a case study within an international, particularly Caribbean, perspective. Students will apply knowledge gained through course materials to real-world tourism or conservation issues and research, and/or asset mapping, with an emphasis on components or disciplines of interest to each student.

The 2010 Northern Field Seminar [PDF] was the seventeenth time that the Natural Resources Institute provided the opportunity to study resource management and environmental issues in Northern Manitoba. Initiated as an experiment in 1975, the Field Seminar has developed into an important component of the M.N.R.M. program. Through observation and involvement, students are given the opportunity to develop an understanding of natural resources management from the perspectives of the people and organisations who are involved in its practice - the individual operator, organisations, government planning units, and multi-national corporations. Of equal importance, students are able to see first-hand the environmental, economic, and social influences of resource and environmental planning, management and development on northern people, communities, land, flora and fauna. International perspectives are brought to the seminar through the participation of university faculty and students from Trier University, Germany. As such, a unique educational experience is gained through the continued relations between the involved institutions, students, and northern participants.

The 2013 Resources and Environment Field Seminar in Germany was the third time that the Natural Resources Institute provided the opportunity to study resource management and environmental issues in Europe. Through observation and involvement, students were given the opportunity to develop an understanding of natural resource and environmental management from the perspectives of the people and organisations who are involved in its practice - the individual operator, organisations, government planning units, and multi-national corporations. Of equal importance, students are able to see first-hand the environmental, economic, and social influences of resource and environmental planning, management and development in a European context and how such activities impact people, communities, land, flora and fauna in that milieu.

Students from the Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources and the Faculty of Architecture had the exciting opportunity to experience the cultural landscapes of northern Italy. The course was taught in two segments: a pre-trip session (March 26 – 27, 2010) and a field school (May 13 – 26, 2010). It uses the concept of cultural landscapes as a means to bring together senior undergraduate and master’s students from Environment and Geography, Geological Sciences, the Natural Resources Institute, and Landscape Architecture. Through an intensive two-week journey in northern Italy students learned from Italian and Canadian scholars, and each other, as well as learn how to “read” and document cultural landscapes. Students arrived in Venice and travelled into the Veneto region to examine cultural landscapes. The Venetian lagoon and the pre-alpine valleys and forests of the Dolomite Mountains allowed students to examine their understanding of the relationship between nature and culture along with the policies and politics of identity and sustainable landscapes.
Credit hours: 3 at 4000/7000 level
For more information: Please contact Dr. Iain Davidson-Hunt at the Natural Resources Institute.