Environmental correspondence course will link to LaCoastPost

in Technical Issues by Admin — February 4, 2010 at 7:00 am | 5 comments

Editor’s note: My time and intellectual capacity are currently stretched pretty thin between publishing this blog and teaching a correspondence course in basic environmental science.* It’s now time for me to revise and update my course, which would presumably steal time away from LaCoastPost…or so it seemed until three weeks ago.

That’s when I had a Eureka moment, realizing that a potential synergy exists between the course and LaCoastPost. If I could somehow integrate these two tasks I could accomplish both of them more effectively.

The world as a delta

I’ve been thinking about why, as a coastal scientist, I adopted south Louisiana as my home 36 years ago. I’ve concluded that the intuitive attraction for me was the fact that south Louisiana occupies not just a coast, but a deltaic coast.

The focus of LaCoastPost is the Mississippi River delta, which embodies most of the environmental issues covered in my course. It seems to me that the delta – and its huge catchment basin – capture most of the physical, biological and socioeconomic processes and problems facing humankind in the 21st century.

Thus it makes sense that knowledge about the function (and dysfunction) of the largest watershed and delta in North America could serve as a tool to teach correspondence students about environmental issues around the world. While learning the rudiments of environmental science, these students can learn about the national and international significance of the Mississippi River delta, its progressive decline and the program to restore its health.

Delta definitions and analogs

The word delta has a connection with the number three.** In a mathematical context delta means incremental change, symbolized by a triangle. In a geological context delta also represents change, an always changing landscape that reflects a never ending interplay among three physical processes: accretion, erosion and subsidence, caused by riverine, marine, and gravitational forces, respectively. The three corners of the delta triangle also symbolize the fact that deltas are three dimensional and that they occupy the intersection of the three non-living global spheres, lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere (land, air and water).

The nexus of global spheres and forces results in a perpetual three cornered physical tug of war, on which biosphere processes are superimposed. The interaction of all of these processes produces a dynamic setting that appeals to my psyche. Frankly, the idea of living in a landscape that doesn’t change seems a little boring in comparison.

One of my ecology heroes was the late University of Florida Professor Howard T. (HT) Odum, ecologist, engineer and holistic thinker. Professor Odum understood that the 2nd law of thermodynamics, traced to French physicist Sadi Carnot in 1824, was one of the most profound and elegant concepts ever articulated. This law is as fundamental to the way that the world (and deltas) work as are Newton’s 3 laws of motion, his universal law of gravity and the principle of natural selection that was described 150 years ago by Charles Darwin.

HT was a proponent of the idea that basic life processes of radically disparate living systems can be compared, using energy as the common denominator. For example, in a little book published in 1973 that he immodestly titled Environment, Power and Society, Odum compared the energy consumption (respiration) rate and waste production of an oyster reef to the energy and raw material inputs and waste streams of a small city. My PhD research on oyster reefs in Georgia was inspired by this analogy.

Odum used the 2nd law to show that nothing ever happens without a gradient of pressure, temperature, electrostatic potential, chemical concentration, elevation (gravity), organic matter – even money! He understood that deltaic ecosystems are exceptionally productive because they share an interface among three gradients: (1) a chemical gradient between nutrient-rich freshwater and nutrient-poor salt water; (2) a physical gradient between lotic riverine forces and tidal oceanic forces; and (3) a mineral gradient between turbid river water conveying suspended clays and clear ocean water. These gradients provide the free energy that supports work in the form of exceptionally high rates of gross primary production, supporting a rich assemblage of consumer species.

Civilization and deltas

The late mathematician and biologist Jacob Bronowski noted in his memorable 1979 BBC documentary The Ascent of Man, that a deltaic setting gave rise to human civilization – the Fertile Crescent of the Tigris/Euphrates delta in present day Iraq. Likewise, the Mississippi River delta encapsulates and exemplifies most of the environmental services that humankind receives from nature – and most of the environmental problems created by the 6.8 billion current members of the human club.

ENVS 1000

I would describe my course as a layman’s introduction to life on earth, which I think should be a pre-requisite for an undergraduate degree in every field, including business, economics and agriculture. I ‘inherited’ the course over 20 years ago from Dr. Mike Waldon, a friend and coastal hydrologist who recently returned from south Florida to Lafayette Louisiana with his coastal authority wife Ann and their children. Mike has been working on the Everglades program for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Connecting ENVS 1000 with LaCoastPost “Deltas 101″

I never see my students, many of whom are undergrads from California or New York or Iowa or Michigan – or Nova Scotia. Some are working folks seeking a new career or stay-at-home parents who just enjoy learning. I even teach a few incarcerated felons.

Even my correspondence students from south Louisiana seem oblivious to the fact that their backyard is rapidly disappearing. With my academic and political experience and from what I’ve learned about journalism from LaCoastPost, I plan to revise ENVS 1000 to focus on the Louisiana coast, which will allow me to teach about generic environmental problems, using real world examples. This ‘kills’ three birds by: (1) allowing me to spread the gospel about the dysfunctional state of the Mississippi River delta and the effort to offset it; (2) complementing and diversifying the themes for blog posts; and (3) expanding the readership and influence of LaCoastPost.

I have always emphasized coastal (deltaic) issues, which to me include the paramount global issues of overpopulation and urban sprawl; climate change and increasing flood/drought risk; peak oil; deforestation, habitat loss and ecosystem degradation; scarcity of uncontaminated freshwater; non-point source pollution, eutrophication and hypoxia; fishery collapse…

I plan to cover the basic environmental, socioeconomic and legal/political topics from a coastal perspective, focusing on one of the most productive, dynamic and threatened places on Earth – the Mississippi River delta. This will allow me to integrate the course with my primary interest – while teaching students from many different places about the importance of and threats to our coast.

Selecting a textbook that reflects my sense of priorities but without tedious detail has always been a problem. Environmental textbooks also become obsolete, as for example better information emerges on climate change. My current text spotlights the Everglades as a serious issue but totally ignores the crisis in coastal Louisiana! Thus the revised course will omit a text and substitute web-based references and suggested supplemental reading, such as this paperback on Louisiana natural history by Paul Keddy, noted coastal wetland ecologist.

A unique aspect of my course is that each student must complete a ten part essay on a geographical site of her choice – usually near where she lives. This requires describing each site in terms of its geological history, its climate, geography, ecology, environmental problems and socioeconomic characteristics. Over the years many students have commented that their eyes have been opened by this assignment, which has given them a real appreciation for their physical, ecological and political surroundings. I now plan to ask students to compare their sites with what they learn about south Louisiana.

LaCoastPost will serve as a topical resource and I plan to encourage students to post comments.

My goal is to complete the course revision by the end of February so I would appreciate “February feedback” from LaCoastPost readers, in terms of course content and emphasis. I would also like recommendations on credible websites to be used as resource materials.

Len Bahr (len.bahr@gmail.com)

*ENVS 1000, taught through the LSU Office of Independent and Distance Learning.

** I’ve highlighted the number three wherever it appears in this post.