Agroecology

Knowledge Gained

Students who complete this course will be able to :

recognize and describe sustainable features of agroecosystems (abiotic and biotic) in comparison with natural, terrestrial, healthy ecosystems in terms of soil quality, energy flow and nutrient cycling, pesticide fate, functional plant, animal, and genetic biodiversity, water use efficiency, energy flow, and population ecology.
design, plant, and assess food production plots consistent with agroecological principles.
identify features of a wide variety of food production systems in current operation through visits and conversation with practicing farmers that are more or less consistent with agroecological practices and convey those findings in written and verbal form.
engage current social and economic food production systems and norms in the context of Christian faith, to steward the natural resources God has entrusted with us more effectively, improving both global environmental health and food security.

Students will :

visit several healthy, natural, terrestrial ecosystems and identify ecological features that confer sustainability.
study a wide variety of industrial food production enterprises (farms) to identify what agronomic, social, and economic practices are more and less sustainable including grain crops, vegetable crops, orchards, and livestock enterprises (to the degree available).
evaluate agroecologically-motivated food production enterprises (farms) to identify what agronomic, social, and economic practices are more and less sustainable including vegetable, fruit, and livestock enterprises (to the degree available).
practice research-scale planting and transplanting of vegetable crops on Au Sable’s campus to assess features of agroecology.

Professor: Dr. Dave Dornbos

Meets: Tuesday & Thursday