Water literacy, or community water knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, is a concept of increasing importance for water managers around the world. Supply-focused paradigms that aimed to capture, control, and commodify water resources are increasingly unreliable and often depend on environmentally and socially damaging practices. Particularly in drought-prone regions, water managers stretch limited water resources using equitable water policies, conservation programs, and alternative water sourcing, the success of which relies in varying degrees on a water literate citizenry. Communities with higher water literacies are better prepared to understand drought needs and uptake water conservation practices. Moreso, water managers who engage their communities with water literacy benefit from the transparency, perceived trustworthiness, and ability to identify and address local water injustices. My research is therefore focused on understanding how drought management paradigms contribute to or detract from community water literacy. I have researched this through case studies in Cape Town, South Africa, and Colorado, USA.
keywords
water literacy, sustainable water management, drought management
ENVM 5013 - Environmental Governance: Actors and Institutions
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2025
This course will incorporate a theoretical understanding of how policies are made, what decisions are enacted, and which actors seek to influence policy outcomes. Students in this class will assess frameworks for understanding policy formation and decision-making, and apply this understanding to cases of environmental and natural resource policy. This course will provide a baseline understanding of concepts including: Common Pool Resource Management, Social Ecological Systems, Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Treaties, Compacts, Storymaps, Public Engagement, and Media Engagement.
ENVM 5018 - The Scientific Basis of Environmental Change
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2024 / Fall 2024 / Fall 2025
Provides an overview of the science that underlies some of the most complicated global environmental challenges we face today. These include topics such as climate change, air quality, land management, agriculture, biodiversity loss and conservation, as well as the underlying biogeochemical, hydrologic, and ecological processes that are critical for understanding the changing environment. Previously offered as a special topics course. Recommended prerequisite of department consent for Professional Master's in Global Engineering and Hazard Resilience (PMP) students.
ENVM 5022 - Communicating for Sustainability and Impact
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2025 / Spring 2026
Sustainability professionals interface with a broad range of audiences, making effective communication challenging. Good communication considers the needs, interests, and a priori knowledge of the audience. It weaves science and technical details into the art of storytelling. In this course, students will practice and improve their written, visual, and oral communication using audience analysis, storytelling, active listening, and other essential tools. By the end, each student will showcase their communication skills in a personal portfolio.
ENVM 5023 - GIS for Sustainability Professionals
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2024 / Spring 2025 / Spring 2026
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly important for tackling environmental change and sustainability challenges. This introductory course in GIS will provide a broad foundation of spatial thinking and geo-technologies. We will consider spatial data, learn about real-world applications of GIS within the field of sustainability, and work through hands-on exercises in ArcGIS Online and QGIS to build confidence utilizing such software in your future careers. A personal laptop is required; prior GIS experience is not. Formerly offered as a special topics course.
ENVM 6100 - Special Topics for Master of the Environment Program
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2023
A variety of topics not currently offered in curriculum; offered depending on instructor availability and student demand. May be repeated up to 18 total credit hours.
