Faculty First Year Seminars 197ECO - Planning & Maintaining Urban F

In urban and suburban areas, trees provide many important benefits such as reducing energy use, intercepting water runoff, cleaning the air, and creating wildlife habitats. To maximize these benefits, proper selection of appropriate species, as well as choosing tree characteristics for a given site is critical in order to establish sustainable landscapes. In order for trees to survive, one must properly plant trees, maintain them and manage them for insect and disease pests. The course will utilize newly developed modeling tools for examination of the structure, function and economic value of trees in the urban and suburban landscapes. The i?Tree software suite of data analysis tools, developed by the US Forest Service will be highlighted in the class sessions. This course will introduce these topics of critical importance, as over 75% of the world?s residents presently live in urban areas. Student participation will be encouraged through participatory learning class format, and a hands?on project will be completed.

Freshmen Only