Biodiversity Conservation in Urban Regions

Let's meet at the Natural Resources Library cafe (1st floor Jordan Hall)  at 15:00 just to say hi.  I'm buying!  We'll quit by 16:00 latest.  If you can't make it, no worries - please just let me know. 

Assigned

Please complete the Little Known Fact form for next week's introductory activity.

3:00-3:15 Eastern – Housekeeping | Setup | Getting used to videoconferencing environment | Hess is note taker

• • Thanks, Iowa, for coming a week early to classes!

3:15-3:45 Little Known Fact Mixer [Hess leading] – getting to know one another.  Each of you has written a sentences about yourself (or hurry up and do it now) – something that few people know (and you’re willing to share).  We’ll each take a few minutes trying to match people to statements (you can look at the Contact Info sheet or the Bios for names).  A point for each correct match; winner(s) get a prize.

3:45-4:00 About the Course [Thompson leading]

• • How the course came into being – a brief history.

  • Expectation of instructors by students.  We are learning along with you.  Think of us as coaches rather than sages.  We’ll get your input on where things should go, establish some structure, and work with you to get things done.  To the extent we can and need to, we’ll help you overcome obstacles.

  • Expectation of students by instructors.  We expect students to step up and take the reins – to lead discussion and inquiry, to contribute to what we are doing in a thoughtful manner.  This is definitely not a “sit, listen, repeat” course. This is a “think and do” course (to steal NCSU’s tag line).

  • [ Hess ] Student-team-taught lessons coming up starting in 4 weeks (02.13) – you’ve been assigned a topic (see website calendar, contact list, and Guidance document in Student Led Lessons assignment). 

4:00-4:30 Quiz Bowl [Thompson leading] – let’s see what you know and want to know. We’ll ask you some questions and you’ll work together to address them.

4:30-4:45 Products & Evaluation [Hess leading] – how you will be evaluated during the course

• • In the past we’ve presented at a conference, created StoryMaps (Boulder, Chicago Wilderness), and drafted a research note.

  • We propose to evaluate your assignment products on a simple ABC scale.  An “A” product is one that is well conceived, thorough, well supported, well presented (in writing, orally, or both), and demonstrates your investment in the assignment and the larger products we define.  A “B” product is one that does not meet one of these criteria.  A “C” product is on that does not meet two or more of these criteria.

4:45-4:50 Assignments and any open discussion.

Assigned

• Read syllabus - in Course Info folder (by next class)

• Complete the DevelopmentActivity in the Assignments folder – this is a team assignment – you will work in teams at your home institution – teams specified in instructions – should take no more than 2 hours (ready for next class)

• Complete the Interconnections assignment in the Assignments folder (ready for next class)

2:00-2:10 Central – Housekeeping | Assign note taker

2:10-2:50 Discussion of Interconnections readings

• Form teams at each location – teams will contain at least one person who read each of the three articles

  • NCSU: [ Jules, Kyle, Shila ]   [ Anna, Jamie, Payton ]

  • ISU: [ Ambar, Fanny, Noah ]  [ Aurora, Deloris, Gavin ]

• Spend 15 min talking to prepare three key points to share with the class – does not have to be one point per article – can be holistic, if that works for you

• Slide for your points (find the one with your names on it)

• Then 5 minutes per team in full group discussion

2:50-3:15 Discussion – review unconstrained development maps

• • • Some team goes first – we’ll show map and team should explain the rationale behind its creation

    • Hear from teams with different approaches

    • Summarize – what did we learn?

3:15-3:45 Activity & Discussion – constrained development

3:45-3:50 Assignments and any open discussion.

Assigned

• Complete the LandscapeEcology assignment in the Assignments folder (due by next class)

• Student-Led Lessons teams should be working – see Guidance in Student-Led Lessons in the Assignments folder and do your work in your subfolder therein (due dates in guidance)

• 2:00-2:05 Central – Housekeeping | Assign note taker

  • There will likely be some travel-related forms for you to complete. 

  • Might be time to look for air tickets if you haven't already.  Be at hotel by 6P on W 03.12 - we can work on fetching. you as your flights arrive.  Class ends at 1P on Tu 03.18, allow an hour to get to the airport.

• 2:05-2:45 Concept mapping

  • You can create your concept map in a google slide in the concept map folder or you can draw on big sheets of paper (provided), take a picture, and upload it to the concept map folder

  • Please discuss the readings in your teams before developing your concept map

  • Be prepared to present & discuss your concept map  by 3:45Eastern

  • Iowa Teams:  Ambar, Aurora, Gavin | Deloris, Fin, Noah 

  • NC State Teams:  Anna, Kyle, Payton | Jamie, Jules, Shila

• 2:45-3:35 Presentations(4 teams x 10 minutes each, including discussion) and overall discussion

• 3:40-3:50 Work for next week

Assigned

• Complete the Local Introductions  assignment in the Assignments folder (due by W 02.05 so Jan and I can organize for Thursday's class )

• Student Led Lessons teams continue working – see Guidance in Student Led Lessons  in the Assignments folder for your relevant deadlines (deadlines vary)

  1. • Conservation Bio team has a draft due M 02.03 Noon, comments from us Tu 02.04, and final reading guide Th 02.06 Noon

     • Climate Adaptation has a draft due M 02.10 Noon, comments from us Tu 02.11, and a final reading guide Th 02.13 Noon

     • Pipes & Canyons has a draft due M 02.17 Noon, comments from us Tu 02.18, and a final reading guide Th 02.20 Noon

• 12:00-12:05 Pacific – Housekeeping | Assign note taker

  • 02.03 ... We've started posting travel information in the Travel Information folder of the Work Folder (QuickLinks)

  • 02.03 ... Please complete travel input survey this week

• 12:05 Introduction of guests - 5 minutes each on their background journey to current positions (so, the short version)

  • Mark Berninger, City of San Diego

  • Dr Kristine Preston, USGS

• 12:20 Historical perspectives - Kristine leading

  • How did this all start and develop? 

  • Areas and species covered

  • Public involvement

• 12:35 Brief questions and discussion

• 12:45 Current perspectives and challenges - Mark leading

  • Diversity of conservation areas being conserved (size, habitat type, species, etc)

  • Political considerations and public perception / demand / acceptance

• 1:00 Brief questions and discussion

• 1:10 How are we doing with all this? Is it working?

  • Kristine from a monitoring perspective

  • Mark from a management perspective

• 1:25 Questions and discussion, any topic

• 1:45 Thank guests and stuff for next week

• 1:50 Adjourn

Assigned

• Complete the Consevation Biology 2025 reading guide (Assignments Folder)

• Student Led Lessons teams continue working – see Guidance in Student Led Lessons  in the Assignments folder for your relevant deadlines (deadlines vary)

  1. • Climate Adaptation has a draft due M 02.10 Noon, comments from us Tu 02.11, and a final reading guide Th 02.13 Noon

     • Pipes & Canyons has a draft due M 02.17 Noon, comments from us Tu 02.18, and a final reading guide Th 02.20 Noon

     • Conservation Biology lesson next week Th 02.13 and reflection Th 02.20

Assigned

• Complete the Climate Adaptation 2025 reading guide (Assignments Folder)

• Student Led Lessons teams continue working – see Guidance in Student Led Lessons  in the Assignments folder for your relevant deadlines (deadlines vary by team)

  1. • Pipes & Canyons has a draft due M 02.17 Noon, comments from us Tu 02.18, and a final reading guide Th 02.20 Noon

     • Climate Adaptation lesson next week Th 02.20 and reflection Th 02.27

     • Conservation Biology reflection Th 02.20

• Sunday Thoughts and Project Ideas documents are ready for your input - instructions in documents

2:00-2:05 CST / 3:00-3:05 EST Housekeeping | Assign NoteTaker

• Sit in these groups for our session today

  • NCSU: (Shila, Kyle, Jules), (Jamie, Anna, Payton)

  • ISU: (Gavin, Aurora, Deloris), (Ambar, Fanny, Noah)

2:05-2:20 CST - Introduction to activity 

• Instructor team will introduce the case study narrative - Slides in Climate Adaptation folder

• Talk about your readings, especially Handler, et al(2022) A menu of climate change adaptation actions for terrestrial wildlife management, and how they apply to the case study. This is a general conversation that should inform how you start to work on the next portion.  

• In the next step, you will use this information to select measures for a stakeholder handout.

• There is no report back to the full class.

2:20-2:50 CST - Select three measures and be able to defend your selection 

• Choose three measures you would use to adapt to changing climates in the described case.  These measures should be focused on the “menu” items in the Handler, et al. reading but are not limited to them.

• In the next step, you will use these measures to create a simple “handout” for these stakeholders to inform them about the measures and educate them on how these measures will benefit their multiple causes. 

• There is no report back to the full class.

2:50 CST - Handout work

• Groups should have three measures chosen as well as the descriptions for these and use the remaining time to craft the meaningful handout / GoogleSlide to present to the class beginning at 3:20 CST and 4:20 EST.

• Groups should focus on the stakeholders involved and differing perspectives; there may even be a “tradeoff” regarding the teams' management techniques. Think about this as you prepare your handout. 

• There is a slide for each group in the presentation in the Climate Adaptation folder, but feel free to use other tools if you'd rather - just remember it has to wind up in the folder so we can all see it.

• Prepare to share your handout with the class.

3:20 CST Discussion

Each group will have 5 minutes to share out [5 min per group]

3:40 CST Closing Statements & Next Week

Assigned

• Complete the Pipes in Canyons 2025 reading guide (Assignments Folder)

• Student Led Lessons teams continue working – see Guidance in Student Led Lessons  in the Assignments folder for your relevant deadlines (deadlines vary by team)

  1. • Pipes & Canyons lesson next week Th 02.27 and reflection Th 03.06

     • Climate Adaptation reflection Th 02.27

• Travel stuff (In Travel Information folder)

  1. • Complete flights spreadsheet

     • Download health form for your University, complete, and get to your instructor as soon as possible.  We wil carry these with us during the trip in case of any incident that renders you unable to respond.  Jan and I are also completing and will carry as well.

3:00-3:10 EST - Introduction, assign notetaker

3:10-3:30 - Get in groups and prep for debate - see slide deck in this folder

Groups of 3 from each institution

• Ambar, Aurora, Gavin  |  Noah, Deloris, Fin

• Jamie, Jules, Anna  |  Kyle, Shila, Payton

3:30-4:20 - Debate

4:20-4:30 - 10 minutes to discuss main findings from the debate and create slides [ folder for work ]

4:30-4:40 - Share key points with class

4:40-4:50 - Last thoughts and comments, talk about next week

Assigned

• Complete the Question Itinerary assignment (Assignments Folder)

• Student Led Lessons teams finish up – see Guidance in Student Led Lessons  in the Assignments folder for your relevant deadlines (deadlines vary by team)

  1. • Climate Adaptation reflection Th 02.27

     • Pipes & Canyons reflection Th 03.06

• Travel stuff (In Travel Information folder)

  1. • Please complete flights spreadsheet

     • Download health form for your University, complete, and get to your instructor as soon as possible.  We wil carry these with us during the trip in case of any incident that renders you unable to respond.  Jan and I are also completing and will carry as well.

     • Please complete survey on Dietary restrictions and preference

     • Sunday Thoughts and Project Ideas documents are still open for your input

• 15:00-15:05 Eastern – Housekeeping | Assign note taker

• 15:05-15:20  Questions Review & Prioritization

  • Lead team for each site (see Question Itinerary assignment) should review comments made on their document

  • Prioritize questions and clearly identify what you see as the top 3 questions to address our overarching question - how do you conserve biodiversity in metropolitan areas?

  • Prepare to present to whole class for no more than 5 minutes - no need to prepare a separate slide show (unless you really want to) - simply use your question itinerary document to guide your remarks, focus on key points from each section of the document, and most critical questions

• 15:20-15:50 Presentations for each site - 5 minutes per

• 16:00 Trip Logistics & Questions (led by Hess & Thompson)

  • Airport pickups

  • Basic logistics

  • Weekend activities (Sunday thoughts)

  • Projects

• 16:50 Adjourn

Travel to San Diego W 03.12-Tu 03.18

No class meeting on Th 03.20

3:00 EDT Housekeeping

• In NC, 2 thank you cards for the grants we received to make our trip possible

3:05 - 3:10 Structure for rest of class

• • Respond to trip and share learnings with products.  You produce something, in teams, that demonstrates your learning.  

    • During our last session (05.01), you will have 15 minutes per team to showcase your product, plus 5 minutes for questions.  Do whatever you think best showcases your product, knowing that you can't show everything.

    • We will also do one activity during the second-to-last session - head (most significant learning), heart (something fun, poignant, meaningful), hand (what you will do differently as a result of this experience).

    • Note: Iowa grantor (Iowa States College of Ag & Life Sciences, Study USA) want's to attend last session

  • 2-3 mini-lessons possible by Jan & George - one about conservation easements, two your choice - put any ideas here

3:05 - 3:30  Most important points about urban biodiversity conservation

• • Do this in the form of news headlines

  • Create 3 headlines per group

  • 4 teams, 15min max to create, then 10 minutes max total to share

  • Put your headlines in this slide deck

  • Ambar, Deloris, Gavin | Aurora, Fin, Noah | Anna, Jamie, Kyle| Jules, Payton, Shila

3:30-4:10 Product Planning – The 2 Inter-University teams go to breakout rooms

• We have 4 teams ...

  • 1. Open Space Dynamics ... Jules, Payton, Shila 

    2. Educational Signage/Outreach ... Anna, Deloris, Gavin

    3. Guidelines for Urban Biodiversity Conservation ... Ambar, Aurora, Fanny

    4. Good Morning San Diego! ... Jamie, Kyle, Noah

• Don't forget, we collected past products that you can see.

• Each team has a folder within the products folder (QuickLinks) in which to work. We recommend doing all of your work there so everyone can access it.

• We need to quickly get to work, as there are only 4 weeks left.

• Objective during this part of the session is to create an outline of your product.

• No report-back at 4:10.

4:10-4:30 Rough Work Plan – Stay in teams

• • Create a rough work plan and schedule that describes resources needed and assigns people to move forward on various parts of the product.

4:30 Quick report-out from each team – back in main room, 5 minutes per team

4:50 Adjourn

Assigned

• Watch: Conservation easements: a tool for working forests (5 min)

• Read: What is a conservation easement?

• Read: 6% of Colorado land is supposed to be protected by conservation easements: but who enforces them?

• Optional reading for more depth: Conservation Easements

• Optional: The Conservation Easement

Above: Looking for fairy shrimp at Carroll Canyon

2-2:05 CDT Housekeeping 

2:05-2:25 Conservation Easements Overview [ Hess ]

• Example Conservation Easement

2:25-2:35 Questions and Guidance

• Guidance: You are trying to showcase in your products something (not everything) important that you learned during our course.  Be tight and focused - think carefully about what your messages are (and don’t have too many of them).  Think about who your audience is - someone trying to protect open space in some other urban area; (potential) users of urban open space; open space managers in San Diego; academics interested in the topic; etc.  Direct your message to that audience.  Consider carefully your relative (to the audience) expertise on what you’re trying to communicate and how your audience will receive your message based on that.  Consider also the time available and be both ambitious and realistic about what you can accomplish in that time.

• Do you have any questions?   (we address as needed)

2:35-3:45 Work time

3:45 Next week 

• Preliminary sharing of your products - share a 5minute version of your product, followed by discussion and critique

3:00 EDT Housekeeping & any questions

3:05 Product work

4:00 Preliminary sharing of your products

• Share a 5minute version of your product, followed by up to 5minute discussion and critique

4:45 For next week ... and after ...

Prepare for Head, Heart, Hand - we need to be concise - 20 minutes for everyone

• Each person, relatively quickly, state 3 things resulting from our experiences together

  • most significant learning (head)

  • something fun, poignant, meaningful (heart)

  • what you will do differently as a result of this experience (hand)

• No official class on the 24th, but we highly recommend you work together during that time.  Jan and I will be available

• Your final products will be digital and should be shareable with other people after the course ends.  For your final presentation, you should consider carefully how to showcase that product.  Each team will have 20 minutes (hard stop) and we suggest up to 15 minutes to showcase followed by discussion.

4:50 Adjourn

2:00-2:05 CDT Housekeeping

2;05 Product Work

3:00-3:20 Head, Heart, Hand

• Each person, relatively quickly, state 3 things resulting from our experiences together

  • most significant learning (head)

  • something fun, poignant, meaningful (heart)

  • what you will do differently as a result of this experience (hand)

• Questions, comments, encouragement

• No offical class next week - Jan and I will be available for consult during class time.  We encourage you to work together during this time.

3:20 Product work

3:50 Adjourn

Leaving San Diego.  Mission Bay, just left of center frame.  Pacific Ocean to the left.

• This is during Final Exam period for NC State, so we will not have an official class meeting. We (strongly) suggest you use this time to work together on your products anyway.  

• Jan and I will be available by eMail if you need us - just reach out and we can respond or Zoom with you or whatever it takes.

• It's close to time to be putting on final touches to complete your product and be ready to showcase it next week.

3:00-3:05 EDT Housekeeping

• Each team has 20 minutes ... up to 15 minutes to showcase and the rest for questions, then 5 minutes between teams.

• Introduction of guests at Iowa State University

3:05-3:25 ... Educational Signage - Anna, Deloris, Gavin

3:30-3:55 ... Open Space Dynamics - Jules, Payton, Shila

4:00-4:20 ... Lessons in Urban Biodiversity Conservation - Ambar, Aurora, Fin

4:25-4:50 ... Good Morning, San Diego! - Jamie, Kyle, Noah