Emerald ash borer
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of an environmental issue paper.
In the field of environmental science, it is crucial to be able to understand interrelationships and consider all aspects of an issue from ecology to economics. It is important to recognize yourself as a part of the system and how your actions are active contributions to that system. As an environmental scientist, you will be identifying issues and researching resolutions. You will have to consider the various factors included in the environmental issue and the impact the resolution will have on the environment and human population.
For the final project, you will write a paper on an environmental issue of your choice. The United States Environmental Protection Agency website will be helpful in determining your issue. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of an environmental issue that impacts your local community, state, or region at varying levels including ecosystem, quality of life, and economics. These skills will benefit you as you pursue advanced research opportunities as well as careers within the regulation and remediation industry. You will analyze the steps taken to identify the solutions utilized and the success of these solutions, including the people or groups involved. You will be supporting your paper with credible peer–reviewed research.
The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three and Five. The final submission is due in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Use credible environmental research for drawing basic connections among policy, science, and society
Describe the impact of economic considerations on environmental science and sustainable practices
Identify sustainable environmental practices and science based solutions that are supported by credible evidence
Explain how diverse individual, social, political, and economic factors influence response to environmental issues
Prompt
For this assessment, you will need to identify an environmental issue that impacts your local community, state, or region. You can choose any environmental issue; however, you will need to describe its impact on the environment, economy, and quality of life. You will also be describing a sustainable solution to the issue and the impact this solution will have on the environment, economy, and quality of life, including how you can promote awareness throughout the community and your daily life.
I. Environmental Issue: To begin your paper, you will need to identify an environmental issue that impacts your local community, state, or region. You will then describe the issue and its impact on the environment, local community or state, and human quality of life. You will also describe societal and political reactions to the environmental issue. You are required to use credible research to support your descriptions.
A. Identify an environmental issue and briefly explain its impact on the environment. In your explanation, utilizing credible research, be sure to:
1. Describe the impact this issue has had on the environment within your state.
2. Describe the impact this issue has had on human quality of life. Support your description with relevant examples.
3. Describe the impact this environmental issue has had on the economy within your state or local community.
4. Describe societal reactions to the environmental issue. Support your description with relevant examples.
5. Describe political reactions to the environmental issue. Support your description with relevant examples.
II. Sustainable Solution: In this section, you will identify an environmentally and economically sustainable solution to your selected environmental issue.
You will explain why this solution is environmentally and economically sustainable and describe the amount of time needed for implementation and cost considerations around the solution. You will explain the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed solution and explain its potential impact on the community. You will also discuss potential consequences if no solution is implemented to remediate the issue.
A. Describe a sustainable solution to your selected environmental issue that has been proposed by the scientific community. Support your description with scientific evidence.
B. Explain why this solution is sustainable. Support your explanation with scientific evidence.
C. Estimate the total amount of time it will take to implement the solution. In other words, how long will it take to identify a solution and implement it from start to finish? Support your estimation with scientific evidence.
D. Describe the cost considerations of implementing the solution, identifying where the funding will come from.
E. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of this solution for your local community. For example, you might consider changes to local economy or quality of life. Support your explanation with specific examples.
F. Describe potential environmental consequences of not implementing a solution to alleviate the environmental issue. Support your description with scientific facts.
III. Personal Impact: Now that you have investigated an environmental issue and a sustainable solution, it is time to reflect on your personal impact. In this section, you will identify a personal habit that may have contributed to the issue. You will then describe ways you can promote the solution described above and how you can promote responsibility within your local community.
A. Identify a personal habit that contributes to the environmental issue, and explain how it contributes to the issue.
B. Describe a way that you can personally promote the solution in your daily life.
C. Describe how you can promote environmental responsibility within your local community. Support your description with specific examples
