Spring 2022 Courses

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. This course is comprised of supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. This course provides knowledge of veterinary diagnostic and surveillance systems used to detect infectious diseases in individual animals and animal populations, with the goal of protecting against animal agricultural biological attacks.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. This course provides knowledge of plant biosecurity, plant disease, regulations, and technologies using case study examples.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. Principles of business management are provided using a variety of examples from industries in agribusiness, which offer real-world experiences. Exploring the institutions and issues, such as food safety and biotechnology, that are unique to managers in the agribusiness sector is emphasized.

1–9 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. This course in Individual Studies in agronomy is for students who will be working on their capstone project with their adviser. It is based on creative projects, including non-thesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

3 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. This course will introduce students to the breadth and scope of animal agriculture in North America with an emphasis on food-producing animals.

3 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. This course provides information that will be used to make informed decisions about pet ownership, pet care, controversial legal issues, and societal responsibilities. Satisfies General Education - Social and Behavioral Sciences (GS).

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. Concepts, strategies, and techniques of local economic analysis, planning, and development; and decision-making exercises.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. Social organization, processes, and change in communities; use of sociological principles in the analysis of community problems and development.

3 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. Understanding theories, concepts, and frameworks of community and economic development and community decision-making models in application to community development practice and issues.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Summer. This course introduces students to the four basic elements of leadership: personal, interpersonal, group/organization, and community.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. Typical topics include several methods and techniques in these areas: general community assessment techniques, specialized techniques for community and economic development, and leadership and process skills.

3 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. This course provides essential information for the process of writing and developing a framework for students to apply, integrate, and practice the theories, concepts, and methods from the CEDEV curriculum in developing the topic, outline, and literature review for their required master's paper.

1, 2, 3, or 6 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. Creative projects, including non-thesis research, that are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

3 credit course. This course will provide students with the knowledge needed to form innovative ideas that address social, environmental, and economic problems, put those ideas into a physical plan, get them funded, and launch them. Along the way, students will develop their own ideas for improving the world, and work them forward with fellow innovators. All the while, students will learn the techniques of social entrepreneurship and collaborative innovation, and how to apply them to everyday life.

3 credit course. Offered Fall. This course provides students with an overview of ecosystem monitoring methods and analyses. Students completing the course will have the ability to apply a quantitative approach to the monitoring of ecosystems. Students will learn about monitoring planning, various sampling designs, and specific measurement methods used to accomplish particular monitoring objectives associated with ecosystem management. Students will be able to apply specific sampling, measurement, and data analysis methods for monitoring vegetation, wildlife, water quantity and quality, and soils, and they will have a statistical foundation for evaluating the various types of data that are collected. Specifically, students will be able to calculate reliability measures, trends, and indicators of ecosystem change, and apply hypothesis testing to these measures to determine their statistical significance. Specific sampling designs will be presented, such as simple random sampling, stratified random sampling, systematic sampling, and cluster sampling.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. This course provides a broad exploration of the basic legal principles, regimes, and issues related to environmental protection and natural resource management.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. Making decisions as an ecosystem manager requires knowledge of economics, planning, and finance.

3 or 6 credit course. Offered Spring. Supervised, professionally-oriented student activities that constitute the culminating experience for the program.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. This course is designed for non-science majors who have no science background, thus, there are no course prerequisites. The amazing world of insects and how they interact with humans is the focus of the course. Materials are presented in a multi-media format, including several videos. There are 24 lessons with weekly quizzes, a midterm and a final exam. Students will complete a writing assignment involving summarizing and critically analyzing a current news story in the popular press about insects.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. The intimate association between honey bees and human societies dates back over 8,000 years, which has fostered a rich, nuanced, and complex history binding the two through the ages and across the globe. In this class, you will learn about honey bee biology and colony organization, and the many cultural, political, and ethical implications of beekeeping that have shaped historical and current perspectives on honey bees worldwide.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. General overview and principles; food constituents and properties; quality and safety; preservation methods; processing animal and plant products.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. Fermented beverage production has been a driving force for scientific discovery and as such is a wonderful way to introduce areas of scientific knowledge. This course will use beer, wine, and other fermented products, as well as their ingredients to teach core scientific concepts. These concepts will include the biology of fruit development, the microbiology of wine and beer production, the physics of carbonated beverages, and the flavor chemistry induced through fire. Through these areas, students will learn critical thinking skills, as well as apply what they have learned to practical problems including utilizing some of the key mathematical equations used in beer and wine production. Upon completion, students will be expected to be able to understand key elements of fermented beverage production, along with the science behind it, and to be able to apply that knowledge to practical problems.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. The main objective of this course is to allow each student to develop the necessary data analysis skills needed for analyzing and interpreting sensory and consumer data.

3 credit course. Offered Spring, Summer, and Fall. Introduction to horticulture with an emphasis on plant domestication, morphology, classification, world food crops, commodities, gardens, propagation, and agrochemicals.

3 credit course. Offered Summer and Fall. Plants have played a dynamic role in shaping our life. In reality, human existence on Earth is made possible by the breath of plants through photosynthesis. Likewise, our botanical connections and interactions are many: we need plants for food, beverages, medicines, materials, healthy lifestyles, and aesthetics. Plants have also played an important role in where our ancestors settled and where we live today. Some of the important topics discussed in this class will include the role of tea in transforming world cultures, the importance of sugar in the Civil War and the establishment of the Caribbean nations, the effect of the Irish potato famine on Europe and the US, and the use of plants in solving crimes.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. Fundamentals of Home Landscaping offers broad coverage of the environmental, human, technological, and aesthetic issues associated with residential landscape design. Beginning with the way we perceive, manage, and design the landscape, the course examines the arrangement of land, water, plant forms, and structures for their best use and greater enjoyment. Relying on actual procedures and underlying principles utilized by experienced residential landscape designers, the course will introduce students to basic design principles, concepts, specific procedures for preparing site plans and associated documents. The course will also explore designing with and general care of plants, assorted hardscape types, and how to properly assess a site. From choosing trees, shrubs, groundcovers that are correct for the site to properly installing patios, decks, and walkways, students will be presented with the varied ways plants and hardscape are installed and maintained. The course will conclude with students completing a design for a residential site.

3 credit course. Offered Spring. This course focuses on agriculture in developing countries and frames this focus with a discussion of contemporary crucial issues facing agriculture on a global scale, emphasizing global hunger and food security.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. This course provides an introduction to various aspects of plants including growth strategies, cellular makeup, genetics, and reproduction. Special attention will be paid to gardening, crop biotechnologies, and to plant adaptations in response to environmental stressors.

3 credit course. Offered Spring and Fall. This course provides a broad overview of hemp's natural ecosystem, biology, domestication, phenotypic plasticity, industrial cultivation, and business models within the hemp industry that foster bioeconomic empowerment for growers. The course starts with the basic biology of Cannabis species, the effects of light on the production of cannabinoids, the various uses in the economic fabric of industrialized nations, and concludes with what makes hemp (THC < 0.3%) a unique plant for industrial production. Despite the legalization of hemp, optimal conditions for indoor and outdoor cultivation of cannabis remain not well understood. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to basic principles, best horticultural practices, and specific concepts for getting started in industrial hemp production. Throughout this course, potential business opportunities are emphasized for various aspects of the hemp industry.