CIESIN Broadens Its Educational Role at Columbia

In response to growing student interest at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in interdisciplinary analysis and problem solving focused on critical and complex interactions between humans and the environment, CIESIN is taking a more active role in the educational life of the university. This academic year, CIESIN researchers can be found teaching courses in four Columbia schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), the Mailman School of Public Health, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

At SIPA, CIESIN deputy director Marc Levy is again leading a graduate course, “Environmental, Conflict, and Resolution Strategies,” that explores the critical linkages between political conflict, environmental change, and natural resource management. The seminar draws on CIESIN’s unique expertise on environment and security issues, including research on hydrology and conflict, possible impacts of climate change on national security, and vulnerability to hazards. Initial development of the course was supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which has partnered with the Earth Institute on a major research project on ecological restoration in post-conflict regions, focusing initially on Haiti. The Columbia Center for New Media, Technology, and Learning (CCNMTL), working closely with Levy and CIESIN researcher Alex Fischer, has produced a simulation tool, Ground|Work, for use in the course. Ground|Work situates students in a fictional post-conflict country and requires them to devise a strategy for managing environment and resource challenges.

Levy also leads a SIPA policy workshop in the spring, which last year worked with UNEP to identify options for improving how environment and resource issues are assessed in post-crisis settings, and conducted a rapid needs assessment in a watershed in southeastern Haiti that was badly damaged by the 2008 hurricanes. He also co-teaches “Advances in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology,” led by Denning Professor of Sustainable Development Ruth deFries, with Rob Rose and Damien Joly of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). This course uses geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing tools to explore connections between emerging infectious disease, land use, and climate in WCS “living landscapes” where researchers have developed relevant data sets.

Techniques of spatial analysis and the application of GIS are the focus of two courses now offered by associate director Mark Becker, one in the School of Public Health and the other in SIPA. The “GIS for Public Health” course, now in its third year, is structured around the application of spatial analysis techniques to answer public health research questions. The course also features guest speakers from government agencies and non-profit organizations invited to share real-world examples of using GIS in public health research and practice. Becker’s course in SIPA focuses on giving students the ability to use geospatial technologies to visualize and interpret social and environmental information. Students learn the fundamentals of GIS and GPS systems, data integration methods, and spatial analysis and modeling techniques as they apply to environmental and political policy development and management. In addition, this fall CIESIN geographic information specialist Greg Yetman is teaching a course in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering on “GIS for Resource, Environmental, and Infrastructure Management,” in which he introduces and applies analytical tools to a variety of problems such as watershed protection, environmental risk assessment, flooding, and emergency response to natural or man-made hazards.

In addition to formal coursework, CIESIN continues to contribute actively to other educational activities at Columbia. This fall, CIESIN director Robert Chen joins Marc Levy in teaching a session of the Earth Institute “Practicum,” and is participating in a speaker series, “Open Data and the Future of Funded Research,” organized by the Scholarly Communication Program of the Columbia University Libraries. CIESIN’s Geospatial Applications Division offers regular training sessions in GIS software, including ESRI-authorized courses, and in remote sensing, metadata tools and management, and online mapping, both at the Lamont and Morningside campuses and international locations. A wide range of student internships are also offered throughout the academic year and summer. This growth in educational and training activities is undertaken by CIESIN as part of the educational missions of the University and the Earth Institute, and helps to enrich and inform the organization’s research and outreach activities.