LAAR 513 - Environmental Resources I

3 hours.
3 Credits

This course introduces students to the basic tools and concepts necessary to analyze natural systems for land use suitability. The principles governing ecosystems within the urban context are also studied. Ecologically based tools such as soil types, site inventory/analysis, watershed analysis, plant zones and ecosystems, renewable and non-renewable resources, heat islands and micro and macro-environments, wildlife corridors, and other natural and manmade systems are explored. Contemporary concepts related to ‘green systems and products’ are also explored relative to an understanding of how designers craft sustainable landscapes. The aim of this lecture course is to build a kit of landscape tools that construct a sense of land and environmental stewardship in the practice of landscape architecture. This course is cross-listed with CREP 542.

Prerequisite(s) Graduate standing or permission of the instructor.