Monthly Archives: January 2015

Introduction to Botany

Introduction to Botany
Whether you call it botany, plant science or plant biology, it is one of the world’s oldest natural sciences. That means that most colleges and universities will have a botany or plant science degree in their Natural Science or Biology department. Many of the top universities have botany degrees, but there has been a decline…
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Introduction to Environmental Finance

Introduction to Environmental Finance
What is Environmental Finance? Environmental finance is a field that on the surface is unfamiliar to most practitioners.  However, most are familiar with some of the tools or products of environmental finance such as emissions trading and land trusts for conservation.   This field essentially takes a financial look and methodology to address environmental issues.  The…
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The Environmental Impact of Roads

The Environmental Impact of Roads
Roads are increasingly common in today’s world as human development expands and people increasingly rely on cars for transportation on a daily basis. The United States contains over 4 million miles of roadways and an estimated 20% of land in the country is impacted by the presence of roads.1 This large network of roads has…
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Phytoliths: What They Are and What They Tell Us

Phytoliths: What They Are and What They Tell Us
Phytolith studies require an understanding of several disciplines at once. Though the method is used primarily as a tool of archaeology and anthropology (the study of humans in the past) it does require a solid background in plant biology. Therefore, people who go on to research and study phytoliths will often have a heavy focus…
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Entomology 101: Study of Insects

Entomology 101: Study of Insects
What is Entomology? Entomology is now a well-established degree and with the scope of the environmental sciences continuing to expand, the evidence that we can acquire from it is expected to continue to have the broadest possible appeal. Though classed as a subsection of zoology, it is a deep enough subject to require specific undergraduate…
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The Concrete Jungle: Study of Urban Landscapes as Environmental Science

The Concrete Jungle: Study of Urban Landscapes as Environmental Science
Many universities in North America and in Europe now offer studies of the urban environment BAs/BScs MAs/MScs in such subjects as Urban Studies and Urban Archaeology. The growing importance of our towns and cities means they are now a subject of major academic study – an area that is only expected to grow as we…
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Birds as Environmental Indicators

Birds as Environmental Indicators
Humans have invented a variety of instruments to monitor the health of ecosystems.  For example, to examine water quality in a wetland, an environmental scientist may use a sensor to measure dissolved oxygen in the water or perform chemical assays in the lab to examine heavy metals in the soil. However, in some cases we…
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