Category Archives: Agriculture & Forestry

Conservation: History and Future

Conservation: History and Future
What is Conservation? Defining Conservationism We define conservation as a broad approach to preserving what is already there and the due care and attention to protecting it for the future (1). It is also dedicated to restoring something to a natural state and maintaining equilibrium. It is a practice and a philosophy, utilizing scientific tools…
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VW Partners With Conservation Fund and 3Degrees to Manage and Restore Redwoods

VW Partners With Conservation Fund and 3Degrees to Manage and Restore Redwoods
I’m standing on a bridge in the Garcia River Conservation-Based Forest Management Project, a 24,000 acre tract, whose native redwoods have been almost entirely taken out for timber. Speaking to my group is Scott Kelly, Timberlands Manager with the Conservation Fund, who manages the forest.  (The Nature Conservancy holds a conservation easement on the property.)…
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Agricultural Science and GIS

Agricultural Science and GIS
GIS has still yet to be taken up in en masse in agricultural science yet there is massive potential for such areas as agricultural planning, attractive implications for the future of managing our crop production and increasing yields in line with other technology. Agricultural scientists are always looking at ways to best produce our crops,…
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Future of Agriculture: Facts About GM Crops and Biotech

Future of Agriculture: Facts About GM Crops and Biotech
Biotechnology is a growing industry, a relatively new science that is expected to grow in importance over the coming decades as we find new ways to improve food yield, modify vital crops for hardiness and protection against disease and extreme weather, and to grow in some of the most remote areas on the planet. Typically,…
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Invasive Species: How They Affect the Environment

Invasive Species: How They Affect the Environment
One consequence of globalization is that in addition to people and products moving across the globe, wildlife has been transported as well. This practice of transporting animals from their native regions to new areas dates back thousands of years. The Roman Empire frequently brought back animals from foreign lands to use for entertainment in the…
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History of Agriculture

History of Agriculture
There are many options for those wishing to study an agriculture-based degree due to the nature of the breadth of the subject. With the exploration of modern concepts such as GM, environmental change, sustainability as well as the business and scientific sides, potential students are spoiled for choice for employment and degree options. In most…
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Environmental Consequences of Fishing Practices

Environmental Consequences of Fishing Practices
For centuries, humans have relied on the ocean for subsistence by harvesting its abundance of fish.  In recent decades, new technologies have allowed humans to remove fish from the ocean on a massive scale to supply Earth’s burgeoning population. Unfortunately, there are many negative environmental consequences to these practices and overfishing has been identified as…
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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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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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