Ecology of the Mississippi River Delta Region
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
It is my intention to teach you about the Mississippi River Delta region - the place you live. In doing so, I hope to enthrall you with the ecology of south Louisiana, have you reeling with awe at incredible processes that have formed the delta and those that are altering it, convince you to use funny-sounding scientific names at parties, stimulate you to talk with your family at the dinner table about things your folks would rather that you not, make you laugh, stretch your imagination, have you touch things you've never touched, help you experience the environment in a personal way, and ask you to look at your world a little differently than you probably have in the past.
We will be very anthropocentric in this course, because humans are a dominant factor in the ecology of the Mississippi River Delta Region. We derive our economic well-being from our coastal marshes and our activities can adversely affect their quality if we are not vigilant.
With each topic, we will discuss how much we know and don’t know, how it has been communicated to various audiences, and the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding those means and techniques.
You have a set of my notes not for the purpose of making the course less rigorous, but to relieve you of keeping up with what I am saying so that you can more easily assimilate and feel the points of discussion. You should be able to spend class time exploring concepts rather than registering facts. You should be adding your thoughts and reactions to the notes, especially areas into which you wish to delve later.
This course should give you additional information about why our environment and all its seemingly insignificant components are worth saving. It should also give you insight into how to live comfortably in this wonderful “mildew capital of the world!”
Bottom line:
My job: To deliver what I have promised.
Your job: To think, understand, and enjoy!
Operative words: challenge, stretch, think, wonder, enjoy.