While today’s modern cities may seem to be isolated from what we consider “nature,” they are not. Understanding ecological interactions and the application of these principles is essential to building sustainable urban communities, as issues such as biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and natural resource availability are complicated in the urban setting. M.S. in Sustainability Management students in Amy Kaparti’s Science of Urban Ecology course explore the complex ecology of human-dominated landscapes.
The course addresses the physical dimensions of sustainability management and the connection between the natural and built environments. This spring, students conducted video interviews of researchers and practitioners in the field of urban ecology. Several students chose to focus on the interplay between the social and biological dynamics of urban ecology, namely community engagement in environmental conservation work.
Jessica Vargas, a student in the course, spoke with Michael Rizo, an urban and community program specialist in the Office of International Programs of the U.S. Forest Service. With the COVID-19 pandemic, Vargas admitted that it can sometimes be hard to network and make professional connections. However, through this urban ecology project, she found a silver lining from transitioning to a virtual work environment: “Michael is based in Chicago, and despite the distance, we achieved having a great conversation and we have been able to maintain contact.” Vargas and Rizo met at the Nature of Cities Festival, a virtual event that focuses on facilitating transdisciplinary dialogue, workshops, and fostering a collaborative spirit around green cities and environmental solutions for urban areas.
Their conversation focuses on monarch butterfly conservation efforts in Chicago, the value of engaging immigrant communities from Mexico in conservation work, the remarkable cultural symbolism of the monarchs, and creating excitement about habitat restoration in city neighborhoods. When reflecting on her conversation with Rizo, Vargas shared, “it was really nice to hear [him] talk about the cultural connections to the monarch butterfly, tying in their migration time to celebration days in Mexican culture. As a proud member of the Latino community, it was amazing learning how nature serves as inspiration for these cultural endeavors.” Her full interview with Rizo is available to view here.
Vargas, who’s originally from Mexico, studied sustainable innovation and energy engineering before Columbia and conducted a thesis about a forest carbon offsets project in a rural community during her last undergraduate semester. The interconnection between forests and poverty alleviation caught her attention as an undergraduate, and she’s decided to focus her career on projects which connect nature preservation with the development of low-income communities. However, Vargas realized that these ambitions required a deeper understanding of the natural and built environment. “I was cognizant that I had plenty to learn, which is why I decided to join the Sustainability Management program,” she said.
Moving to the “concrete jungle” for her first semester as a Sustainability Management student, Vargas was eager to learn more about the importance of having nature in an urban environment. She decided to take the urban ecology course to better understand the services different ecosystems provide an urban area. Vargas says that Professor Kaparti’s Science of Urban Ecology course has taught her that nature is everywhere. “While cities are fundamentally ecological spaces―and like any other habitat, cities are built around the needs of one species: the human population―the thing is that humans need natural ecosystems to survive as a species, and we must recognize that technology or manufactured capital is a complement and not a substitute for the world’s ecosystem functions.”
Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2020, the M.S. in Sustainability Management, co-sponsored by the Earth Institute and Columbia’s School of Professional Studies, trains students to tackle complex and pressing environmental and managerial challenges. Visit the program website to learn more.
