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From Climate Change to Cappuccinos:
The Challenges and Rewards of Course Development

By Elisa Livengood, SNRE M.S. Student

The prospect of designing and teaching courses looms in the future of many masters and doctoral students wishing to remain in academia. Students may have opportunities to teach in previously prepared courses, but few have the freedom to take their instruction to the next level by designing their own course. Danny Coenen and Tracy Van Holt, two SNRE doctoral students, pursued separate opportunities to design and teach their own courses. By combining the knowledge gained through their program of study and their research, each student was able to add their unique perspective to a natural resource subject area not previously addressed at the University. The environmental issues they showcase in each course were both highly relevant and very relatable to the students.

When the opportunity presented itself to Danny Coenen, through the Center for European Studies, he jumped at the chance. In 2007, the Center issued a call for graduate students to design a course with a focus in countries within the European Union (EU). Coenen's idea required using his research background on climate change as the foundation; from this, the course Climate Change and the European Union: Science and Policy was born.

"This class begins with an introduction to interdisciplinary thinking, the physical science of climate change, and the structure and function of the European Union. The final part of the course consists of combining all of that knowledge and applying it to policy analysis," explained Coenen. "For example, students examine the Kyoto protocol and the European Climate Change program and start to bring the science and policy together. They begin to ask if those policies actually make sense and are they targeting the right mechanism."

Coenen faced numerous challenges including where to find appropriate texts for the course and how to register these books with campus bookstores. However, the challenges he faced as a first time instructor, were offset by his knowledge in the subject area. "Essentially, I have been preparing for this course from the start of my graduate education; I have 7 years worth of knowledge to pass on to these students," said Coenen.

Tracy Van Holt, another SNRE doctoral student, won a fellowship to teach a course of her own creation sponsored through UF's Center for Latin American Studies. Tracy's course dissected a popular coffee drink using components of development, ecology, and sustainability as denoted by the title Ethical markets in Latin America: the Mocha Cappuccino. "We examined the social, ecological, and political aspects of the essential ingredients in a mocha cappuccino specifically coffee, chocolate, sugar, and milk, all of which have particular economic importance in Latin America," said Van Holt.

Her course also emphasized interdisciplinary thinking by having students analyze the issues surrounding development and land use from multiple perspectives. Van Holt explained, "After students learned about the driving concepts affecting the ethical markets surrounding these ingredients, they then had to evaluate the effectiveness of fair trade, organic and local farming, and corporate responsibility." Students examined these factors on the global and local scale and identified how mocha cappuccino ingredients affect producers and traders in Florida. Van Holt engaged external partners such as Dave Rochlin, the chief operations officer of TransFair. "Students were able to have their questions answered about fair trade by talking with Rochlin who actually certifies the products coming into the U.S. Students also met with Sweetwater Coffee, a local business that specializes in organic and fairly traded coffee in Florida. By engaging in this experience students learned about the business challenges for social entrepreneurs in a slow-Floridian coffee market" explained Van Holt.

Students came to this course from variety of academic backgrounds including business, neuroscience, environmental science, anthropology, and political science. "Framing this course in terms of the mocha cappuccino attracted a diversity of students; everyone did not agree and this really enriched our discussions and enhanced everyone's learning experience," explained Van Holt. From these discussions students also gained insight into other fields. "Business students learned about social and environmental issues, and environmental students better understood how complicated it is to run a quality business. I am proud that sixteen undergraduate students from the US have some understanding of the role the World Bank plays in shaping international development," Van Holt exclaimed!

Teaching students can be a rewarding and often challenging experience and is something every graduate student should experience. By creating the innovative courses, these SNRE students were able to share with undergraduates their knowledge and build upon their academic program. Each course brought a new perspective to an ecological issue and exposed students to cutting edge information enriching the curriculum offered to undergraduates at UF.