Sean M Watts
Lecturer
Office: Montgomery House #209 (874 Lafayette Street)
Phone: (408) 551-3000 x6453
Email: swatts@scu.edu |
| B.A. 1995, University of Virginia |
| Ph.D. 2005, University of California, Santa Barbara |
Curriculum Vitae
Please visit the Undergrad Sci & Eng Symposium (USES)! http://www.scu.edu/cas/environmentalstudies/research/uses/
Teaching and Research Vision
I am interested in understanding how our natural plant communities are maintained, or, conversely, how they are degraded. Oak woodlands, ponderosa pine forests, grasslands and other plant communities define our sense of place and ‘home’ and provide countless natural services for us. Herbivores and invasive species can dramatically alter these plant communities. As an ecologist and conservationist I seek to provide management guidance that will maintain our natural plant communities in spite of threats due to overgrazing or invasive species. The management of natural areas to maintain both biodiversity and community types requires a continuous compromise between management interventions at the local scale and ecological and evolutionary processes that occur over large spatial and long temporal scales. My research is predominately in the field and experimental, but I am also developing a database of the native and naturalized exotic California flora to correlate combinations of traits such as longevity, adult and seed size with native plant community resilience and exotic invasiveness. This combined field and database approach seeks to reconcile large scale processes with the often incremental impacts on local communities that determine conservation and restoration actions at the site level.
I am also interested in environmental policy and outreach; after all, our natural areas would not exist without citizens who care about them. I work on a volunteer basis with organizations seeking to diversify the environmental movement and to maintain and increase interest in nature among youth. I also study the background and upbringing that lead people to choose environmentally related careers. Hopefully, research such as this will improve our understanding of the motivations that can sustain the environmental movement in the 21st century.
My research interests carry over into teaching- environmental science and conservation are distinctly interdisciplinary and we are obliged to understand the social, economic, and geopolitical realities that test the feasibility of purely scientific recommendations. In designing exercises and lectures, I try to promote discussion by deconstructing popular (or unpopular) views of nature and environmental ethics. In this way, I hope to encourage critical thinking by identifying our own biases to better understand an entire range of opinions.
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 ENVS 11: Introduction to Environmental Science
This course offers a broad introduction to the major environmental threats facing the world, as well as the key questions or policy debates surrounding our response to these threats. Problems such as habitat destruction, over-harvesting, invasive species, emerging diseases, and global warming cannot be addressed without considering the diversity of cultures and socioeconomic conditions in the global community. Lectures will deliberately contrast the means and obstacles to tackling environmental issues in developed vs. developing countries. In-class and independent research assignments will help students develop critical thinking skills and to analyze and present information pertaining to environmental issues. (4 units)
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ENVS 98: Outdoor Leadership Expedition (OLE)
This course uses instruction in wilderness safety, outdoor technical skills and low-impact camping to develop leadership skills and an appreciation of the natural world. An online application is required prior to instructor approval. Application forms will be made available at the beginning of the quarter prior to the course offering. Students are graded P/NP only. (2 units) NCX
NOTE: Unfortunately, due to a backlog of previous applicants, we will not be able to accept new applications for the Spring 2009 OLE course. Please return in the second week of spring quarter for the Fall '09 application.
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ENVS 122: US Environmental Policy
This course will focus on US Environmental Policy between 1960 and 2006, highlighting the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and global warming. We will use these four foci to gain an understanding of how policy is formulated, how one might measure its consequences, and the role of communication and politics in moving policy forward (or blocking policy advances). We all aim to make a difference, and this course will focus on major policy junctures, and analyze how those differences were made, or not made. We will not be discussing the legal aspects, but rather how these acts came to be, and the ongoing policy debates surrounding their administration and implementation. (5 units)
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ENVS 133: Ecology of California Plant Communities
This course provides an overview of the major plant communities in California, with an emphasis on the following themes: community, biodiversity, and ecological factors controlling plant species distributions, and human relationships with plants. Laboratory work emphasizes species identification and field studies in plant communities. Cross listed with Biology 133. Prerequisite: Biology 23. (5 units)
ENVS 134: Plant Ecology in the Tropics
This course is primarily focused on plant community ecology; including instruction in evolution, systematics, biogeography, plant defense, and pollination/dispersal syndromes… it just happens to incorporate some field work in tropical rainforest. Because the course has both a Californian (mediterranean-type climate) and Costa Rican (pre-montane rainforest) component, labs will compare the community ecology and diversity of similar landscapes in each region. Extensive training in field methods will prepare students for these labs and the development of each student’s proposal for final projects. After this course students should have a basic ability to distinguish members of major plant families, an understanding of the biogeographic and ecological forces that influence plant communities and practical experience in plant field ecological methods and the development of testable hypotheses.
ENVS 197: Environmental Fixes: Cures or Cons, seminar
Biofuels, hydrogen, certified timber, organic agriculture – are these truly viable solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental crises? Or are we just grasping for the easiest fixes that will generate the least amount of political resistance? In this seminar we will critically examine these and other so-called solutions to environmental problems; delving into their hidden costs and the thinly veiled agendas of their supporters. Prerequisite: ENVS 11 or Instructor approval. (2 units)
ENVS 199A: Directed Reading in Environmental Science In the first quarter of research (usually Fall) students will read selections from Experiments in Ecology (A.J. Underwood. 1997. Cambridge University Press) and perform primary literature searches in preparation for field or lab experiments. Students will work with the instructor to design and prepare materials for the experiment. (1-5 units)
ENVS 199B: Directed Environmental Research In the following quarter (usually Winter) students will follow the experimental design and initiate the project. Through this quarter students will make any modifications to the design necessary and collect data for the experiment. In the final quarter (and over the summer) students will begin data entry and analysis. During this time students will also begin literature searches in preparation for the final write up, ideally, for publication. Over the summer and, potentially, into the following Fall, students will finish/submit the final report/manuscript. (1-5 units)
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