Coastal and Marine Resource Management is one of the foundational upper division courses for our Environmental Science and Resource Management majors with a Resource Management emphasis at CSU Channel Islands.  Dr. Anderson has grown and diversified the course every year since 2005 (save when Dr. Steele ran a fantastic edition when he was on sabbatical in 2013).  During this course students learn about, deeply explore, and gain firsthand experience with a range of management issues facing our planet’s coastal zones (with an emphasis on our California challenges).  Well-known hallmarks of this course include our multi-day Central California Coastal Management Trip and our long-term data collection projects characterizing public opinions about coastal issues and the sustainability of point-of-sale seafood in southern California.

course description

This course will introduce you to the fundamental concepts of coastal and marine resource management. Along the way, you will gain a practical grounding in relevant coastal natural history, basic oceanography, and marine ecology as we examine the various challenges to effective management and protection of these systems. The knowledge and skills you acquire will bolster your ongoing, long-term mastery of the management of local coastal resources and the general public’s perceptions of those resources.

learning goals

 Learning Outcomes: Concepts

By the end of this course, you should understand and be able to clearly articulate:

• the major environmental issues at the regional, national, and international levels related to coastal and marine conservation and management.
• the processes by which regional, national, and international governments and organizations manage coastal and marine environments.
• the basic abiotic and biotic processes structuring coastal and marine communities.
• complexities inherent in coastal and marine management and the relationship between terrestrial and aquatic systems.
• various management options for coastal environments.
• the current state of our coastal and marine communities and resources.

 Learning Outcomes: Skills

Coastal and marine management, like all foreign languages, has its own grammar, terminology, and rhetoric (particularly when it comes to large governmental bureaucracies).  To interpret the primary literature and engage in meaningful discussions, you will need to familiarize yourself with this language.  As we learn about the theory and practice of managing our resources, we will simultaneously be developing and refining a variety of skills not confined to the management arena.

     At the conclusion of our course you will be able to:

• evaluate scientific papers and popular press accounts of technical issues.
• interpret quantitative data in tabular and graphical forms.
• create professional, elegant graphs from a diverse array of data.
• have confidence in your own interpretations and insights.

     You should also be able to demonstrate a marked improvement in your:

• technical communication (particularly your interpersonal and oral skills)
• note taking
• digital literacy (particularly your digital identity and blogging skills)
• observations of natural landscapes and seascapes