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RNR 1001
Final paper
For your final assignment (30% of your total class grade), you will turn in a 5–10-page paper (not including references), 12 pt font, 1.5 spaced, normal margins, submitted in Microsoft word format through Moodle. You may organize with headings or sections if you like and/or put a space between paragraphs but don’t overdo it. Please include a title but do not make it its own title page. This paper must include a minimum of 4 legitimate resources (online sites and documentaries are fine) that must be included in your references. 
This assignment will integrate all of the topics covered in this class. You will select a current event related to an issue in conservation specifically addressing each of the topics covered in this course (see below). We will go through many examples of this in class. You will integrate your knowledge gained in class and perform your own research to briefly describe the ecology, history, human elements (population, culture, ethics, economic status, etc.), threats to biodiversity and natural resources, global, local, and personal significance of the place or resource, and evaluate the likely future of this resource, including current practices, policies, and management therein. The primary goal of this assignment is to demonstrate your learned proficiency in global learning through the course material covered herein. Specifically, this assignment will evaluate your ability to 1) appreciate and understand cultural diversity, 2) understand global systems, ecology, and biodiversity, and 3) apply your knowledge in contemporary global contexts. 
Essentially, this paper must address the 1) ecology/biology, 2) cultural and ethical factors that surround or drive the issue, and 3) what global challenges and processes influence your issue. Linking the ecology and science to cultural behaviors and assessing the future (climate change) of this issue is critical for getting maximum points on this assignment. 
Understanding Global Systems: In this portion, you must describe the ecology or biology pertaining to the conservation issue using scientific language. This may include details of an ecosystem, a biological process, or various ecological characteristics of the species that are relevant to this particular issue. This is where you will rely heavily on what you have learned in the ecology section of this course. So, to get top marks in this section, you must explain the system and/or species of interest in detail and link the way that this system/species functions to your conservation issue. For example, we will discuss how the removal or addition apex predators in ecosystems can cause trophic cascades. If this were your conservation issue “Removal of red wolves along the east coast”, or something, you would describe something about the species biology (why is it an apex predator and what is an apex predator), where this species occurs (describe the ecosystem) and what it does in it’s ecosystem (fundamental and realized niche), and how it specifically contributes to the conservation issue (removal or addition of this species completely alters ecological structure and function). This is the science heavy part of your paper.
Cultural Diversity and Ethics: There is always a human aspect to all of the current events and conservation issues we will discuss. Cultural behaviors and ethical attitudes directly impact population trends, consumption of resource, attitudes towards environmental resources, and use and management of environmental resources. 
Consider why different cultures use different resources differently, and how this contributes to degradation of habitat, loss of species, pollution, ecosystem destruction, etc. 
What are the ethics and differences in ethics involved? Try to be objective and see all sides. 
Describe the culture or cultures most specifically tied to this current event or resource and go to into detail regarding how these cultural behaviors contribute to these patterns of use. For example, if you were to select “Increased Plastic Pollution by Developed Nations” you would detail the cultural aspects that have led to increased consumption and pollution in this manner, including population trends and specific patterns of consumption. 
Identify any sources of controversy that arise from cultural and ethical differences. See the Prairie restoration article on Moodle. Often, there are cultural and ethical differences involved in the creation of a conservation issue.
Identify the primary and underlying drivers for this conservation issue (review the Great Acceleration lecture and notes from the beginning of class). Once these have been identified you can tease out cultural behaviors and global patterns (for the next section) that are meaningful for your issue.
Applying Knowledge in Contemporary Global Contexts: Here, your task is to make sense of this issue in a global context by integrating the cultural and ecological information you have obtained. This section must include some discussion of climate or global change (there are other types of global change besides climate, but it’s all linked), and, specifically, the global, societal, and individual contributions to climate change. This relates to culture, ethics, and behavior. Consider that even if a conservation issue is local in origin (say, an invasive species in south Louisiana), there are global implications to this issue (as we have become a global economy and as this global economy has changed this has also influenced the spread of invasive species). Using the ecological and cultural information as background, this is where you will tie it all together and describe the current situation regarding this conservation issue. Include challenges and solutions to solving this problem on a global scale. 
Some critical questions/topics to address here are:
How has global climate change, or global impacted this issue or vice versa?
How have the primary and underlying drivers identified in your cultural section created changes to earth system trends and socio-economic trends?
Is this problem local or global in origin? What is the scale of impacts? How do these problems/issues that are local in origin manifest in global ecosystems? How might this particular issue impact your life?
What are the challenges in “solving” this problem or that have contributed to this current event being a conservation issue? 
Are there current policies or practices being discussed to solve this issue? What would you do? What would you recommend and why?
Grammar, writing, syntax: This paper must be clear, concise, well written, and include citations. 
Consider each paragraph carefully. Paragraphs should begin with a topic sentence that tells the reader exactly what the following material is going to be about. Everything that follows in that paragraph is extra. This is the opposite of creative writing and is reflective of technical writing techniques. 
Minimize extraneous wording. 
Minimize the use of quotations. Instead, reframe the findings of your source in your own words and reference that source in text. Citations must be referenced in the text and includes in a references or citations section at the end of the document. So,
Understanding conservation issues in current global conditions requires and in depth understanding of science/ecology and cultural behaviors (DeMarco 2021).
References:
DeMarco, K. 2012. Conservation of Renewable Natural Resources. Louisiana State University, link to lecture. 
See the Citation pdf on Moodle for more details. The format doesn’t have to be perfect, but I need to be able to find the source and understand where your findings in your paper came from. 
The rubric below is specifically how you will be graded for incorporating each of these themes, or dimensions to your paper.