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Symposium

Session: Four Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE): Preparing for and Fomenting Change in Ecological Education

SYMP 2-3 - Reflections on the four dimensions of ecological education in the context of a changing Amazon

Monday, August 15, 2022

2:10 PM – 2:30 PM EDT

Location: 524A

Presenting Author(s)

IB

I. Foster Brown

Senior Scientist Emeritus
Woodwell Climate Research Center
Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

Slides (PDF)

Co-author(s)

Sd

Sonaira S. da Silva

Professor
Federal University of Acre
Ad

Antonio Willian F. de Melo

Professor
Federal University of Acre
SR

Sabina C. Ribeiro

Professor
Federal University of Acre
FS

Fernando A. Schmidt

Professor
Federal University of Acre
AA

Andrea S. Alechandre

Professor
Federal University of Acre
JC

Jair S. Costa

Principal
Dom Henrique Ruth High School

Background/Question/Methods
The Amazon is undergoing accelerating environmental change. Rising temperatures combined with an expanding dry season and deforestation may provoke a tipping point in the transpiration-precipitation feedback where closed-canopy forests can no longer sustain themselves. Forest degradation by logging and fire have accelerated in recent years. Economic stagnation, adverse political pressure on grassroots organizations, public universities and research organizations, organized crime, a deficient basic educational system, and technological advances have created challenging conditions in which to address ecological education in the world´s largest contiguous tropical moist forests. We report on experiences in masters programs in ecology, forest science, and environmental sciences at the Federal University of Acre, in Brazil´s southwestern Amazon, and at INPA, the National Institute for Amazonian Research. These experiences are distributed in specific courses, but could serve as elements for a reorganization of the educational process.

Results/Conclusions
A key core concept, the mass conservation law, explains the link of water transpired from eastern Amazonian forests to rainfall in the western Amazon. We have used a field safety course to teach quantitative measurements by using calibrated arms and legs for rapid transects. For the human-environment dimension, collaboration with government agencies has served to better monitor deforestation and subsequent smoke pollution. Cross-cutting issues include how land use alters regoinal biodiversity patterns. We propose the concepts of 4 Cs and 4 languages as additional paradigms for regional graduate programs. The 4 C´s involve Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Critical Thinking. The 4 languages that our students need to master for ecological studies in the Amazon are a) used Mathematics, b) written Portuguese, c) read English, and d) spoken Spanish. To address the multitude of drivers affecting the Amazon, widespread understanding of the links between ecosystem functioning and human well-being is key. Such ecological concepts need to be incorporated into the basic education curriculum to help regional societies navigate the changes in the Amazon. Teach the teachers has become a priority for such incorporation. Solutions to the Amazon´s grave environmental problems will involve spiritual and political dimensions as well.