Moderator: Sandy Muspratt
Time: Tuesdays, 2:00-4:00 pm
Place: Mount Holyoke College, Blanchard Campus Center, Room 213
Parking: Parking available in Gorse Lot
Participants will learn the computer “modeling” techniques that will allow us to see in advance the consequences of actions and policies in environmental management.
Using “system dynamics”, one of the most widely known and widely used methods of modeling, the workshop’s participants will build programs that are easy and fun to learn and apply them to the environment and climate change. Participants will meet weekly to solve problems and address difficulties and for mutual support. Each will follow the curriculum presented in the text. The work of the workshop is done at home on a computer – a laptop that must be brought to each meeting. No new software is required; a modern internet browser is necessary, however, so participants’ machines (Mac, Windows, Chrome, or Linux) should not be more than 5-7 years old.
Format: Workshop
Role of participants: Work at constructing the various simple models, as presented in the text, from a variety of disciplines, culminating in a simple model of climate change. Participation in this workshop requires computer literacy, good internet connection and considerable homework in order to practice the technique.
Number of participants (including the moderator): 8
Resources: Ford, Andrew, Modeling the Environment, 2nd edition, 2010, available from Amazon: $25 and $37, and Island Press: $45. Required. https://www.e-education.PSU.edu/earth103
The Moderator: LIR member, intermittently, for nine years, past treasurer. Moderator of seminar on “the bicycle” and workshop on the LOGO programming language. Believes that the personal computer is a unique tool which extends the individual’s range for inquiry.