Agroecology at Penn State

Information for Future Students

Information:

To request additional information on the Agroecology Program at Penn State or to schedule a campus visit, please complete our online form.

Contact:

Paul A. Backman Program Coordinator 221 Buckout Laboratory University Park, PA 16802 Phone: 814-865-6687 E-mail: agroecology@psu.edu

We are part of the Environment and Natural Resources Institute

Information for Current Students

Announcements:

Images

Images from the Fall 2007 Agroecology Social have been posted to this site.

AGECO 461

Updated information regarding AGECO 461 can be found on the course description for this course.

Career Opportunities listed with the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals

The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals maintains a list of Job Postings on their Web site.

INTERNSHIPS:

Internships are required for the major. If you haven’t arranged them already, check in with your advisor to work towards a summer internship experience. Now is the time for Juniors or Seniors. International internships can also be arranged, and at least one of you has already set up 8 weeks in Belgium. Another experience that helps in the job hunt is working in a research laboratory or field center and receiving AGECO 496 (or any other curriculum’s 496) credit. We have a wide range of experiences that will qualify for 496 or 495 credit. See your advisor for this too. It is indispensable for the job hunt, or for improving your probabilities for connecting with graduate programs after your B.S.

Agroecology — Sustainable Agriculture at Penn State

Introductory Agroecology, AGECO 201

Instructor: Dr. M. C. Saunders, Dr. S.W. Duiker
Credits: 3
Semesters Offered: Fall
Texts: S.R. Gliessman, 1998. Agroecology: Ecological processes in sustainable agriculture. Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea MI.
Prerequisites: None
Syllabus: Link to PDF file

Course Description:

This course is designed to lay the groundwork for the major and serve to acquaint students with the ecological underpinnings of conventional production agriculture, sustainable agriculture, and organic agriculture. It will introduce the student to basic ecological concepts, systems thinking, creative thinking and the interrelation of the factors involved in crop production. This course will be delivered by a faculty representing the Departments of Entomology and Crop and Soil Sciences, with guest lecturers from Plant Pathology and Horticulture. The students will participate in field trips, in-class labs, and computer simulations that will illustrate concepts of ecology within agricultural systems.