威斯康星大學麥迪遜分校

A typical cohort consists of 8–12 incoming students with diverse backgrounds and undergraduate majors. Agroecology M.S. students work with faculty on focused projects across a wide range of the traditional departments of the academy. Our core curriculum brings together these students for a multidisciplinary, agroecological, analysis of agricultural systems in a broadened context.

The agroecology program is supported by the interdisciplinary agroecology cluster, which hired three faculty members in 2002: Michael Bell in community and environmental sociology, Claudio Gratton in entomology, and Randall Jackson in agronomy. This faculty, all still active in the program, was the catalyst for what is now a group of more than 50 faculty affiliates who advise agroecology students and participate in program governance.

Program Tracks

• The professional practice track trains facilitators to enable broader discussion and negotiation at the interfaces of agriculture and other sectors of society. The goal of this "action-in-society" track is to train analysts to increase understanding about the roles of agricultural systems in multi-functional landscapes, and the public policy that shapes these roles.
• The research track addresses the need for continued research and scholarship in order that discussions and negotiations are well informed. Students will have the opportunity to obtain experience in the scholarship of original research, culminating in the writing of a thesis.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Skills

• Students will analyze tradeoffs of different agricultural systems embedded within the greater complexity of socio-ecological systems.
• Students will consider and synthesize concepts of systems, ecology, and public process.
• Students will learn to engage in careful consideration of the social, economic, and environmental outcomes of different industrial and biological processes.
• Students will understand the potential of inclusive participatory processes in research and analysis of agroecological systems.

Professional Conduct

• Students will recognize and apply principles of ethical and professional conduct in their coursework, research, and communications in the field of agroecology.