The Everyday Biodiversity Crisis
This year’s students in subject 12.000 Solving Complex Problems were tasked with investigating possible solutions to the current biodiversity crisis and ultimately decided to focus on mitigating the effects of urbanization. We often hear about biodiversity crises in the Amazon rainforest, the high Arctic, and other places far from home (for most of us). But biodiversity crises are happening all around us, from a rapid decline in songbird populations to the disappearance of bee colonies and beyond. These trends, and the ecological shifts that accompany them, have serious and far-reaching consequences. Your task will be to develop ways to understand and reverse, or at least mitigate the effects of, these important ecosystem changes. The students presented an analysis of the threats and proposed solutions to address them in their website and final presentation.
The Terrascope Class of 2024 presented their findings and recommendations to a distinguished panel including:
- Dr. Rebecca Shaw, Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President for Global Science World Wildlife Fund
- Taina McField, Deputy Director of MIT Community Innovators Lab
- Quinton Zondervan, Tech Entrepreneur, Nonprofit Leader, Community Activist, Cambridge City Council Member
- Allison Houghton, Horticulturist