Sustainability for the Common Good
GEO 300 Recitation W8/F10/F12
TA Eddie Helderop
edward.helderop@gmail.com
Office Hours:
Tuesday 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Wilkinson 213)
Friday 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Wilkinson 213)
Or by appointment – email me.
I have a mailbox in Wilkinson 104
Recitations
 Week 1
 Intro, CT Papers, carbon footprint
 Week 3
 Workshop
 Week 7
 Work day
 Weeks 8, 9, 10
 Group presentations
Recitation vs. Lecture
 Recitation:
 Carbon Footprint assignment
 Energize Corvallis
 Group Project presentations/papers
 Critical Thinking papers
 Lecture:
 Quizzes
 Extra Credit
 Total grades
Group Project signup!
 Everyone has to be in a group – make sure the day and time
work for you now, because we can’t change it later
 You can only be in one group – did you sign up for a second
group on blackboard? I need to manually remove you from
the first, so tell me now
 Meet in your groups, exchange contact information, elect a
group leader
Logistics for recitation
 All assignments must be typed, printed (not hand-written)
EXCEPT carbon footprint
 All critical thinking papers must have an attached scoresheet
(from the website)
 Turn assignments in to lecture (Dr. Cook), to me in
recitation, or to my mailbox (Wilkinson 104) – not to me in
my office hours, in the hallway, etc. (too hard to keep track
of everything!)
Critical Thinking Papers
Instructions and tips to help you succeed!
Dr. Cook’s requirements
 Four peer-reviewed sources with a published date of
1/1/2000 or later
 All four of the above sources are cited in the paper
 Total word count is 500-550, Analysis word count is 400-450
 Used the required format (Interpretation, Analysis,
Evaluation, Inference, Explanation, Self-Regulation
 Failing to meet even ONE of these rules results in an
automatic zero for that paper – I cannot change this!
Finding peer-reviewed sources
 EBSCO review/demonstration
 Make SURE the peer-reviewed box is checked (double
check!)
 Can use EBSCO to cite as well
What about government sources?
The UN?
 US Government publications ARE peer-reviewed.
 UN publications ARE peer-reviewed.
 Other agencies/governments: depends. If you want to rely on
one, make sure it’s peer-reviewed. Or, don’t count it as part of
your 4.
Examples
 There are four example papers on the GEO 300
website
 The first two were chosen by me
 They were written by students, for this class, and they
received an A from me
 I strongly encourage you to use these as your model for
format, style, and to give you an idea for the type of
content I am looking for
Heading
Include
Example
 Name
 Eddie Helderop
 ID#
 000-000-000
 W8/F10/F12
 W8
 TA: Eddie
 TA: Eddie
 Q#
 Question number 0-1
 Word Count: 550
 Word Count: 550
Title
Instructions
Good Example:
 I should be able to tell your
The Earth’s sustainability is
threatened by interactions
between several different
factors
topic and your position
from the title.
Bad Example:
Population and
sustainability
Interpretation
Instructions
 This is your very short
introduction paragraph.
 Importance of the topic
 Necessary background info
 Thesis statement
Example
Interpretation
Most research indicates that it
is human population, resource
overconsumption, and
technology that threaten the
sustainability of the Earth.
Given the interconnectedness
of these factors, it is impossible
to identify human population
alone as the biggest threat.
Analysis
Instructions
 Use peer-reviewed
literature to form an
argument and support your
position.
 Come up with 2 - 4 main
points for your argument.
 Write a short paragraph for
each one, citing your peerreviewed lit.
 Don’t just regurgitate info
taken from sources – make an
argument.
 Section must be between 400
and 450 words.
 Don’t be overambitious!
Example Analysis
Analysis (403 words)
The relationship between population, consumption, and technology can be modeled by the
equation I=PAT where I is the human impact on the environment, P is population, A is affluence or
consumption, and T is technology (Ehrlich P.R. and Goulder L.H. 2007:page 1146). Population,
affluence and consumption, and technology all interact to produce humanity’s environmental
impact such that one alone cannot be identified as the primary threat.
Ecological footprint analysis reveals that the current human population is large enough and living in
such a way that to maintain the current standards of living and current population would require
approximately an additional half of an Earth’s worth of resources (Ehrlich P.R. and Ehrlich A.H.
2013:paragraph 4). Additionally, many demographers agree that the world’s human population will
increase to and level off at approximately 9-10 billion individuals by the end of this century (Lutz W.,
Sanderson W., and Scherbov S. 2001:page 543). This population increase will necessarily increase
the resources required to continue living sustainably on Earth – however, since the current
population of roughly 7 billion people already cannot live sustainably with the resources at hand,
the threat to sustainability comes primarily from a large population, not growth.
Example Analysis (con’t)
GDP per capita is often used as a proxy to represent consumption, and in the previous century
the world’s GDP has increased 1655% (Krausmann F. et al 2013:page 10325). Krausmann F. et al
(2013:page 10328) also find that the world’s GDP is likely to continue to grow in the coming
decades. There are numerous environmental impacts of increased consumption, including: the
loss of vital ecosystem services, decreased biodiversity, and disruptions to biogeochemical
cycles, among others (Krausmann F. et al 2013:page 10325). Brown J.H. et al (2011:pages 1926) find that the world’s GDP is also closely linked to energy usage and that developing nations’
energy needs increase dramatically as their GDP increases. The projected increase in energy
use and consumption in the developing world will further decrease humanity’s ability to
sustain the current average standard of living in the near future as energy reserves dwindle and
ecosystem processes fail.
Unlike population and consumption, the technological impact of humanity on the environment
has been decreasing or has remained over the past few decades (The World Bank 2003:page
148). However, to offset the projected increases in population and consumption, humanity’s
technological impact on the environment would have to decrease drastically, far more than any
predictions indicate (The World Bank 2003:page 122).
Analysis (second paragraph)
 Don’t just regurgitate info
taken from sources – make an
argument.
Ecological footprint analysis reveals that the current human population is large
enough and living in such a way that to maintain the current standards of living and
current population would require approximately an additional half of an Earth’s
worth of resources (Ehrlich P.R. and Ehrlich A.H. 2013:paragraph 4). Additionally,
many demographers agree that the world’s human population will increase to and
level off at approximately 9-10 billion individuals by the end of this century (Lutz W.,
Sanderson W., and Scherbov S. 2001:page 543). This population increase will
necessarily increase the resources required to continue living sustainably on Earth –
however, since the current population of roughly 7 billion people already cannot live
sustainably with the resources at hand, the threat to sustainability comes primarily
from a large population, not growth.
Evaluation
Instructions
 Write a sentence or two explaining




the bias of authors of at least two of
your sources.
OR write about how you had a
limitation of articles (only if you
did!)
OR explain why some of your
sources may have other mistakes.
Tip: Look for authors’ bios. Where
did they work? Who funded their
research?
When mentioning the bias, indicate
how they might be biased.
Example
Evaluation
Dr. Becker spent the early part of his
career working for Shell, possibly
biasing him in favor of fracking. Dr.
Andrews used notoriously unreliable
predictions of the future climate when
drawing conclusions.
Inference
Instructions
Example
 If your topic is a global one:
Inference
does it have local
consequences that you haven’t
addressed?
 If your topic is a local one:
does it have global
consequences that you haven’t
addressed?
While fracking has been shown to
alleviate many countries’ energy
demands, it has severely deleterious
effects on small municipalities near
where it occurs.
Explanation
Instructions
Example
 Concise conclusion
Explanation
 Remind us of your thesis
The sustainability of the Earth is
threatened by the large human
population, their consumption, and
various technologies that impact the
environment. The primacy of one
factor over another cannot be
established.
statement again.
Self-regulation
Instructions
Example
 The only place where
Self-Regulation
personal pronouns can appear
 What is your bias? How does
it apply to this topic? Why do
you have that bias?
As a student of engineering, I went
into this paper already convinced that
fracking was beneficial, influencing
the direction I took with this paper.
So what makes a good paper?
 Meet Dr. Cook’s minimum requirements (avoid a zero)
 Make a coherent, logical, concise argument that is germane to your
assigned topic
 Concision is key! 550 words is not very many for a research paper
 Meet the requirements for each sub-heading (self-regulation,
explanation, etc.)
 No spelling errors, no grammar errors
 Engaging, creative, professional
Bibliography Example
Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry.
Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448-A454.
Hepburn, S. J. (2013). In Patagonia (Clothing): A Complicated Greenness. Fashion Theory:
The Journal Of Dress, Body & Culture, 17(5), 623-645.
 Alphabetize (not order of appearance)
 Contains: author(s), (publishing year,) title, journal name, edition#,
page number(s)
Inline citations
Research by Wegener and Petty (2004:p. 117) supports...
… (Wegener & Petty, 2004:p. 117)
 Must contain: author(s), year, page#
 Make sure formatting is consistent throughout paper
Learning to be concise: It’s hard.
Before
In the last decade, natural gas extraction in the
Marcellus Shale region became economically
profitable due to advances in hydrofracturing
(also: hydrofracking, fracking) technology.
Hydrofracking involves injecting high-pressured
water solution into the ground, thus breaking
the shale and releasing pockets of gas.
Hydrofracking has led to a boom in
development. However, because hydrofracking
is unproven and potentially harmful to both
humans and the environment, policymakers
must exercise the precautionary principle.
After
Recently, natural gas extraction
in the Marcellus Shale region
became economically profitable
due to advances in
hydrofracturing, which involves
injecting high-pressured water
solution into the ground to
break shale and release gas.
However, because hydrofracking
is unproven and potentially
harmful to both humans and the
environment, policymakers
must exercise the precautionary
principle.
Word count flexibility
 Section titles + citations are OPTIONAL for your word count.
 MUST be consistent within the entire paper (cannot count one
citation and not another. Cannot count one section title and not
another).
 Paper title + Heading are not counted
Word count flexibility example
Interpretation (37 words)
Most research indicates that it is human population, resource
overconsumption, and technology that threaten the sustainability of the
Earth. Given the interconnectedness of these factors, it is impossible to
identify human population alone as the biggest threat.
Interpretation (38 words)
Most research indicates that it is human population, resource
overconsumption, and technology that threaten the sustainability of the
Earth. Given the interconnectedness of these factors, it is impossible to
identify human population alone as the biggest threat.
Interpretation (40 words)
Most research indicates that it is human population, resource
overconsumption, and technology that threaten the sustainability of the
Earth. Given the interconnectedness of these factors, it is impossible to
identify human population alone as the biggest threat.