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Classes addressing water resources are often technically based, and weigh heavily on the natural resource itself. We recognize that water quality and quantity issues in Kansas are often defined, created, and resolved equally through addressing the natural resource and by working with the interests of the people interacting with the resource. <P>Building from an award-winning adult experiential leadership program called the Kansas Environmental Leadership Program, this project will produce an interdisciplinary curriculum and a university class to help train the next generation of scientists and educators to effectively address water resource issues. <P>This project will build the knowledge and leadership skill capacity of students to collaborate with local communities and watersheds in addressing water resource issues. Products include transferable curriculum for Environmental Leadership for Water Resources and class components addressing: water resources, leadership, and service-learning.
Non-Technical Summary: An interdisciplinary team of campus-based professionals has teamed up with non-university representatives to enhance and update the curriculum for a class. The curriculum will be then have experiential learning approaches integrated into the learning plans. The class is anticipated to be a mix of learning from reading, on-line resources, guest speakers, and applied projects related to Watershed Restoration and Projection Strategies. <P> Approach: Young professionals will understand the importance and strategies for watershed protection and heightened capacity for environmental leadership. This CSREES Project will allow an interdisciplinary team of professionals to: 1) Develop interdisciplinary curriculum for a class in Environmental Leadership for Water Resources to be implemented at Kansas State University, becoming a model for use at other universities. 2) Create an interdisciplinary undergraduate class in Environmental Leadership for Water Resources addressing: Water resources, research, and restoration strategies; Leadership skills related to community and watershed stakeholders; and Experiential service-learning for water quality. 3) Demonstrate how the Environmental Leadership curriculum and class could be continued and sustained at KSU and how a similar curriculum could be exported to other universities to train the next generation of scientists and educators for water resources.