Читать книгу North American Agroforestry - Группа авторов - Страница 35

In 1997, 36 universities in 28 different states reported teaching at least one course dealing with agroforestry (Rietveld, 1997). As of 2017, 27 U.S. institutions reported current agroforestry course offerings (Wright, 2017). However, due to the presence of online agroforestry programs, educational access for those interested in studying agroforestry has increased (Gold, 2015; Gold & Jose, 2012). In addition, the breadth and availability of the relevant literature and up‐to‐date textbooks has continued to increase. In addition to this text, another recently updated text is dedicated to temperate agroforestry (Gordon et al., 2018), and other similar compendiums have been published (Mosquera‐Losada & Prabhu, 2019). Agroforestry education is reviewed in detail in Chapter 19.

Within universities, agroforestry courses are most often offered through forestry, natural resources, or agriculture departments (Wright, 2017). In addition, agroforestry is often addressed within courses on sustainable agriculture, agroecology, integrated forest management, international agriculture, or sustainable development. Typically, courses dedicated solely to agroforestry consider both domestic and international aspects. Although many universities offer agroforestry courses, few offer comprehensive curricula, and most agroforestry courses are used to supplement disciplinary degree options at the undergraduate level and to help build interdisciplinary programs at the graduate level.

Few institutions possess the complement of faculty to offer the selection of courses believed necessary for a major in agroforestry or, if they have the faculty, it is difficult to bring them together to offer an integrated agroforestry curriculum (Gold & Jose, 2012; Lassoie, 1990; Lassoie et al., 1994). Agroforestry is not a discipline but rather an interdisciplinary field of study. Therefore, a comprehensive agroforestry curriculum (or even a single course) demands expertise from a wide variety of professionals, often from different academic units across campus. Such individuals are often fully committed to teaching responsibilities within their respective disciplines, making it difficult for them to engage in a new curriculum or team‐taught course. This means that not only are their numbers relatively small, but there is also a widespread lack of extensive training and experience in agroforestry within the academic community, especially related to its application to North American conditions. Fortunately, this situation is changing as faculty gain relevant experience, more graduate students pursue agroforestry studies, and universities begin to hire those with such an education.

Agroforestry curricula tend to be carried by a limited number of faculty members (often one) and their graduate students working within either an agriculture or forestry academic unit (e.g., college, school, or department). Unfortunately, the decision typically is made by default: who has the interest and commitment to deal with an interdisciplinary topic like agroforestry, especially when considering its application to a modern, production‐oriented society? This means that the administrative support for agroforestry can be quite weak, existing only at the margin of more commonly understood traditional teaching programs.

In the United States and Canada, notable exceptions to the general trend include agroforestry programs at the University of Missouri, Virginia Tech, and Laval University in Canada. These and a handful of other universities (e.g., the University of Florida, University of Minnesota, Cornell University) are actively training agroforestry professionals who are now filtering out to other schools in temperate North America, creating the human and applied research base that can be used to grow the discipline in the United States. The University of Missouri has had a sustained funding base for more than two decades and has developed increasingly robust agroforestry research, teaching, and outreach programs. In addition to its on‐campus agroforestry graduate program, the University of Missouri established an online master of science program and an online graduate certificate in 2013. These fully online programs have provided access to agroforestry education regardless of geography (Gold & Jose, 2012). Between 2013 and 2018, more than 70 students have been admitted into these programs and 30 have received graduate credentials in agroforestry.

Despite the current limitations, agroforestry courses typically attract highly qualified students who often come with extensive international agroforestry experience, including the Peace Corps (Gold & Jose, 2012), or are familiar with permaculture, agroecology, and sustainable or regenerative agriculture. In the past, such interest was limited to graduate students seeking careers in international development. More recently, however, both undergraduates and graduate students have been attracted to agroforestry courses, probably reflecting their growing interest in courses dealing with issues of sustainability. Employment opportunities where agroforestry credentials are a definite plus are increasing. Many federal agencies (e.g., the NRCS), global, national, and regional conservation organizations (e.g., Heifer International, The Nature Conservancy, National Wild Turkey Federation, Trees Forever), along with NGOs specifically dedicated to agroforestry (e.g., Savanna Institute) are hiring individuals with agroforestry backgrounds.