Environmental Issues in Tropical Ecosystems is a three-credit hour course that provides an interdisciplinary study of issues in tropical environments. The natural ecology of a terrestrial rain forest ecosystem, a coastal mangrove swamp ecosystem, and an offshore barrier reef ecosystem will be studied. The al- terations of these ecosystems by human activities will be exam- ined. Further, the social, political and economic reasons surrounding both the exploitation and the conservation of these systems will be investigated. Sustainable resource extrac- tion from these ecosystems will be explored and compared to the consequences of biodiversity loss, societal issues, and eco- logical foot printing. A significant portion of this class will occur in the water. Therefore all students must be proficient swimmers and be able to swim unassisted for at least 100 yards and tread water for 10 minutes.