SlugAtlasUC Santa Cruz

ENVS 80FIntroduction to Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems

5 creditsGE PE-EUndergraduateStudent Option

Our current food system is unsustainable for the environment and unjust for the farmers, farmworkers, and consumers who depend on it. Course provides an interdisciplinary, experiential, and systems-focused introduction to agroecology and other approaches to advancing a more just and ecologically sustainable food system. Students will come to understand agroecology as a science for understanding agricultural ecosystems, as a farming practice, and as a social movement to change the way we produce and distribute/access food. Course examines many topics—including biological fertility and pest management, seeds, livestock raising, and aquaculture—from the perspective of both the natural and social sciences, leaving students with a perspective that transcends any particular academic discipline. Students gain hands-on experience with farming research, production, and food distribution happening across the UCSC campus farm and food system.

Find a section and add it to your scheduleLive seat counts, time-conflict checks and the walk from your previous class.

When it runs

Fall 2026Open Fall 2026

SectionTypeWhenWhereInstructorSeats
01Lecture
Tue Thu 1:30pm–3:05pm
Steven Acad 150K. L. MonsenOpen 37/90

Fall 2025Open Fall 2025

SectionTypeWhenWhereInstructorSeats
01Lecture
Tue Thu 1:30pm–3:05pm
Steven Acad 150M. P. FairbairnOpen 93/120

Who teaches it

InstructorRatingDifficultyWould take againReviews
Katie Monsen3.7 / 51.9 / 558%40
M.P. Fairbairn4.9 / 52.3 / 5100%12

From RateMyProfessors, which is student-submitted and not a survey. Small review counts move a long way on one bad quarter.

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