{"id":14440,"date":"2026-04-22T08:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=14440"},"modified":"2026-04-22T08:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:48:15","slug":"an-ecologist-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2026\/04\/22\/an-ecologist-in-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"An ecologist in the city"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Assistant Professor of Biology Madeline Aberg<\/b> (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earth Day is often associated with faraway places and unfamiliar landscapes. But for Madeline Aberg<\/strong>, assistant professor of biology at Augsburg, the natural world worth appreciating is all around.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Aberg says she always enjoyed being outside and developed an interest in animals at a young age, frequently visiting northern Minnesota\u2019s state parks along Lake Superior with her family. Despite her close ties to the natural world, Aberg once thought she was limited to simply enjoying it as a quiet observer.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until she began taking a required introductory biology course in college that she started to see a bridge between a cherished hobby and her future career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the professor talked about the research that he did, ecology became a tangible career to me,\u201d she says. \u201cI ended up doing research with that same professor the following summer. We lived out at a prairie site and spent most of the days riding around in this truck, watching bison and observing their behavior. Helping with some of the analysis afterward really solidified my enjoyment of research and that it was something I wanted to pursue more seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now preparing to complete her first year of teaching at Augsburg, Aberg aims to help students find their place in the urban ecosystem that surrounds campus.<\/p>\n

A familiar fit<\/h2>\n

Having attended a small liberal arts college in Minnesota herself, Aberg always envisioned returning to a similar environment to teach. That initial desire was later solidified during her PhD program, where she found fulfillment through the face-to-face interaction of working with students while completing the required research components.<\/p>\n

The main draw to teaching at Augsburg specifically? Its close ties to the local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this feeling that you’re working with students who are immediately going out and making this area better,\u201d Aberg says. \u201cIt feels like there’s a nicely reciprocal relationship there. I was also excited by the idea of doing ecology out of a school that was in an urban environment. Oftentimes if you’re in a city, you’re not necessarily thinking of it as an ecosystem that’s around you. The idea of making those connections more evident to students was really exciting to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This perspective ensures that students don’t feel their daily lives are separate from the environment, but rather that they are active participants in its health.<\/p>\n

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Green vegetation overflowing, the Augsburg Community Garden hits its peak in the summer. (Photo by Rebecca Slater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coursework in action<\/h2>\n

Aberg\u2019s courses at Augsburg range from core biology classes to more niche upper division options like Conservation Biology and Ecology. She\u2019s also taught The Biological World, a general education course covering the whole span of biology with \u201ca big focus on getting students to be more aware of the ecosystem that’s around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students in Aberg\u2019s courses can expect their learning to reach beyond the classroom, with easy application to real-world issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor one of our in-class activities, students wrote up a script that could be used to describe the benefits of the Boundary Waters to someone who was making a policy decision about [a mining project],\u201d she says. \u201cIf students felt strongly about it, they could use that script to make a call.\u201d<\/p>\n

By providing these tools, she empowers students to turn scientific understanding into civic action.<\/p>\n

On campus, this work continues in the Augsburg Community Garden<\/a>, where Aberg has spoken with students and community members who are passionate about food justice and eager to apply ecologically backed gardening techniques to nourish the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

By focusing on these intersections, she demonstrates that ecology is as much about people and equity as it is about plants and animals.<\/p>\n

Equipping through ecology<\/h2>\n

Introductory biology courses like those Aberg teaches lay the foundation for many possible pathways for students to take toward a future career in ecology. She says further coursework in biology and environmental studies are good options, while taking advantage of internships and summer research opportunities with faculty members can provide the experience needed to obtain an entry level position in the field.<\/p>\n

Aberg says one of her favorite characteristics of ecology is that \u201cit intersects with so many other disciplines.\u201d She emphasizes the importance of statistics and being able to code using R. Another critical competency comes through Geographic Information Systems (mapping): a skill that can be learned through Augsburg\u2019s sociology department and urban studies program.<\/p>\n

One thing is clear about ecology: the subject is not one-size-fits-all, nor is the trajectory toward a future career in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have a student who’s really interested in political science but wants to go into environmental law. Within biology, ecologists and conservation biologists are incorporating more genetics into their work. There’s a lot of potential for students who have other interests to find an intersection between their interests and ecology or conservation, both in their personal and professional lives,\u201d Aberg says.<\/p>\n

The dueling mandate<\/h2>\n
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An Augsburg professor by day, Aberg says one of her most recently developed hobbies is birdwatching. (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aberg\u2019s own research focuses on the “dueling mandate” of conservation: the tension between protecting natural areas and allowing for human enjoyment. By measuring the impacts recreationists have on wildlife, she seeks to provide the data needed to mitigate their footprint while still encouraging people to get outside.<\/p>\n

Part of that is asking the question, \u201cHow do you motivate people to behave sustainably?\u201d While answers may vary from person to person, Aberg suggests a universal theme of connection to place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so much harder to make people care about behaving sustainably if they don’t feel that connection\u2014if they feel like their day-to-day life is totally separate from the natural environment they live in\u2014which is pretty easy to feel if you’re not used to tuning in and seeing the ecosystem that’s around you,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Get involved<\/h2>\n

This Earth Day, Aberg invites the Augsburg community to explore the connection between recreation and conservation. Beyond the classroom, several Twin Cities organizations offer opportunities to build that connection:<\/p>\n