The 20th century witnessed a staggering growth in the population of the United
States along with urban migration, climate change, development of resource intensive
lifestyles, and low-density residential and commercial development. All of these factors
put pressure on the ecosystem services humans are dependent upon for their wellbeing
and their enjoyment.1 The existence/nonexistence of those same services are factors in
regional planning, because they are not confined neatly to political boundaries. By their
very nature these services demand a regional approach to their management and
preservation, which is why I pursued a three-course option focused on understanding the
role of regional planning in ecosystem conservation and tools for collaboration with
Professor Peter Kumble of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional
Planning at UMass-Amherst as my advisor.