Our lifestyles, which are based on the mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal of foods and things we use that are made from oil energy, which have expanded greatly in the second half of the twentieth century, may be convenient and comfortable, but on the other hand, they are causing severe issue with global warming and food shortages. This department is composed of the following two courses, which provide a research and education system to foster both comprehensive and applied abilities. To do this, we use a foundation of instruction in the basics, especially food production, the effective use of bioresources, and the construction of social systems. Our aim is to tackle solutions to 21st century food and environmental issues, and bring about a sustainable society..
Courses
Sustainable Resource System Sciences
As the world's population continues to increase, humanity will be required to use the planet's limited resources sustainably. Maintaining the sustainability of food production in particular will not be limited to supplying us with fresh, tasty food; it will play a major role in the conservation of the global environment and the reuse of bioresources. In addition, forests contain roughly 90% of terrestrial bioresources, so we need sustainable use of bioresources such as wood and molecular materials produced from forests, as well as the conservation of the biodiversity and habitat of the life within them. In this course, we shall examine sustainable resource system sciences, which have developed from a basis in agrobiology and forest resources and environmental science, from a range of new perspectives. We shall seek out ways to solve global food issues, sustainably use bioresources that include multiple functions of forests, and to help sustain forest ecosystems that are formed through a rich, diverse range of life.
Int'l Sustainable Resource Science
We carry out research and education to use unique local assets appropriately in rural villages around Japan and the world, with the aim of creating sustainable socio-economic development. Specifically, we emphasize fieldwork, providing education and research on socio-economic fields with the aim of constructing a social system to achieve sustainable use of local resources. We also carry out education and research related to practical utilization technology for regional resources targeted at developing nations in particular, on a foundation of biology.
Laboratories
Food Production Science
We aim to develop efficient and environmentally-friendly techniques for producing safe and high-valued food, including grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, and livestock. The techniques include those for protecting crops from insect pests and diseases. Moreover, we try to discover possibly useful functions equipped in living beings at levels of genes, cells, organs, organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems. We take various approaches based on genetics, physiology, systematics and ecology in order to accomplish the above purposes. See for themes addressed by individual supervisor candidates the Research Outlines for the Course of Animal and Plant Sciences in the Master's Program.
Int'l Sustainable Resource Science
The International sustainable Resource Science Course aims at producing leaders capable of finding solutions to challenges faced by rural communities where the majority of populations are engaged in the primary industry such as agriculture, forestry and fishery. Today, issues in rural communities are becoming increasingly complicated due to the rapid change in social structure and ongoing surge of globalization. Understanding and tackling with those issues requires an integrated knowledge of natural and social sciences with an international perspective. Therefore, the course implements a multidisciplinary education at the interface between natural (crop and livestock) and social (agricultural economics and business administration) sciences. Students enrolled will be provided with the latest knowledge of each discipline and more importantly several opportunities to integrate the knowledge gained from the disciplines.
Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Forests are an enormous community which covers about 30 % of land and reach up to 90% biomass in the world. Thus, forests play important roles in maintaining global environments. Simultaneously, importance is focused on forests because of producing renewable resources. Furthermore, various ecosystem functions such as land and watershed conservations, regulating the meteorological environments and providing recreational activities are involved in forest environments. From these points, forests are indispensable to human life. For the purpose of making full use of various functions of forests as environmental and material resources, this course is intended to teach and research on comprehensive and professional theory and technology related to forests and forest production. These include such topics as ecology, botany, mycology, soil science, chemistry, physics, and information science.