TED Community » Eric Berlow

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Eric Berlow, a TED 2012 Senior Fellow, is an ecologist and complexity scientist who specializes in not specializing. In an increasingly interconnected world, Eric applies network visualization and analysis to help make the complex simple.

Complex problems have many moving parts that all potentially interact with one another. Of all these moving parts, how can we focus our creative energy and resources on the subset with the most transformative influence?

Eric founded Vibrant Data Labs - a collaborative collective of scientists, artists, designers, and social investors - to develop data-driven approaches to navigate the complex landscape of our most pressing problems and convert limited resources into problem solving engines for positive change.

Eric is internationally recognized for his work on ecological networks and was the founding director of the University of California’s first environmental interdisciplinary research station in Yosemite National Park. His current research focuses on untangling nature's complexity and enabling data-driven stewardship of the Sierra Nevada Mountains - an iconic wilderness ecosystem that helps regulate the water supply for an agriculture industry that supplies over 50% of the produce and nuts consumed by United States citizens.

Location:: United States, Berkeley, CA
Current organization:: Vibrant Data Labs
Past organizations:: Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab
Current role:: Founder
Gender:: Male
Areas of expertise:: Ecology, Environment , Sustainability, Network theory, complexity, Eco Tourism, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Green Business

I am:: Athlete, Change Agent, Connector, Consultant, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Idea generator, Scientist
Associations:: Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, University of California Berkeley
Languages:: English, French
My website links:: eric l berlow, swall institute, Vibrant Data Labs
Universities:: Brown University, University of California Berkeley, Oregon State University
TED conferences attended:: TED2013, TEDGlobal 2012, TED2012, TEDActive 2011, TEDGlobal 2010

TEDCRED 200+ TED Speaker TED Fellow TED Attendee Associate

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A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Thanks for contributing Dan! One kernel in your post that is key to me is the dialectical tension between skepticism and being open to leaps of faith. Training students to be comfortable with that juxtaposition of apparent opposites is key.
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Hi Marion - I love your idea of drawing from modular nested components - it makes for more flexible and dynamic options for learning. Any follow up ideas for how to implement that - either in a traditional ed context or with online tools?
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Hi Krista - Amazing work. Any thoughts on how some of your home schooling approach could realistically be integrated into a more traditional ed context? One advantage of traditional schools is the potential for group learning in a larger social context.

Also, since online tools are growing so fast, how could they better train for innovation or better fit with your model?
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Hi Dany -- Really great observation. It is true that some fields do require very specific training - but I have learned that often the best training is learning how to learn quickly, and how to ask good questions when you are starting something new. Often as an outsider with slightly different training, you can offer unique perspectives to any new job.
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: YES! thanks for the link. I think the most powerful part of this Taleo Initiative is giving people the tools to map solutions from elsewhere onto their local context. This demystification of the process of science is key.
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Khan Academy is an awesome model - but I think it works well because it is tackling a very linear subject which follows a similar path for most students (e.g., algebra 1, 2, 3 etc.). Other online ed sites have more variety of topics, but then it can also be alot of noise - too many thing to pick from, and the only guide to good ones is "popularity" which may not be the best indicator of "most educational".

Any thoughts on how to have interesting 'curricula' evolve in an online learning context?

Also, please do send a link to the TEDxLondon videos when they are up!
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: I'm curious why UCB did not implement this. It would have been really interesting. Sounds like someone did not successfully make a call to action by imagining what it could be if successful!
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A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Right on James. I might add:
Year One: Identify what you LOVE and what are your unique skills.
Year Two: Think of 5 very different problems that fit your passions and skills
Year Three: Make plans for 2 of these, ideally the most different
Year Four: Act on one but have the other as a backup plan B
+1
A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Khan Academy is a super interesting model - especially his concept of "Flipping the Classroom": give the students the 'lecture' for homework, and have them do homework in class where the teacher can spend more time helping them problem solve and think critically. The HUGE challenge though is that math education is very linear and progressive - so it's kind of the 'low hanging fruit' of online education. How can this approach grow to include more interdisciplinary education?
A comment on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

Sep 21 2011: Do you see any developments in the world of online education that might help address some of the problems people are raising? Not as a replacement to traditional education, but as a way of enhancing it, enabling students to follow their passions, encouraging them to make connections among apparently disparate topics, and helping engage them in critical thinking?

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TED Community » Eric Berlow

About Me

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A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A reply on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

A comment on Conversation: Instead of narrow specialization, how can our educational system better train integrative, innovative, and adaptive problem solvers?

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