Air pollution, water quality and scarcity, atmospheric conditions and the impact of weather are all part of a survey dealing with the chemistry and physical science of basic resources. Students may examine data from studies, existing and proposed regulations dealing with air and water protection, the results of lab experiments and the findings from field trips to evaluate clean air and water availability and the forces that impact them.
This interdisciplinary course looks at the rich biodiversity of fresh and salt water meeting areas---in general, where freshwater rivers connect to oceans. The focus is on the chemicals that may alter water composition and species health and on patterns of sediment that shift or change the course or depths of water, including channels, as well as the sedimentary filling-in of lakes that eventually causes them to disappear.
Wetland ecology is the study of wetland ecosystems that looks at water sources and diversion, soils, plants and animals, habitats and wetland management in policies and practice. This course generally includes some field and lab work based on ecology science and centered on local wetlands.
Paleoclimatology involves studying geological layers and sediments to reconstruct oceanographic, environmental and climatic change over time. Students learn to use age-dating techniques and examine microfossils embedded in various strata for clues. A lecture series covers the fields of climatology and time-series analysis as well as current developments in the field.
Students look at the environmental challenges created by energy production and consumption through a study of coal, natural gas, solar and wind energy, petroleum, hydrogen and fuel cells and nuclear energy production. An overview of energy and the environment, connections and consequences, is part of the course.
This course covers energy production with field trips to regional energy producers such as power plants, solar panel manufacturers, dams and wind farms. The energy sources studied include non-renewable: oil, coal, uranium and natural gas; and renewable: solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal. Students evaluate present and future impacts of using varied energy sources.
This is a course that reads the environmental tea leaves of 200 million years ago in dinosaur footprints and the sedimentary rocks in which they are found. Ancient environments were an abundant ecosystem that supported different life forms with very different constraints from those we experience today. Students evaluate data about the habits and behaviors of dinosaurs and collect samples on field trips to geological sites to use in developing their own theories and research papers.