Fall 2008

Please note: Beginning Spring 2006, all GG and EE courses have been merged into GE. Unless indicated, the course numbers and titles have remained the same.

For the most current listing of classes, please visit the Student Link. Click on "University Class Schedule" to search for classes.

CAS GE420/620 Methods of Environmental Policy Analysis

Sue Wing, MWF 1 PM – 2PM. Prereq: CAS EC101 & CAS MA121 or CAS MA123. Introduction to the analysis of environmental policy, the implications of environmental problems for public decision making, the tools available to decision-makers, and their effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages.

CAS GE460/660 Resource Economics and Policy

Bauer, MWF 9 AM – 10 AM. Prereq: CAS GE309 & CAS MA121 (CAS EC201, EC371, MA122 recommended). Economic analysis of environmental resources and policies for their management. Introduces dynamic optimization as a tool for understanding and analyzing both resource scarcity and the management of energy, fishery, and forestry resources for sustainability.

CAS GE483/683 Geodynamics II: Fluids and Fluid Transport

Salvucci, MWF 10 AM – 11 AM. Prereq: CAS MA124 OR CAS MA127 OR CAS MA129 & CAS PY211 & CAS ES360 OR consent of the instructor. Large- and small-scale phenomena in oceanic, atmospheric, and land-surface fluids. Properties of gases and liquids; surface and body forces; statics; flow analysis; continuity and momentum conservation. Darcy's Law; potential, open channel, and geostrophic flow; dimensional analysis; diffusion, turbulence.

CAS GE502 Advanced Topics in Remote Sensing

Strahler, TR 3:30 PM – 5 PM, F 1 PM – 2 PM. Prereq: CAS GE302. Examines advanced concepts in radiative transfer and information extraction relevant to remote sensing. Emphasis on applications of digital image processing to remote sensing problems.

CAS GE505 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Gopal, MWF 11 AM – 12 PM. Prereq: CASGE365 & CASMA213. Provides a theoretical and practical introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Introduces the essentials in GIS, methods of data capture and sources of data, nature and characteristics of spatial data and objects, data structures, modeling surfaces, volumes and time, and data uncertainty. Emphasis is on applications. Laboratory exercises included.

CAS GE510 Physical Principles of the Environment

TBA, Prereq: CASBI306 & CASGE304 or consent of instructor. Principles and concepts underlying the physical and ecological forces that cause environmental change. Topics include soil erosion, acid rain, thermal pollution, greenhouse effect, stratospheric ozone depletion, and loss of biodiversity.

CAS GE519 Energy, Society, and the Environment

Cleveland, TR 2 PM – 3:30 PM. Prereq: CASGE304 or equivalent. Overview of technical, historical, economic, social and environmental aspects of energy systems, including fossil fuels, nuclear, solar, wind, biomass, and energy end use efficiency and conservation.

CAS GE520 Topics in Energy and Environmental Policy

Anderson, M 5 PM – 8 PM. Prereq: consent of instructor. Topics vary from year to year and may include the policy aspects of environmental regulation, risk assessment and environmental decision making, international environmental policy, natural resource policy, and energy policy.

CAS GE521 Environmental Law and Policy

Reibstein, W 5 PM – 8 PM. Survey of the major features of environmental law and relevant procedural and constitutional issues. Comparison of practical realities (political, economic, social, geographic, biological) with the ideal context for what should be. Projects include legal research and mock advocacy.

CAS GE525 Plant Physiological Ecology

TBA, Prereq: CASBI303 OR CASBI306 OR CASBI305 and CAS CH101, CAS PY211, or equivalent. In-depth treatment of eco-physiological responses of plants and communities to environmental factors and climate change, as well as plant and community level impacts on the environment as manifested primarily in hydrologic, energy, and carbon cycles.

CAS GE541 Economic Geography of Transport

Lakshmanan, TR 11 AM – 12:30 PM. Examines the role of transportation in national and regional economies. Topics include regulation, deregulation, and privatization of transport system; logistical innovations and intelligent transport; economic impact of infrastructure; analysis and policy of traffic congestion and pollution; public transport in cities; and transport in developing countries.

CAS GE578 Marine Geographic Information Science

Kaufman, MTWRF from Oct. 27 – Nov. 19 (times arranged). Prereq: CASBI260 & CAS ES144 (CASMA213 strongly recommended). Introduction to marine geographic information systems and spatial analysis for conservation, management, and marine landscape ecology. Comparative examples from Gulf of Maine and tropics. Solve problems in coastal zoning and marine park design, whale and coral reef conservation.

CAS GE/IR594 Global Environmental Negotiation and Policy

Selin, W 1PM – 4 PM. Prereq: consent of instructor. Key concepts, actors, concerns, and issues related to the process of negotiating global environmental policies. Overview of the international system and environmental problems; an international negotiation simulation; case studies of global agreements on ozone depletion, climate change, desertification, and biodiversity, among others.

CAS GE/IR597 Sustainable Development in Latin America

Gallagher, M 10 AM – 1 PM. Prereq: CASGE100 OR CASIR292 OR CASIR590 and junior standing, or consent of instructor. Provides an empirically based understanding of the social and environmental aspects of economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for purposes of analyzing the numerous trade and development policies that nations in LAC are currently considering.

GRS GE756 Geography of Third World Development

TBA, TR 9:30 AM – 11 AM. Theory and experience of Third World development. Emphasis on issues of income distribution, geographical and regional inequality, importance of location in development planning, efficiency and equity consideration, and models of, and strategies for, regional development.

Non-GE classes being offered:

GRS BI 648 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

Primack, TR 2 PM – 3:30 PM, R 12:30 PM – 2PM. The study of biological diversity and modern methods to protect endangered plant and animal species. The environment, population, genetic, and human factors which affect the survival of species examined for temperate and tropical communities, as well as terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion.

MET UA515 Urban Planning

Silva, M 6 PM – 9 PM. History, concepts, and methods of contemporary urban and regional planning practice. Governmental, nonprofit, and private settings of professional planning; plans, research, and policy development; uses and implementation of planning. Political analysis of planning issues, such as comprehensiveness, public interest, advocacy, negotiation, and future orientation. Case materials drawn from redevelopment, growth management, land use conflicts, and service delivery.

MET UA704 Urban Economic Issues and Analysis

Habiby, W 6 PM – 9 PM. Basic economic concepts and techniques of analysis necessary for urban public policy development. Analysis of the economic bases of selected current urban problems and evaluation of several policy solutions to common urban problems.

SPH EH708 Introduction to Environmental Health

Scammell, W 3:30 PM – 5 PM. This course is a survey of the major issues in contemporary environmental health. Topics include environmental health hazards associated with human settlement, industrial activities, and agriculture and the food supply, including approaches to assessing, controlling, and preventing these hazards. Although the course is addressed to non-scientists, it seeks to provide some insight into the scientific underpinnings of current debates.

SPH EH765 Survey in Environmental Health

Heiger-Bernays, T 6 PM – 8:45 PM. EH765 covers many of the same diverse topics that are covered in EH708. The course considers the technical foundations of environmental hazards, their impacts on public health, and the role of social, political, and regulatory factors in assessing, controlling, and preventing environmental hazards. Students who complete EH765 will have the necessary "tools of the trade" that will form the base for upper level courses in the Environmental Health Department.

SPH EH806 Development and the Environment

Clapp, R 2:30 PM – 5 PM. Prereq: consent of the instructor. This course explores many critical environmental health issues that are linked to patterns of industrial and market development, with a special focus on developing countries. Specific examples that are discussed include food and agriculture, environmental impacts of industrialization, pest control strategies, and the effects of global climate on health. The course discusses the contestation over ideas, methods, and resources for sustainable development and equitable health outcomes. It emphasizes throughout the relationships between human health, development, and the environment.

LAW JD855 Land Use

Ryckman, MTW 1 PM – 1:55 PM. Coverage of the theoretical and practical problems of public and private land use controls which are involved in private real estate transactions. Topics considered include subdivision controls, zoning, building codes, defeasible estates, easements, equitable servitudes, types of developments, inverse condemnation, and the effect of federal and state activities on public and private land use controls.