Browsing Category

Environment, Food, Climate Change

1183

The Danube

By Matthew D. Miller

Part of the “Communities and Identities” component of an undergraduate Core Curriculum program, “Core Danube” explores Europe’s second longest and most interesting river: from its beginnings in the German Black Forest to the Romanian and Ukrainian shores where it meets the Black Sea, the Danube flows through and/or borders ten countries, while its watershed covers four more.

Physical Hydrology

By Matt Reidenbach

The objective of this course is to introduce students to the principles governing the flow of water on and beneath the earth’s surface. This includes concepts of fluid dynamics applied to open channel flow, ground water flow, and dynamics.

Sociology of Food

By Erica Morrell

In this course, we will learn about and apply core sociological perspectives to analyze dynamics of local, regional, national, and global agri-food systems development over the past several decades.

Sociology of Knowledge and Food Systems

By Erica Morrell

What is knowledge? In this course, we will explore the rise of the authority of science across much of the globe. We will regard potential problems with and challenges to science’s dominant position, and we will analyze whether and how other forms of knowledge may shape contemporary social, cultural, and political life. Practical cases to illustrate these dynamics will draw from the food system, and we will conduct significant engagement with our local community’s emergency food system to translate theoretical concepts around knowledge into practice.

Sustainability Policy Design and Evaluations

By Molly Lipscomb

In this class we will discuss why sustainability is a problem, and how to measure and evaluate the trade-offs related to different environmental policy choices. We will discuss benefits and drawbacks of various traditional policy solutions such as command and control, permitting, and taxation, and we will discuss new policy tools that are gaining in use: integrated platforms, auctions, tradeable quotas.

Sustainable Water and Food Security

By Paolo D’Odorico

Since the 1960’ the human population has been increasing by one billion every 12-14 years and is projected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050. More people will require more food and water while the increasing affluence in emergent economies will further enhance human appropriation of natural resources.

Global Economics of Water

By Peter Debaere

Soaring food prices and the recent droughts in Australia, India and the United States underscore that freshwater scarcity is a major challenge in the 21st century. Almost one-fifth of the world’s population currently suffers the consequences of water scarcity, and this number is about to increase.

Forest Hydrology

By Paolo D’Odorico

This course introduces the fundamental physical principles that are necessary to understand the interactions of hydrological processes with forest ecosystems. The course focuses on hydrologic processes characteristic of forested watersheds, including the impact of forests on evapotranspiration rates, soil infiltration, soil water redistribution, shallow water table variability, runoff generation, streamflow dynamics, and soil stability and erosion.

Water for the World

By Jim Smith

Potable water is essential for human life. Throughout most of the industrialized world, advanced water treatment systems incorporate fundamental physical, chemical, and biological principles into engineering designs to produce high-quality water at relatively low cost to consumers.

Water Sustainability

By Brian Richter

In this course we will explore the dimensions of what “sustainability” and “sustainable development” mean in the context of water use and management. We will examine the different ways in which water is used, valued, and governed, examining sustainability through different lenses and perspectives.

Storm Water Management

By Teresa Culver 

Emphasizes the management of stormwater quantity and quality, especially in urban areas. Course includes impacts of stormwater on infrastructure and ecosystems, hydrologic and contaminant transport principles, stormwater regulation, structural and non-structural stormwater management approaches, and modeling tools for stormwater analysis and management.

Fluid Mechanics

By Teresa Culver 

The emphasis in the course is on the behavior of water, including closed conduit flows and open channel flows. It is hoped each student will gain proficiency with equations of energy, momentum and force as applied to fluids.

The Dynamics of Oceans

By Matt Reidenbach

Studies the physical properties, processes, and structure of the oceans; mass and energy budgets; methods of measurements; and the nature and theory of ocean currents, waves, and tides in the open sea, near shore and in estuaries.