printer friendly pageESS 8: The Oceans: An Introduction to the Marine Environment (EARTHSYS 8)
The course will provide a basic understanding of how the ocean functions as a suite of interconnected ecosystems, both naturally and under the influence of human activities. Emphasis is on the interactions between the physical and chemical environment and the dominant organisms of each ecosystem. The types of ecosystems discussed include coral reefs, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, coastal upwelling systems, blue-water oceans, estuaries, and near-shore dead zones. Lectures, multimedia presentations, group activities, and tide-pooling day trip.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Arrigo, K. (PI)
;
Lewis, K. (SI)
ESS 10SC: In the Age of the Anthropocene: Coupled-Human Natural Systems of Southeast Alaska
Southeast Alaska is often described as America's "last frontier," embodying a physical reality of the "pristine" that was once revered by the early romantics and founders of the modern conservation movement throughout Western North America. Although endowed with more designated Wilderness land than any other state, Alaska remains a working landscape: a mixed cash-subsistence economy where communities rely upon the harvest and export of natural resources. Here, ecosystem services remain tangible, and people living in communities that are unconnected by roads confront questions of sustainability on a daily basis. This field-based course introduces students to the global questions of land use change and sustainable resource management in the American West through the place-based exploration of Southeast Alaska. Focused on four key social-ecological challenges -- fisheries, forestry, tourism, and energy -- the coupled human-natural systems of Southeast Alaska provide a unique lens for students to interpret broader resource management and conservation issues. The curriculum balances field explorations and classroom lectures with community exploration in which students will engage with fishermen, hatchery workers, forest managers, loggers, mill owners, tour operators, tourists, city officials, citizens, and Native residents. Students will catch their own salmon, walk through old-growth and logged forests, kayak next to glacial moraines, and witness the impacts of human activities, both local and global, on the social-ecological systems around them. In the context of rapidly changing ecosystems, students will confront the historical, ecological, and economic complexities of environmental stewardship in this region. By embedding their experiences within frameworks of land change science, land-ocean interactions, ecosystem ecology, and natural resource management and economics, students will leave this course ready to apply what they have learned to the global challenges of sustainability and conservation that pervade systems far beyond Alaska. This course is co-sponsored by the School of Earth Sciences and takes place in Sitka, Alaska. Students arrange for their arrival at the seminar's point of origin; all subsequent travel is made possible by Sophomore College and the School of Earth Sciences.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Dunbar, R. (PI)
ESS 12SC: Environmental and Geological Field Studies in the Rocky Mountains (EARTHSYS 12SC, GS 12SC)
The ecologically and geologically diverse Rocky Mountain area is being strongly impacted by changing land use patterns, global and regional environmental change, and societal demands for energy and natural resources. This field program emphasizes coupled environmental and geological problems in the Rocky Mountains, covering a broad range of topics including the geologic origin of the American West from three billion years ago to the present; paleoclimatology and the glacial history of this mountainous region; the long- and short-term carbon cycle and global climate change; and environmental issues in the American West related to changing land-use patterns and increased demand for its abundant natural resources. In addition to the science aspects of this course we will also investigate the unique western culture of the area particularly in regards to modern ranching and outfitting in the American West. These broad topics are integrated into a coherent field-study as we examine earth/ environmental science-related questions in three different settings: 1) the three-billion-year-old rocks and the modern glaciers of the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming; 2) the sediments in the adjacent Wind River basin that host abundant gas and oil reserves and also contain the long-term climate history of this region; and 3) the volcanic center of Yellowstone National Park and the mountainous region of Teton National Park. Students will complete six assignments based upon field exercises, working in small groups to analyze data and prepare reports and maps. Lectures will be held in the field prior to and after fieldwork. The students will read two required books prior to this course that will be discussed on the trip.nnNote: This course involves one week of backpacking in the Wind Rivers and hiking while staying in cabins near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Students must arrive in Salt Lake City on Monday, September 4. (Hotel lodging will be provided for the night of September 4, and thereafter students will travel as a Sophomore College group.) We will return to campus on Friday, September 22.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Chamberlain, P. (PI)
ESS 46N: Exploring the Critical Interface between the Land and Monterey Bay: Elkhorn Slough (EARTHSYS 46N)
Preference to freshmen. Field trips to sites in the Elkhorn Slough, a small agriculturally impacted estuary that opens into Monterey Bay, a model ecosystem for understanding the complexity of estuaries, and one of California's last remaining coastal wetlands. Readings include Jane Caffrey's "Changes in a California Estuary: A Profile of Elkhorn Slough". Basics of biogeochemistry, microbiology, oceanography, ecology, pollution, and environmental management.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Francis, C. (PI)
ESS 101: Environmental and Geological Field Studies in the Rocky Mountains (EARTHSYS 100, GS 101)
Three-week, field-based program in the Greater Yellowstone/Teton and Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Field-based exercises covering topics including: basics of structural geology and petrology; glacial geology; western cordillera geology; paleoclimatology; chemical weathering; aqueous geochemistry; and environmental issues such as acid mine drainage and changing land-use patterns.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Chamberlain, P. (PI)
ESS 106: World Food Economy (EARTHSYS 106, EARTHSYS 206, ECON 106, ECON 206, ESS 206)
The economics of food production, consumption, and trade. The micro- and macro- determinants of food supply and demand, including the interrelationship among food, income, population, and public-sector decision making. Emphasis on the role of agriculture in poverty alleviation, economic development, and environmental outcomes. (graduate students enroll in 206)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Burke, M. (PI)
;
Naylor, R. (PI)
;
Bieler, S. (TA)
;
Budiansky, E. (TA)
;
Maue, C. (TA)
ESS 107: Control of Nature (EARTHSYS 107)
Think controlling the earth's climate is science fiction? It is when you watch Snowpiercer or Dune, but scientists are already devising geoengineering schemes to slow climate change. Will we ever resurrect the woolly mammoth or even a T. Rex (think Jurassic Park)? Based on current research, that day will come in your lifetime. Who gets to decide what species to save? And more generally, what scientific and ethical principles should guide our decisions to control nature? In this course, we will examine the science behind ways that people alter and engineer the earth, critically examining the positive and negative consequences. We'll explore these issues first through popular movies and books and then, more substantively, in scientific research.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
ESS 108: Research Preparation for Undergraduates
For undergraduates planning to conduct research during the summer with faculty through the MUIR and SUPER programs. Readings, oral presentations, proposal development. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Field, C. (PI)
;
Jackson, R. (PI)
ESS 111: Biology and Global Change (BIO 117, EARTHSYS 111)
The biological causes and consequences of anthropogenic and natural changes in the atmosphere, oceans, and terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Topics: glacial cycles and marine circulation, greenhouse gases and climate change, tropical deforestation and species extinctions, and human population growth and resource use. Prerequisite: Biology or Human Biology core or graduate standing.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER: DB-NatSci, WAY-SMA
ESS 112: Human Society and Environmental Change (EARTHSYS 112, HISTORY 103D)
Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding human-environment interactions with a focus on economics, policy, culture, history, and the role of the state. Prerequisite:
ECON 1.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Naylor, R. (PI)
;
Wolfe, M. (PI)
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