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)
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)
;
Rasmussen, A. (TA)
ESS 111: Biology and Global Change (BIO 117, EARTHSYS 111, EARTHSYS 217)
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
BIO 81 or graduate standing.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER: DB-NatSci, WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Casciotti, K. (PI)
;
Vitousek, P. (PI)
;
Francisco, T. (TA)
...
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Instructors:
Casciotti, K. (PI)
;
Vitousek, P. (PI)
;
Francisco, T. (TA)
;
Harris, M. (TA)
;
Saiz, G. (TA)
ESS 117: Earth Sciences of the Hawaiian Islands (EARTH 117, EARTHSYS 117)
Progression from volcanic processes through rock weathering and soil-ecosystem development to landscape evolution. The course starts with an investigation of volcanic processes, including the volcano structure, origin of magmas, physical-chemical factors of eruptions. Factors controlling rock weathering and soil development, including depth and nutrient levels impacting plant ecosystems, are explored next. Geomorphic processes of landscape evolution including erosion rates, tectonic/volcanic activity, and hillslope stability conclude the course. Methods for monitoring and predicting eruptions, defining spatial changes in landform, landform stability, soil production rates, and measuring biogeochemical processes are covered throughout the course. This course is restricted to students accepted into the Earth Systems of Hawaii Program.
Last offered: Autumn 2018
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
ESS 143: Molecular Geomicrobiology Laboratory (BIO 142, EARTHSYS 143, ESS 243)
In this course, students will be studying the biosynthesis of cyclic lipid biomarkers, molecules that are produced by modern microbes that can be preserved in rocks that are over a billion years old and which geologist use as molecular fossils. Students will be tasked with identifying potential biomarker lipid synthesis genes in environmental genomic databases, expressing those genes in a model bacterial expression system in the lab, and then analyzing the lipid products that are produced. The overall goal is for students to experience the scientific research process including generating hypotheses, testing these hypotheses in laboratory experiments, and communicating their results through a publication style paper. Prerequisites: BIO83 and
CHEM 121 or permission of the instructor.
Last offered: Spring 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
ESS 151: Biological Oceanography (EARTHSYS 151, EARTHSYS 251, ESS 251)
Required for Earth Systems students in the oceans track. Interdisciplinary look at how oceanic environments control the form and function of marine life. Topics include distributions of planktonic production and abundance, nutrient cycling, the role of ocean biology in the climate system, expected effects of climate changes on ocean biology. Local weekend field trips. Designed to be taken concurrently with Marine Chemistry (ESS/
EARTHSYS 152/252). Prerequisites:
BIO 43 and
ESS 8 or equivalent.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Arrigo, K. (PI)
;
Payne, C. (TA)
ESS 152: Marine Chemistry (EARTHSYS 152, EARTHSYS 252, ESS 252)
Introduction to the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills required to critically evaluate problems in marine chemistry and related disciplines. Physical, chemical, and biological processes that determine the chemical composition of seawater. Air-sea gas exchange, carbonate chemistry, and chemical equilibria, nutrient and trace element cycling, particle reactivity, sediment chemistry, and diagenesis. Examination of chemical tracers of mixing and circulation and feedbacks of ocean processes on atmospheric chemistry and climate. Designed to be taken concurrently with Biological Oceanography (ESS/
EARTHSYS 151/251)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA, WAY-AQR
Instructors:
Casciotti, K. (PI)
;
Travis, N. (TA)
ESS 155: Science of Soils (EARTHSYS 155)
Physical, chemical, and biological processes within soil systems. Emphasis is on factors governing nutrient availability, plant growth and production, land-resource management, and pollution within soils. How to classify soils and assess nutrient cycling and contaminant fate. Recommended: introductory chemistry and biology.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER: DB-NatSci, WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Fendorf, S. (PI)
;
Duncan, A. (TA)
;
Lacroix, E. (TA)
...
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Instructors:
Fendorf, S. (PI)
;
Duncan, A. (TA)
;
Lacroix, E. (TA)
;
Paulus, L. (TA)
;
Wang, T. (TA)
ESS 158: Geomicrobiology (EARTHSYS 158, EARTHSYS 258, ESS 258)
How microorganisms shape the geochemistry of the Earth's crust including oceans, lakes, estuaries, subsurface environments, sediments, soils, mineral deposits, and rocks. Topics include mineral formation and dissolution; biogeochemical cycling of elements (carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and metals); geochemical and mineralogical controls on microbial activity, diversity, and evolution; life in extreme environments; and the application of new techniques to geomicrobial systems. Recommended: introductory chemistry and microbiology such as
CEE 274A.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
Instructors:
Francis, C. (PI)
ESS 185: Adaptation (EARTHSYS 183)
Adaptation is the process by which organisms or societies become better suited to their environments. In this class, we will explore three distinct but related notions of adaptation. Biological adaptations arise through natural selection, while cultural adaptations arise from a variety of processes, some of which closely resemble natural selection. A newer notion of adaptation has emerged in the context of climate change where adaptation takes on a highly instrumental, and often planned, quality as a response to the negative impacts of environmental change. We will discuss each of these ideas, using their commonalities and subtle differences to develop a broader understanding of the dynamic interplay between people and their environments. Topics covered will include, among others: evolution, natural selection, levels of selection, formal models of cultural evolution, replicator dynamics, resilience, rationality and its limits, complexity, adaptive management.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-SMA
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