Courses

Below is a preview for Environmental Studies courses slated to be offered in the Fall and Spring semesters, with descriptions, instructors, times and dates. This is intended to assist students with academic planning. Please note that information is subject to change, and that the official course information will not be available until the KU Timetable is published.

Spring 2010 Sneak Preview

EVRN 103: Environmental History: Instructor: Greg Cushman, Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, 9:00 - 9:50 AM.

EVRN 148: Principles of Environmental Studies: This is the introductory course for the Environmental Studies Program. Students will learn about a wide variety of topics, from ecology and biology to history and politics, and how the decisions we make influence the world in which we live. Those contemplating a major in Environmental Studies are highly advised to take this course! Instructor: Johannes Feddema, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:45 AM.

EVRN 320: Environmental Policy Analysis: An historical and analytical study of the formulation, implementation, and consequences of environmental policy in the United States. Attention will be directed at relevant interest groups, issues specific to both rural and urban populations, relationships between national policies and international organizations concerned with environmental problems. Instructor: Dorothy Daley, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30 - 3:45 PM.

EVRN 410: Geospatial Techniques in Environmental Studies: The objective of this course is to provide a solid practical knowledge of geographic information systems, remote sensing, global positioning systems, and geovisualization. This course will focus on 1) applications of geospatial technologies to environmental problems, using wherever and whenever possible real-world examples and data; 2) endowing students with a foundational skill-set in GIS, remote sensing, and GPS techniques, software, and hardware such that these techniques can be put to work in other classes and projects; and 3), providing enough of the basic theory and principles such that the student understands a particular operation or method. Generally, we will work through a series of assignments each with a required deliverable, not too different from projects in the "real world." Several of these will be larger projects that build on 2-3 previous projects. Skills in this class, however, are cumulative. Instructor: Mark Jakubauskas, Tuesdays, 2:30 - 5:00 PM.

EVRN 420: Environmental Ecology This course is designed for students who are not planning to take the BIOL 414 (Principles of Ecology). This course will cover basic ecological principles, beyond those covered in EVRN 148, but with an emphasis on how they apply to environmental problems. Instructor: Kathleen Nuckolls, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:45 AM. Lab component on Fridays from 9:00 - 10:00 AM, Snow 316.

EVRN 420: Toxicology, Toys and Tater Tots This will be a course on the potential toxic effects of everyday products. We rely on some of these products in our everyday lives, but how safe are they? Some of the chemicals in these products persist in our environment for a very long time and travel long distances. Many of them appear to be very similar to them hormones that our own bodies use as signals. Should we be worried? How do we evaluate the evidence? The course will briefly examine the functions of the endocrine system and the scientific study of potentially toxic chemicals, before moving on to examine the evidence for some persistent chemicals in the environment. Instructor: Kathleen Nuckolls, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.

EVRN 420: Vulnerability and Adaptation Instructor: So-Min Cheong, Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:00 - 3:45 PM.

EVRN 490: Internship in Environmental Studies

EVRN 550: Environmental Economics This course provides an overview of the theory and empirical practice of economic analysis as it applies to environmental issues. Topics include externalities (a type of market failure), the valuation of nonmarket goods, the practice of benefit-cost analysis, and the efficiency and cost effectiveness of pollution control policies. Most importantly, the course permits students to perform economic field research, using state-of-the-art techniques in a manner accessible to undergraduate students. Instructor: Dietrich Earnhart, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 - 9:15 AM.

EVRN 615: Capstone Project The capstone project provides students with a broad-based, interdisciplinary educational experience and allows them to integrate and synthesize the knowledge they have gained in their environmental studies major. It rejoins the cohort that has separately pursued the BA/BGS and BS tracks and places them in situations in which they address real world environmental issues with a team approach and produce professionally meaningful analytical reports. Instructor: Kelly Kindscher, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 - 5:15 PM.

EVRN 720: Moral Geographies of Environment and Development Instructor: Chris Brown, Tuesdays, 2:00 - 4:45 PM.

EVRN 720: Mapping the Ice Sheet Retreat in Greenland: Part of the IGERT series and only available to IGERT fellows. This field research course examines how the Greenland ice sheets have responded to climate change since the last glacial maximum, introduces trainees to the tools and techniques used to reconstruct the chronology of past ice margin locations, and provides an overview of how climate and ice sheet models used to reconstruct the past can enable us to predict future changes. During the semester trainees will have access to a variety of data sets (radar ice soundings, sediment cores, meteorological records, stream flow data, historical and demographic data) to analyze and synthesize. At the end of the semester, the faculty and students will travel to Greenland to conduct the field research projects and gain experience in collecting data. Instructors: Joane Nagel, David Braaten, Kees Vanderveen, Sharon Billings. Thursdays from 1:00 - 4:00.

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