Biodiversity

Investigates how sustainability can be implemented in a variety of contexts including water, energy, nonrenewable resources, biodiversity, and urban policy, and also how it could be measured.

Students attend weekly seminar to discuss current issues in global sustainability. Weekly attendance at Global Sustainability Forum also is required. Seminar utilized to analyze forum presentations and to prepare senior research paper. Prepare/ write research paper under the direction of a faculty member. Prerequisites: Earth System Science 190A-B and satisfaction of the lower-division writing requirement.

A mechanistic perspective of the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Includes processes such as nutrient cycling, biogeochemical cycling, mass balance, energetics, terrestrial hydrology, and water cycle.

Addresses ways in which humans are altering the global environment, with consequences for the ecology of animals, plants, and microbes. Discussion on how these biologically oriented questions relate to human society, politics, and the economy. Same as Biological Sciences 9K.

Introduction of scientific, technological, environmental, economic, and social aspects underlying the threat and understanding of global climate change. Human and natural drivers of climate. Impacts of climate on natural, managed, and human systems, including their vulnerability and ability to adapt.

Seminar and lecture, three hours. Explores basic topics in ecology and evolutionary biology and applications to agriculture, conservation, environmental issues, and public health. Format involves discussion of scientific journal articles and other readings, with focus on learning to evaluate scientific evidence. Prerequisite or corequisite: Biological Sciences E106.

Applications of the tools covered in Economics 145E to such topics as global warming, destruction of the ozone layer, and emissions trading. Emphasis on independent research papers. Syllabus and classes include writing technique. Prerequisites: Economics 15A-B, 145E, and satisfactory completion of the lower-division writing requirement.

Lecture, three hours. Examination of contemporary water problems worldwide, with particular attention to the competing demands for water in the western U.S., and water demand by the poor in developing countries. History and analysis of U.S. water policies at local, state, and federal levels.

Lecture, three hours. Focuses on processes of exposure to environmental toxins/agents and their impact to human health and the environment. Media transport, exposure assessment, susceptibility, behavior, and health effect of several toxins are discussed. Public Health Sciences and Public Health Policy majors have first consideration for enrollment.

Lecture, three hours. A mechanistic perspective on ecosystem processes. Covers ecosystem development, element cycling, and interactions with plants and microbes. The role of ecosystems in environmental change is also addressed. Prerequisite: Chemistry 51C.