Water Conservation

Lecture, three hours. Examination of current issues related to the atmosphere, including energy usage; toxicology; effects on humans, forest, plants, and ecosystems; particulate matter (PM10); combustion; modeling and meteorology; airborne toxic chemicals and risk assessment; application of science to development of public policies. Prerequisite: One course selected from Chemistry 245, Earth System Science 202, Engineering MAE164, Engineering MAE261, or consent of instructor.

Lecture, three hours. Investigates how sustainability can be implemented in a variety of contexts including water, energy, non-renewable resources, biodiversity, and urban policy, and also how it could be measured. Same as Earth System Science 182.

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. Natural disasters are natural processes that adversely affect humans. By examining these processes students develop a basic understanding of Earth’s physical environment. Topics include: tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, severe weather, flooding, climate change, mass extinctions and impacts with space objects.

Lecture, three hours. Overview of scientific underpinnings of global environmental change and human health consequences. Provides students with an understanding of the fundamental dependency of human health on global environmental integrity. Encourages disciplinary cross-fertilization through interaction of students in environmental, health, and policy sciences. Prerequisite: at least one upper-division course in environmental science, public health, environmental policy, and/or environmental management, or consent of instructor.

Lecture, three hours. Examines factors involved in shaping public health and environmental policy. Topics include the role of science in public health policy, the function of governmental regulatory agencies, citizen participation, and economic and sociopolitical aspects of controlling infectious diseases and regulating carcinogens.

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.

Introduces students to the Earth as a system, the physical and biological resources on the planet, and the impact of humanity on those resources.

The sequence begins in fall by addressing water from an scientific and engineering perspective (global issues, land-sea interactions and urban water), then moves in winter to an historical case study of the Himalayan watershed and its impact on Asia’s water, and culminates in spring quarter by exploring water policy with the overall theme of water as a contested resource across space, time, and peoples. Wherever possible, examples are drawn from the local environment.

Lecture, three hours. Overview of general concepts, theoretical principles, and analytical techniques for investigating environmental systems. Integrates tools from both natural and social sciences to analyze contemporary environmental challenges such as pollution, resource acquisition, facility and ecosystem design, impact assessments, the formulation of environmental policy.