|
|
College Catalog 2017-2018 ARCHIVED CATALOG
Environmental Science
|
|
Department of Environmental Science
ECON 361 - Environmental Economics
Understanding how environmental problems come to be and how best to solve them, with keen attention to the role and nature of markets, human behavior, institutions, and governmental policy. Students learn to see and redefine environmental problems as failures of incentives; investigate economic theory, concepts and tools relevant for environmental policy and understand the political and environmental history and complexity of environmental issues such as water management and air quality control.
Pre-req: ECON 201 - Principles of Economics: Micro
Cross-listed with ECON 361
3 credits
ENST 070 - Practicing Sustainable Urban Agriculture
This course introduces students to the foundations of sustainable urban agriculture through active participation in the campus garden lab. Students will learn how to build healthy soil (including composting and vermiposting), use low-water irrigation techniques, propagate plants, cultivate fruits and vegetables, save seeds, and will be introduced to sustainable modes of disease and pest management. The class meets once a week, has required readings and will ask students to contribute one additional hour of work in the garden lab per week. This course is a pre-requisite for participation in urban agriculture internships.
1 credits
ENST 245 - Green Politics
This course examines the intersections among ecological, social/cultural, economic and political processes and practices that have produced contemporary ecological crises (climate change, deforestation, air and water pollution, urban sprawl, etc.). We will investigate the complex processes that produce environmental problems, examine how people are differently affected by these problems, and we will look at how people can act to solve these problems. The course will emphasize that environmental issues are almost always social issues: the ecological crises we face are lodged in complex relations of power; embedded in daily practices; bound up with cultural values and priorities; and are inexorably linked with what counts as a pressing issue as well as the tools selected to solve problems. Environmental problems also reflect existing social relations of power and inequality. We do not all pay the same price or pay in the same way, nor do we all have an equal hand in their promulgation.
Cross-listed with SOC 245
3 credits
ENST 260 - Eco-Philosophy
The evolution of theoretical responses to unprecedented environmental crises such as Global Warming and mass extinctions-from application of traditional ethical theories to the development of comprehensive alternative environmental philosophies.
Cross-listed with GEN 260 / PHIL 260 - Eco-Philosophy
3 credits
ENST 290 - Selected Topics
May be repeated for credit
1 to 4 credits
ENST 301 - Environmental Analysis, Policy and Law
Review of U.S. and California environmental regulations and their application, historical overview of national and international environmental policy development with attention to current environmental policy issues. Lecture and Field Trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100
3 credits
ENST 321 - China: Its Environment and History
This course examines the multifarious ways in which the natural environment conditioned the course of China’s history from Neolithic times to the present, and the ways in which human actions altered China’s environment. The paradox of China’s “sustainable” development over the past 3000 years is explored.
Pre-req: HIST 101 , HIST 220 , or ENVS 100
Cross-listed with HIST 321
3 credits
ENST 323 - Environmental Anthropology
The changes that humans make in the natural environment are related to their world views and to their ideas about what the relationship between humans and nature should be. This course will explore these relationships cross-culturally through the readings of ethnographies and the viewing of films.
Pre-req: Sophomore standing or above
Cross-listed with ANTH 323
3 credits
ENST 348 - Food and Food Systems
This course approaches food-something Americans often take for granted-as a complex social system. We will investigate the social relationships and modes of organization that constitute the economic, political, environmental and social contexts for the development, production, distribution, promotion and consumption of food in contemporary society. Thus the course engages topics such as genetically modified food, the politics of food regulation, industrial agriculture, alternative agriculture and/or sustainable development.
Cross-listed with SOC 348
3 credits
ENST 350 - World Environmental History
An examination of the world’s environmental history from both local (e.g. California and the U.S.) and global perspectives (e.g. deforestation, species extinctions, climate change and global warming, nitrogen flows) designed to explore the interaction between humans and the natural environment, and to assess the extent of the human impact on natural environments over time.
Pre-req: HIST 100 or any 200-level HIST course
Cross-listed with HIST 350
3 credits
ENST 357 - Globalization and the Environment
Considers development issues related to economics, politics, inequality, human rights, gender, and environment and examines modernization, dependency, and world-system approaches to the theoretical understanding these issues.
Pre-req: ENVS 100
Cross-listed with INTD 357 and SOC 357
4 credits
ENST 359 - Early North American Environmental History
This course explores the environmental history of early America. It particularly looks at the ways that colonial forms of land use, transportation, technology, and food systems emerged and evolved in early modern North America. Themes include cultural and ecological encounters, epidemiology, consumption, and production.
Pre-req: HIST 101 , HIST 206 or ENVS 100
Cross-listed with HIST 359
3 credits
ENST 363 - Energy and Climate Change: Economics, Science and Policy
This course explores the science, economics and policy of climate change and energy resources. It covers a basic science foundation of climate change and an economics foundation for energy systems and climate policy. It also details how to conduct an economic feasibility and break-even analysis of a project such as renewable energy or energy efficiency installation. Students will become familiar building spreadsheets in Excel with costs and benefits over time and in present value terms. Regular readings on energy and climate change topics, including particular renewable energy technologies, will be assigned and discussed in small groups and as a class. A large portion of the class will be centered around team projects, which will identify, measure and analyze potential cost savings for a renewable energy or energy saving project on the Whittier College campus.
Pre-req: Pre-req: ECON 200 or ECON 201.
Cross-listed with ECON 363
3 credits
ENST 365 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics
This course surveys the broad fields of agricultural and natural resource economics and policy. It examines the central concept of scarcity and how that drives economic value. We explore the concepts of value, efficiency and institutional failure in the management of renewable natural resources including arable land, timber and fisheries as well as of non-renewable resources such as minerals and hydrocarbon fuels. We also investigate agricultural development in the U.S. and what drives technological advancement. Finally, the course assesses the role and efficacy of markets and public policy in managing our natural resources efficiently and sustainably.
Pre-req: Pre-req: Pre-req: ECON 200 and ECON 201.
Cross-listed with ECON 365
3 credits
ENST 370 - Environmental Sociology
This course focuses on sociological investigations of contemporary environmental/ ecological issues. From a sociological standpoint it is axiomatic that most of the ecological/environmental problems and crisis that we currently face are at their root social problems. This is not to minimize or erase the very real biogeochemical processes that have been disrupted, corrupted and eradicated by human actions; rather this perspective highlights those human actions and their outcomes. This course will be project based and organized around one or more case studies to introduce students to the relevant academic literature and to emphasize data analysis and concrete problem solving.
Pre-req: SOC 200 and Sophomore standing or above
Cross-listed with SOC 370
3 credits
ENST 395 - Independent Study
Credit and time arranged. May be repeated for credit.
1 to 4 credits
ENST 490 - Selected Topics
May be repeated for credit
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 050 - Environmental Science Colloquium
Weekly colloquia from scientists engaged in study of the environment as well as various stakeholders in environmental issues. Students interested in environmental science and/ or environmental issues are encouraged to attend colloquia. Seniors will normally give a colloquium presentation as part of the paper in the major requirement. May be repeated for credit
1 credits
ENVS 090 - Selected Topics in ENVS
May be repeated for credit. This course may not be used to meet requirements in any major.
1 to 3 credits
ENVS 100 - Introduction to Environmental Science
An introduction to the field of environmental science, examined from multiple perspectives: biology, earth sciences, chemistry, and physics. The class focuses on the contributions these different disciplines make to the diagnosis and solution of environmental problems, with an emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of these issues. Lecture, laboratory, and field trips.
Co-req: ENVS 100L
4 credits
ENVS 100L - Introduction to Environmental Science Lab
Co-req: ENVS 100
0 credits
ENVS 105 - Environmental Geology: Hazards & Resources
An introduction to processes at the Earth’s surface. The class explores the global weather and climate systems, the role of water in the environment, and processes that shape the surface of the earth. The class provides basic information on the physical processes maintaining the environment in which life exists. Special topics include global climate change, the greenhouse effect, tornadoes, hurricanes, El Nino, floods, landslides, and a survey of glacial, costal and stream environments.
Co-req: ENVS 105L
4 credits
ENVS 105L - Environmental Geology: Hazards & Resources Lab
Co-req: ENVS 105
0 credits
ENVS 190 - Selected Topics
May be repeated for credit
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 200 - Biological Anthropology
This course studies the physical aspects of human populations and the evolutionary history of our species. This history is studied through an overview of genetics and evolutionary theory, the fossil record, our close primate relatives and variation among contemporary humans, which underlies observable changes as our species continues to evolve.
Cross-listed with ANTH 200
3 credits
ENVS 251 - Ecology & Evolution of Organisms
An introduction to the structure and function of populations of plants and animals. Topics to be covered include growth and behavior of populations, ecology of communities, ecosystem function, transmission genetics, and the evolution of populations and species. Lecture, Laboratories, and Field Trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100 or BIOL 152
Co-req: ENVS 251L
Cross-listed with BIOL 251
4 credits
ENVS 251L - Ecology & Evolution of Organisms Lab
Co-req: ENVS 251
Cross-listed with BIOL 251
0 credits
ENVS 290 - Selected Topics
May be repeated for credit
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 291 - Earth’s Atmosphere
Fundamental properties of the atmosphere and the basic scientific principles behind weather and climate. Atmospheric circulation, weather patterns, atmosphere-ocean interactions and the human impact on the atmosphere such as air pollution, ozone depletion and climate change. Lectures and Laboratory.
4 credits
ENVS 295 - Independent Study
Credit and time arranged. May be repeated for credit.
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 320 - Environmental Chemistry
Atmospheric and condensed phase chemistry involved in modern environmental challenges including: global warming; energy supply; air, water and soil pollution; and ozone depletion. Lectures and Laboratory.
Pre-req: CHEM 110A
Cross-listed with CHEM 282
4 credits
ENVS 320L - Environmental Chemistry Lab
Co-req: ENVS 320
Cross-listed with CHEM 282L
0 credits
ENVS 330 - Soils & Environmental Geomorphology
The role of soil in the environment goes beyond being the media for vegetation to grow. The pedosphere (soils) is a complex and dynamic system at the interface between the atmosphere, the lithosphere, and the biosphere in which essential cycles of elements occur that support life on earth. Understanding the processes involved in soil formation and development across spatial and temporal scale will be the focus of this course, with emphasis on the effect of anthropogenic activity, such as soil management and use of soil resources, in affecting food production and causing environmental and water management issues. Lecture, Laboratory, and Field Trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100 or ENVS 105
Co-req: ENVS 330L
4 credits
ENVS 330L - Soils & Environmental Geomorphology Lab
Co-req: ENVS 330
0 credits
ENVS 333 - Insects and Their Arthropod Relatives
This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to insects and their arthropod relatives. It will cover the key features of their classification, physiological structure and function, behavior and ecology, all within the context of the latest ideas on the evolution of the group. The course will also examine the economic importance of insects in veterinary and human medicine, pest management and pollination biology.
Pre-req: BIOL 251 or ENVS 100
Co-req: ENVS 333L
Cross-listed with BIOL 333
4 credits
ENVS 333L - Insects and Their Arthropod Relatives Lab
Co-req: ENVS 333
Cross-listed with BIOL 333L
0 credits
ENVS 345 - Energy Resources
An in-depth examination of energy resources from a geological and environmental perspective. Topics include petroleum geology, traditional and alternative energy sources, extraction methods, social impacts, and environmental hazards. Labs will use case-studies and datasets to investigate the decision-making process and current events. Lectures, laboratory, field trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100 and ENVS 105
Co-req: ENVS 345L
4 credits
ENVS 345L - Energy Resources Lab
Co-req: ENVS 345
0 credits
ENVS 351 - Principles of Ecology
This course examines the fundamental concepts in the rapidly developing areas of ecology. The topics covered include the factors that limit the distributions and abundances of organisms, the effects that organisms have on ecosystems, the integration of ecosystems around the globe, and the conservation of species diversity. The class also explores how the behavior and physiology of individual organisms shape both and the global patterns of distribution abundance. Laboratories emphasize collection, and quantitative analyses, of experimental and field data from local ecosystems. Lecture, Laboratory, and Field Trips.
Pre-req: BIOL 251
Co-req: ENVS 351L
Cross-listed with BIOL 351
4 credits
ENVS 351L - Principles of Ecology Lab
Co-req: BIOL 351L
Cross-listed with BIOL 351
0 credits
ENVS 352 - Long-term Environmental Change
Through its history the Earth system has experienced large climatic fluctuations and has undergone periods of glacial expansion followed by warming trends. The understanding of the links between climate and ecosystems of the past (million of years) can inform on current and future climate changes. However, in much shorter time frames (hundred of years) anthropogenic activity has caused dramatic and unprecedented changes in the global climate whose effect on ecosystem processes and function is still largely unknown. This course will expose the students to a number of techniques used to reconstruct past climate, with particular emphasis on the use of isotopes. Recent warming trends will be investigated with particular focus on the ecosystems’ response to current and predicted global change.
Pre-req: ENVS 100 or ENVS 105
4 credits
ENVS 358 - Population, Problems & Policy
3 credits
ENVS 360 - World’s Views: Globalization, Environment, Agricultural Economy
This course is rooted in environmental science and focuses on the issue of land use change on global climate and environmental sustainability. There are obvious connections with other disciplines and fields, including global sustainability, food production, business, economics, and social science. Students who will participate in this course should expect to learn the connection between the soil system, vegetation and the atmosphere at the local and global scale. The business component of land use change is evident. Many multinational companies have an interest in available productive land for their crop production and their activity is driven by local and especially global demand. The course will be experiential, meaning that students will learn from on site visits and direct interaction with actual players in the field of sustainability and land use. Participants will be exposed to research work conducted in the area.
Pre-req: Sophomore standing or above
Cross-listed with INTD 360
4 credits
ENVS 379 - Conservation Biology
Conservation biology deals with the study of preserving biodiversity. Topics to be covered include the effects of habitat fragmentation on populations, reserve design, the effect of fragmentation on levels of diversity, and issues surrounding the problem of maintaining genetic diversity. Lectures, Laboratory, and Field Trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100 or BIOL 251
Co-req: ENVS 379L
Cross-listed with BIOL 379
4 credits
ENVS 379L - Conservation Biology Lab
Co-req: ENVS 379
Cross-listed with BIOL 379L
0 credits
ENVS 384 - Marine Biology
The ocean covers approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface. It is home to an incredible diversity of species from unicellular bacteria to whales. Such diversity exemplifies the variety of habitats that differ in abiotic and biotic factors that determine the niche of each species. Thus, many species have evolved in different ways to survive in a complex, multidimensional environment.
The ocean environment provides us with food, medicine, recreation, transport, and many other resources. However, overutilization of these resources has resulted in habitat destruction and species extinction. With the threat of accelerated climate change, research and conservation efforts are as important as ever, to protect existing and yet to be discovered species. Marine Biology is a multidisciplinary course that includes physics, chemistry, geography, ecology, and conservation.
This course will examine how marine organisms live and survive in their habitats through dissections, experiments, field trips, lectures, literature discussions, presentations, and reports.
Pre-req: BIOL 251
Co-req: ENVS 384L
Cross-listed with BIOL 384
4 credits
ENVS 384L - Marine Biology Lab
Co-req: ENVS 384
Cross-listed with BIOL 384L
0 credits
ENVS 390 - Selected Topics
May be repeated for credit
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 395 - Independent Study
Credit and time arranged. May be repeated for credit.
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 396 - Integrated Research Methods
This course focuses on developing expertise in environmental sampling and analysis. Topics to be covered include basic surveying and mapping techniques, community sampling, air and water quality analysis, and basic statistical analysis of data. The course is topic based, and will investigate several problems over the course of the semester using field and laboratory instrumentation. This course is designed for sophomores or juniors. Lecture, Laboratory and Field Trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100
4 credits
ENVS 445 - Evolutionary Biology
Evolution by natural selection is a fundamental theory in Biology that explains how all organisms on Earth are related and how they have diversified. It is supported by numerous evidence from DNA, embryology, anatomy, geography, and fossil record. Evolutionary Biology is an examination of the mechanisms of evolutionary change from DNA to species.
Pre-req: BIOL 251 and Sophomore standing or above
Co-req: ENVS 445L
Cross-listed with BIOL 445
4 credits
ENVS 445L - Evolutionary Biology Lab
Co-req: ENVS 445
Cross-listed with BIOL 445L
0 credits
ENVS 473 - The Southern California Flora: Ecology, Evolution & Taxonomy
Taxonomic and ecological study of native plants. Lectures, Laboratory, and Field Trips.
Pre-req: ENVS 100 or BIOL 251
Co-req: ENVS 473L
Cross-listed with BIOL 473
4 credits
ENVS 473L - Southern California Flora: Ecology, Evolution & Taxonomy
Co-req: ENVS 473
0 credits
ENVS 485 - Advanced Field Studies
Pre-req: Instructor permission
Cross-listed with BIOL 485
4 credits
ENVS 490 - Selected Topics
May be repeated for credit
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 495 - Independent Study
Credit and time arranged. May be repeated for credit.
1 to 4 credits
ENVS 496 - Senior Seminar
This course is designed for seniors completing their paper in the major and their senior presentation. This course will meet weekly to evaluate progress toward the paper in the major. Requirements for the course include the selection of a faculty sponsor, preparation for the oral senior presentation, and peer review of progress on the paper in the major.
Pre-req: ENVS 396
1 credits
INTD 357 - Globalization and the Environment
Considers development issues related to economics, politics, inequality, human rights, gender, and environment and examines modernization, dependency, and world-system approaches to the theoretical understanding these issues.
Pre-req: Not open to first semester freshmen
Cross-listed with ENST 357 and SOC 357
4 credits
|
|
Print this Page