Introduction to Environmental Science

Lecture topics may include:

1. Introduction to the environment (definitions, scientific method, Earth spheres, etc.)
2. Biosphere (properties and origins of life, evolution, taxonomy, etc.).
3. Lithosphere (matter, minerals, rocks, rock cycle, soils, soil ecosystems and soil pollution/contamination, Earth structure, plate tectonics, geomorphology/glaciation, etc.).
4. Hydrosphere (properties of water, distribution of water: surface water ecosystems, groundwater, water use and pollution/contamination, fisheries and conservation, etc.).
5. Atmosphere (structure and properties, weather, pollution, climate and climate change, etc.).
6. Environmental systems (cycling of energy and matter, biogeochemical cycles of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, etc.).
7. Population (characteristics of populations, models of single species populations, human population and demographics, etc.).
8. Biodiversity (benefits, measuring biodiversity, factors affecting biodiversity, extinction rates, biological invasions, conservation, etc.).
9. Community (species interactions, niche, disturbance, succession, trophic levels and food webs, biomes, etc.).
10. Forest resources (forest ecosystems, harvesting, effects of deforestation, forest management, etc.).
11. Agriculture (food production, green revolution, pest management, biotechnology, GMOs, etc.).
12. Energy resources (fossil fuels, nuclear, renewables, conventional vs. non-conventional, etc.).
13. Mineral resources (mineral uses, mineral deposit types, mining methods, impacts and remediation measures, etc.).
14. Urban environment (urban ecology, urban growth, livable cities, etc.).
15. Health and toxicology (infectious diseases, environmental hazards, risk management, etc.).
16. Waste (solid/liquid and toxic/hazardous waste and management, etc.).
17. Governance (environmental law and policy, environmental ethics, economic models and tools applied to the environment and allocation of resources, etc.).
18. Sustainability (definition, strategies, functioning, trends, etc.).

Lab topics may include:

1. Organism identification (plants, animals). Introduction to the use of a dichotomous key.
2. Rocks & mineral identification. Basic mineral identification skills and classification of rocks.
3. Soil characteristics (soil type, permeability, water retention capacity, pH, etc.) and effects on plant growth (biomass production). Soil quality and contamination.
4. Fresh water environments (aquatic ecosystems) and water properties (pH, turbidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, total dissolved solids, etc.). Organism count and identification. Water quality and contamination.
5. Marine/shoreline environments (shoreline ecosystems). Substrate characteristics (grain size, composition, etc.), energy level of environment, identification of biotic community.
6. Mountain environments (forest ecosystems). Effects of climate, nature of substrate/geology, elevation and topography on forest community.
7. Atmospheric pollution (air quality measurements).
8. Groundwater flow and contamination.