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Course Descriptions
Prerequisite Courses
420.301 – Quantitative Methods
This prerequisite course provides the necessary background in mathematics for students who do not have sufficient undergraduate course work in calculus and statistics. Students who receive a provisional admission because of math deficiency can opt to take the mathematics assessment test. If the student earns a score of 80% or better, then s/he is not required to take the course. In this course, students acquire quantitative skills and an understanding of mathematical principles fundamental to environmental sciences, and necessary for evaluating the implications of policy measures. Topics include probability and statistics, systems of equations, analytical geometry, and basic concepts of calculus. Problem sets, interpretation of data, and applications to everyday problems help students appreciate the usefulness of quantitative methods.
420.302 – Chemistry of Natural Processes
This course provides students with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of
chemistry, of Earth's interrelated chemical systems, and of how to manipulate
and interpret chemical data. Topics include molecules and chemical bonding,
states of matter, thermodynamics, and kinetics. Through a series of exercises,
students apply chemistry principles to solve real-world environmental
problems.
Prerequisite: Students are urged to take 420.301 Quantitative
Methods for Environmental Sciences before enrolling in this course.
Core Courses
420.601 – Geological Foundations of Environmental Science
(formerly Earth Resources and Their Waste Products)
This course
provides an overview of Earth's materials, processes, and resources for
environmental scientists and policymakers. Topics include minerals, rocks,
sediments, stratigraphy, structure, geomorphology, and geologic environments.
Emphasis is placed on understanding geologic principles and methods as applied
to environmental science, Earth resources, and public policy. Two field trips
are part of the course.
420.604 – Hydrology and Water Resources
This course provides students with an introduction to the global hydrological
cycle and the influence of climate, geology, and human activity. Students study
the principles of precipitation, evaporation, and evapotranspiration; surface
and groundwater flow; storage in natural and artificial reservoirs; water
quality and pollution; and water resource management and regulation. Two field
trips are included.
420.608 – Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes
In this course, students study the oceans and the atmosphere as interrelated
systems. The basic concepts of air masses, water masses, winds, currents,
fronts, eddies, and storms are linked to permit a fundamental understanding of
the similar nature of oceanic and atmospheric processes. Among the course's
topics are weather forecasting, global climate change, marine pollution, and an
introduction to applied oceanography. A field trip is included.
420.611 – Principles and Methods of Ecology
This course examines the relationship between organisms and their biotic and
abiotic environment at three levels of biological hierarchy: individual
organism, population, and community. Population characteristics, models of
population dynamics, and the effect of ecological interactions on population
regulation are discussed in detail. The structure and function of natural and
man-made communities and the impact disturbances have on community structure are
also examined. Students are led to appreciate the importance of ecology in
solving environmental problems. Two field trips are included.
420.614 – Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis
This course provides students with a broad introduction to U.S. environmental
policymaking and policy analysis. Included are a historical perspective as well
as an analysis of future policymaking strategies. Students examine the political
and legal framework, become familiar with precedent-setting statutes such as
NEPA, RCRA, and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and study models for
environmental policy analysis. Cost benefit studies, the limits of science in
policymaking, and the impact of environmental policies on society are important
aspects of the course. A comparison of national and international policymaking
is designed to provide students with the proper perspective.
Science Elective Courses
420.619 – Ecological Assessment
This course introduces students to concepts and tools used in quantitative
ecological assessment and demonstrates how they can be applied in managerial or
regulatory contexts. The course covers assessment strategies, methodologies for
ecological assessment, design of sampling programs, indicators of ecological
integrity, bioassessment, and coping with uncertainty, ecological risk
assessment, and adaptive environmental assessment and management. Students are
introduced to approaches for population, ecosystem, community, watershed, and
landscape-level assessment. Computer exercises reinforce concepts and
familiarize students with a variety of assessment
techniques.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and Methods of Ecology,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.620 – Soils in Natural and Anthropogenic Ecosystems
This course introduces students to basic concepts of soil science and the soil's
contribution to the functions of natural and anthropogenic ecosystems. It
provides an overview of soil morphological, physical, chemical, and biological
properties, and how these interact to form a soil with unique characteristics
and ecosystem function. Students discuss soils of the world from the perspective
of soil taxonomy, the processes that form these soils, and land use properties
specific to each soil order. Students learn to read soil maps, to interpret and
predict the quality and land use potential of soils, and to use available soil
data. Current issues regarding the proper use and management of soils are
investigated. Field trips are included.
420.621 – Natural Hazards: Impact Assessment and Mitigation
This course examines several major natural hazards both from the standpoint of
their causes (including what human factors turn a natural hazard into a
disaster) and of the efforts to cope with and mitigate their effects on society.
The course focuses on the factors that make us vulnerable to natural hazards and
considers policies that can make society more resilient. Topics include methods
of mitigation, monitoring, prediction and warning systems, hazard awareness, the
role of technology in hazard reduction, emergency response, and community
redevelopment. The course explores a sequence of individual hazards, while
concentrating on the connections between them. Final projects use a multi-hazard
approach to assess risks and propose policy solutions.
Prerequisites:
420.601 Geological Foundations of Environmental Science and 420.608 Oceanic and
Atmospheric Processes, equivalent courses, or experience.
420.622 – Ecotoxicology
This course begins with an overview of the basic principles of ecology including
trophic structure, food-web dynamics, bioaccumulation, and effects of toxic
materials upon ecosystems and individual organisms. Students then are introduced
to the principles of toxicology, including chemical action upon organisms, organ
systems, and cellular functions. Models help to define fate and transport
mechanisms, concentration effects, and selective toxicity. Also covered are
toxicity testing, risk assessment, toxics reduction, and examples of
bioremediation.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and Methods of Ecology,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.623 – Freshwater Ecology and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems
This course focuses on the ecology, protection, and restoration of
nontidalwaters. Students study the biological, chemical, and physical
characteristics of Maryland waters and riparian zones, as well as the ecological
responses to anthropogenic activity, and the approaches that can protect
freshwater ecosystems or mitigate damage to them. Ongoing and planned protection
and restoration activities in Maryland and elsewhere are presented. Students
develop holistic restoration plans based on existingecological data. Two weekend
field trips are part of the course.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and
Methods of Ecology.
420.624 – Contaminant Transport
This course presents the basic principles underlying the movement of
contaminants in the main environmental media: surface water, groundwater, and
the atmosphere. These principles and the models built to understand and predict
the transport of contaminants in different media are the tools to design
remediation programs, provide the technical foundation of policy decisions, and
support the evaluation of risk to the environment and human health caused by
pollutants. The students will be able to ask the right questions of modelers, to
understand the information provided by models as well as its limitations, and to
communicate effectively this information to the public and decision makers.
Students should have strong mathematical reasoning skills.
Prerequisites
420.604 Hydrology and Water Resources, equivalent course or experience.
420.625 – Chesapeake Bay: Ecology and Ecosystem Management
This course examines the physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting
coastal and estuarine ecosystems by using the Chesapeake Bay as a model system.
Human influences on these ecosystems and the policy decisions made to manage and
minimize human impact are explored in lecture and seminar formats. Topics
include the hydrodynamics of shallow tidal waters; energy and material flows and
transformations; diversity and adaptation of plant, animal, and microbial
communities; population and pollution ecology; and ecosystem management. Case
histories illustrate problems in fisheries management and the eutrophication of
the Chesapeake Bay . Field trips are part of the course.
Prerequisite:
420.611 Principles and Methods of Ecology, equivalent course, or experience.
420.626 – Field Methods in Ecology
In this course students conduct fieldwork in various ecosystems. Field methods
include quadrate, transect, and SAV sampling, as well as various techniques for
surveying animal communities and monitoring water quality. While analyzing their
own data, students become familiar with concepts such as species-area curves,
importance values, species diversity, and community similarity indices. Students
also are introduced to paleoecological tools such as sediment coring. Several
ecological processes including succession and the effect of disturbances on
community structure are demonstrated. The significance, advantages, and
disadvantages of various surveying methods are explored in classroom meetings,
but for much of the course students conduct their studies in the forests,
fields, and wetlands of the area. Fieldwork is scheduled for a succession of
Saturdays; some sections may conduct field trips on one or two Fridays and/or
Sundays.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and Methods of Ecology,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.628 – Wetlands Ecology and Management
This course explores the biological, physical, chemical, and ecological aspects of tidal and non-tidal wetland ecosystems. Topics include human interactions with wetlands, wetland hydrology, biogeochemistry, biological adaptations, wetland function, development, dynamics, delineation and valuation. Wetland modification and manipulation are analyzed through case studies of restoration, construction, and mitigation. The effects of federal and state laws, of various regulations, and of human perturbations are explored. Numerous field trips provide experience with rigorous scientific inquiry, field techniques, monitoring, analysis, and reporting. The trips also offer an opportunity to explore the importance of both natural wetlands and restored/mitigated wetlands.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and Methods of
Ecology, equivalent course, or experience.
420.631 – Field Methods in Stream and Water Quality Assessment
This course provides an overview of field methods used to sample and assess various biological, physical, and chemical components in streams, rivers, and lakes. It allows students to determine the impact human activity has on aquatic environments. Students gain hands-on experience with standard sampling techniques, and with the detection, identification, and quantification of biological specimens and chemical pollutants in the aquatic environment. Students discuss water quality standards and federal regulations such as the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Also included are study design, gear selection, sample preservation, and safety. Basic approaches to analyze and report findings are covered, with emphasis on methods currently practiced by government resource agencies.
420.632 – Outdoor Air Quality Management and Policy
This course provides an overview of the principles and policies
involved in outdoor air quality management, with an emphasis on the
public health impacts of outdoor air pollution. Course topics include:
history of air quality management; major air pollutants and sources;
atmospheric chemistry, transport and dispersion; measurement and
monitoring; control technology; effects on human health, ecology,
climate and materials; regulatory requirements and non-regulatory
management approaches; and air quality management assessment tools. The
effectiveness of the Clean Air Act, external factors impacting air
quality management, and regulatory case studies will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: 420.608 Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes, equivalent course, or experience.
420.633 – Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
In this course, students become familiar with the concepts and gain the
experience necessary to appreciate the utility of Geographic Information Systems
in decisionmaking regarding environmental issues. Topics covered include the
fundamentals of cartography, georeferencing, data structures, database design,
project planning, and spatial data analysis. The course provides an overview of
the capabilities of GIS software. Class time is divided between lectures and
hands-on laboratory sessions that reinforce critical concepts. Completion of a
term project is part of the course.
Prerequisite: working knowledge of
personal computers.
420.634 – Bioremediation and Emerging Environmental Technologies
(formerly Environmental Remediation Technologies)
The course
presents the major present day technologies available for reclaiming
contaminated resources and reducing health risks. It covers the application of
various physical and chemical technologies, but emphasis the biological systems
for the cleanup of hazardous chemicals. Students are introduced to the nature of
hazardous waste, the behavior of chemicals in the subsurface, the biochemistry
of microbial degradation, and technology applications. Students will become
familiar with the technologies of stabilization, thermal desorption, air
sparging, soil vapor extraction, chemical oxidation, and the various types of
bioremediation, including bioventing, intrinsic remediation or monitored natural
attenuation, enhanced natural attenuation, and bioventing. Students will learn
to select appropriate technologies for more detailed assessment on their use for
cleanup of contaminated sites, design a monitoring program for assessing the
applicability of bioremediation for site cleanup, examine the analytical data
from a site monitoring program and assess the applicability of various
bioremediation techniques, develop biological conceptual models for natural
attenuation, and understand the key principles for design.
Prerequisites:
420.601 Geological Foundations of Environmental Science and 420.604 Hydrology
and Water Resources, equivalent courses, or experience.
420.636 – Remote Sensing: Earth Observing Systems and Applications
This course introduces remote sensing as an important technology to further our
understanding of Earth's land, atmospheric, and oceanic processes. Students
study remote sensing science, techniques, and satellite technologies to become
familiar with the types of information that can be obtained and how this
information can be applied in the natural and social sciences. Applications
include assessment of land cover and land use; mapping and analysis of natural
resources; weather and climate studies; pollution detection and monitoring;
disaster monitoring; and identification of oceanographic
features.
Prerequisite: 420.608 Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.637 – Biodiversity/Wildlife
This course examines the meaning of biodiversity, the disciplines associated
with conservation biology, including taxonomy, genetics, small population
biology, chemical ecology, and marine biology. It explores how conservation
biology differs from other natural sciences in theory and in application.
Students learn the major threats to biodiversity and what natural and social
science methods and alternatives are used to stop the threats. The course also
explores the economic and cultural tradeoffs associated with each conservation
measure at the global, national, regional, and local levels. The course is
taught in the seminar-style with a different lecturer from the specific field
covered each class session.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and Methods
of Ecology, equivalent course, or experience.
420.639 – Landscape Ecology
Landscape ecology is a rapidly developing area of study that explicitly examines
the effects of spatial pattern and scale on ecological processes that unfold
over areas of several square kilometers or larger. Thus, landscape ecology
provides many concepts, tools, and approaches that will enhance the
effectiveness of endeavors such as watershed management, ecosystem management,
design of conservation reserves and green infrastructure, and smart growth. The
goal of this course is to give students a firm grasp of the concepts of
landscape ecology and of how they can be applied to enhance the effectiveness of
environmental policy, management, regulation, and
assessment.
Prerequisite: 420.611 Principles and Methods of Ecology,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.640 – Advanced GIS Modeling
This course moves beyond the fundamentals of GIS to explore application to
environmental problems. Students review current research in the field, learn
relevant modeling techniques, and utilize advanced software tools for
environmental analysis. Over the course of the semester, functional areas of
modeling are explored such as atmospheric and climate modeling, biosphere and
terrestrial systems analysis (e.g., ecosystem, watershed, and surface hydrology
analysis), and subsurface modeling. The course involves the use and integration
of a variety of data sources including maps, GPS, and satellite imagery.
Specific GIS techniques in network analysis, 3-D modeling, and spatial analysis
issues are explored. The course consists of significant hands-on computer time,
building on former GIS software experience. Tours of organizations using GIS for
environmental analysis and resource management provide exposure to contemporary
environmental operations. Guest lecturers present current research findings and
application examples of GIS. Students develop a significant GIS project over the
course of the semester and present their findings at the
end.
Prerequisite: 420.633 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or
comparable GIS software experience.
420.659 – Management for Environmental Results with Performance-based Measurement
At all levels of government and throughout private industry, performance-based initiatives now place unprecedented demands on environmental managers to achieve measurable environmental results. The goal of the various performancebased initiatives is to give environmental managers a systematic understanding of the causes of environmental problems, both natural and anthropogenic, and their human, ecological and economic effects. It is also at the heart of sound environmental impact analysis, risk assessment, and benefit-cost analysis. In this course, students learn the foundations and applications of modern performance-based initiatives. Using case studies taken from a variety of environmental programs, students learn to use available scientific knowledge to uncover the likely keys to program success. Students learn why success has so often eluded environmental managers in the past. The goal of this class is for students to critically assess the design, performance measurement and management of environmental programs on all scales and to recommend effective improvements. Students will develop skills for implementing resultsoriented environmental management.
420.663 – Introduction to Spatial Analysis with GIS
This course introduces students to using statistical techniques for solving spatial problems. Students will learn to apply the principles of statistics to address the distributional and locational aspects of a variety of problems. Examples and assignments are drawn from many GIS applications, such as business, urban planning, security, public health, transportation and telecommunications. Topics include spatial sampling, measures of dispersion and central tendency in spatial analysis, and regression analysis applied to spatial data.
420.664 – Development & Management of GIS Projects
Elective Policy Courses
420.629 – Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Health
In this elective course students examine a number of scientific and public
policy dilemmas related to the provision of safe drinking water and protection
of human health in the U.S. and abroad. Through lectures, discussion, research
and writing, and exercises, participants in this course will first gain a basic
understanding of the fundamentals of water supply, treatment, regulation, and
sanitation, and will then focus on some unresolved issues that currently
confront scientists, resource managers, and policymakers. These issues include
controlling pathogens from urban and agricultural runoff, managing harmful
by-products of the disinfection process, regulating arsenic in ground water,
evaluating the risk posed by exposure to mixtures of contaminants, and
confronting the threat of terrorist attacks on water supplies. Students will be
expected to recommend pathways that could lead to
solutions.
Prerequisite: 420.604 Hydrology and Water Resources,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.630 – Waste Policy
This course addresses all aspects of waste management including waste
generation, human health and environmental hazards, waste treatment and disposal
methods, recycling, and the regulations that govern transportation and disposal
of waste. Solid and hazardous forms of waste are discussed. Students examine
laws and agency regulations to determine their effectiveness in reducing waste
and in cleaning up and containing waste already generated.
Prerequisites:
420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis, equivalent course, or
experience.
420.638 – Coastal Geology and Policy
The course is designed to provide the student with knowledge to address modern
coastal, environmental, geologic, and policy issues. The course will focus on
the coasts, barrier-islands, major estuaries, and inner continental shelf areas
of the United States . Fundamental coastal engineering principles will be
described in order to address methods used for public works projects including
hurricane protection, beach nourishment, and tidal inlet maintenance. The
policies pertinent to management and use of coastal environments will be
studied. One weekend field trip will be required.
Prerequisite: 420.601
Geological Foundations for Environmental Sciences, equivalent course, or
experience.
420.641 – Natural Resource Law and Policy
This course introduces students to federal and state legislation and policies of
critical importance in natural resource management. Students explore such issues
as regulation of ocean fishing, coastal zone management, mineral exploitation
and associated environmental impact, water allocation and quality, hazardous
waste cleanup programs under the Superfund law, urban industrial infrastructure
such as water and sewage systems, land use management, and water and air
pollution control.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and
Policy Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.642 – Public Lands–Private Interests: The Struggle for Common Ground
This course prepares students to participate in the great debate over the use
and protection of America 's federally owned forests, rangeland, parks, and
sanctuaries. Students consider such questions as how much should be paid for
grazing on federal lands; how to balance the demand for timber harvest with the
need for watershed and wildlife management; who controls mineral and oil
extraction on federal lands; and who has the rights to waters flowing through
federal lands and stored behind federally funded dams. These and similar issues
of today and tomorrow are studied in the context of history, statute and case
law, and administrative regulations.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental
Policymaking and Policy Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.643 – Environmentalism: History and Literature
This course looks at the human dimension of environmental issues by framing them
within a historical perspective. The purpose is to understand the historical
interactions among environmental activists, scientists, and policymakers in
order to explore the significance of these past relationships on current
environmental policymaking. The course considers early U.S. environmental
history but focuses on the post-World War II era and the various institutions of
modern environmentalism. The course will examine changing ideas and attitudes
toward nature and how these changes influence the shape of emerging
environmental policies and the institutions that influence environmental
policymaking. Materials include primary and secondary historical texts and
significant works from the American literature of environmentalism.
420.644 – Sustainable Cities
(formerly Cities, Urbanization, and the Environment)
This course
examines urbanization and its impacts on the environment. The goal of the course
is to better understand how urbanization contributes to ecological damage as
well as how cities can be constructed in ecologically healthy ways. Topics
include land use planning transportation, waste, management, water quality, open
space/greening, green building technology, urban design, and urban ecology. The
course takes an international perspective by using case studies of cities in
North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The case studies also
include a wide range of cities with different populations, geographic scale, and
growth rates. Final projects are an in-depth study of one particular city of the
student's choice and its attempts to implement programs for sustainability.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.645 – Environmental Challenges for Energy Policy
The course examines energy supply and consumption, and how these activities impact the environment, with a focus on understanding the potential technology, market structure and policy implications for climate change and air quality. Particular emphasis is devoted to the electricity and transportation sectors, which combined represent over two-thirds of U.S. energy production and use. Students will gain a solid understanding of the science, economics, environmental impact and potential policies associated with various electricity generation technologies, including renewable energy, such as wind and solar, conventional generation (existing and future), carbon storage and sequestration, and electricity storage. Transportation topics will address a variety of technologies, including hybrids and fuels cells, as well as the potential role for alternative fuels, including biofuels. A range of policy alternatives will be discussed, including traditional command and control-style regulations, emissions trading (for both SO2 and carbon dioxide) and other market-based tools, portfolio standards, technology incentives and the potential role of publicly funded R&D.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.646 – Transportation Policy and Smart Growth
This course examines how transportation policy and decisions can alleviate or
prevent problems resulting from urban sprawl. How can transportation decisions
and planning contribute to more “livable" urban designs and land use patterns
that promote “smart growth"—growth that is environmentally and ecologically
sustainable? Students discuss how different environmental media—land, water, and
air—are affected by our transportation systems and resulting development
patterns, and how the design of transportation systems—the highways, roads,
transit systems, and bike and walk paths—can more closely harmonize with nature
and provide communities with a better quality of life. A wide range of policy
options is examined, from altering the structure of road pricing to redesigning
neighborhoods and altering urban form. A number of case studies are examined to
illuminate the issues and principles raised in the course.
420.649 – Strategic Management For Sustainability
This course examines the “greening of industry" trend, its causes, and its
implications for public policy. The course first examines environmental behavior
from the strategic perspective of firms and industry associations. From the old
emphasis on legal compliance, leading firms now have turned to a much more
strategic view, and many have adopted an explicit goal of promoting
sustainability. We consider the causes of this behavior among leading firms and
the many forms that it has taken, as well as the meanings of sustainability
within the industrial sector. The course then turns to a consideration of how
public policy has influenced this trend and to government's response to these
changes within industry. The course concludes with an evaluation of these policy
responses and likely trends in industry and government.
Prerequisite:
420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy Analysis, equivalent course, or
experience.
420.650 – International Environmental Policy
This course explores the methods and strategies for promoting solutions to
global environmental problems. Through consideration of issues such as
stratospheric ozone depletion, global climate change, tropical deforestation,
loss of biodiversity, transnational pollution, and other threats to the
international commons, students examine policymaking from the perspective of
developed and developing countries, the United Nations system, international
financial entities, and nongovernmental interest groups. By investigating
important international agreements, students determine how far the international
community has come in solving specific problems, what obstacles prevent
effective international solutions, and what needs to be done to overcome
barriers.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy
Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.651 – Risk Assessment and Risk Management
Analysis of risk is becoming an increasingly important component of regulatory
decisionmaking. Based on the premise that risk assessment has no “right"
answers, this course explores what risk perception, risk management, and risk
communication mean. Students are introduced to terminology and concepts
necessary in risk communication. Case studies help to explain the complexities
of risk assessment and management. Students learn how to balance the costs and
benefits of risk reduction and how to account for the uncertainties in risk
estimates.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy
Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.652 – Environmental Justice
The field of environmental justice (EJ) is riven with conflicts over the scope, measurement, evaluation, nature and seriousness of environmental problems. This seminar attempts to provide options for resolving some EJ problems by discussing a set of practical and theoretical approaches for communication, understanding and analysis that can bridge interests, reconcile differences, reduce confusions and improve environmental decision making. In impoverished innercity neighborhoods, community regeneration, community decision-making, and ecologically sustainable issues can contribute to the solution of regional as well as local urban and environmental issues. The course will investigate and evaluate the effectiveness and possibilities of policies that can highlight, educate and develop understanding among communities concerned with environmental issues. The course will focus on how communication can encourage discussion about potential causes and responses to environmental justice concerns. A primary area of the course will be to examine how disenfranchised groups understand environmental justice within a hierarchy of community concerns and accumulated experience and particular histories within communities. The course has an applied aspect and will look at a local manifestation of how environmental justice is inseparable from broader components of justice such as living and working conditions, violence, powerlessness, marginalization, and processes producing and reproducing inequities.
420.653 – Practicum in Environmental Planning
In this course, students tackle a “real world" environmental planning problem
and complete a project for a specific client. The purpose of the course is to
enable student to hone their skills in group projects and client-supported work.
This semester students will work with the Army Corps of Engineers and the
Baltimore Department of Planning on a wetlands restoration project on the Middle
Branch in the Baltimore harbor. Students will be researching the impact of
restoration on redevelopment in the adjacent neighborhoods, methods of
developing open access to the waterfront, and supporting the redevelopment of
brownfield sites in the neighborhood. This project will have a significant
impact on making the wetlands restoration efforts successful and on creating a
viable community in a distressed area of the city. The course uses a mixed
format of lecture and workshop.
420.654 – Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
This course presents fundamental concepts of economic theory related to
renewable, nonrenewable, and environmental resources. Topics covered include the
economics of resource use and depletion, valuation of environmental benefits,
natural resources and sustainable development, the role of government in
controlling market failures, and how economic incentives can be used to protect
the environment.
420.656 – Environmental Impact Assessment and Decision Methods
This course introduces the process of environmental impact assessment and policy
decisionmaking as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
and the regulations of the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ). Topics
include identification of purpose and need for any actions affecting the
environment, development of objectives and decision criteria, and various
techniques for assessing impact and comparing alternatives for a given
environmental intervention. The strengths and weaknesses of various approaches
are evaluated with techniques that allow analysis of multiple objectives and
conflicting uses of environmental resources. The importance of scientific
credibility and public acceptance is demonstrated with actual
cases.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy
Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.657 – Environmental Issues and Congressional Policymaking
This course explores how Congress debates and passes environmental legislation,
including the way in which scientific facts are introduced to nonscientists and
scientific inquiry is used and misused by Congress. Students learn to appreciate
the powerful influences of the media and of lobbyists in swaying congressional
decisionmaking. Case studies provide perspective into which environmental
legislation has been effective and which has not and the reasons for success or
failure. A field trip to Capitol Hill and classroom simulation of a
congressional committee debate give students insight into the give and take of
the process.
Prerequisite: 420.614 Environmental Policymaking and Policy
Analysis, equivalent course, or experience.
420.660 – Strategies in Watershed Management
This course proposes that water resources are a primary indicator of
environmental quality and that the watershed—of various dimensions—is an
appropriate context for addressing resource management concerns. Students will
review the basics of hydrology, practice delineating watersheds, become familiar
with their own watershed, and take virtual tours of several watersheds where
various resource management issues have been addressed. Through readings,
discussions, and current and historical case studies, they will explore a wide
range of threats to the productivity and health of watersheds. They will also
become familiar with the government and citizen institutions and major
legislation that are involved in efforts to protect
watersheds.
Prerequisites: 420.611 Principles and Methods of Ecology,
equivalent course, or experience.
420.661 – Climate Change: science and Policy
The course has three goals: To understand the major factors that make climate change a difficult policy issue; to assess how those factors can be weighed in formulating climate change policy; and to review potential responses to the prospect of climate change. The course will look at three factors make climate a difficult policy issue: uncertainty from the complex climate system, time lags of impacts, and competing priorities, especially among poor countries. The course will also examine the challenges of using well-established techniques for incorporating
with uncertainty and time into policies and look at some alternatives that might be more appropriate for the problems. An effective response to global future warming has to operate at two levels. At the technical level, the course will focus principally on the generation of electricity. Electricity generation accounts for a large and growing share of CO2 emissions, and it also offers the greatest technical opportunities for reducing those emissions. At the institutional level, the course will focus principally on actions that directly affect the United States. These include state and municipal actions and also actions undertaken in the private sector.
420.800 – Independent Graduate Project in Environmental Sciences and Policy
It is strongly encouraged that students who have completed at least eight courses in the program develop an independent graduate project. The independent project enables students to apply and synthesize the material learned in other courses, develop expertise on a specific environmental topic, work closely with experts in the field of study, and improve professional writing and presentation skills. Students who elect this option must identify a project topic and mentor who is both familiar with the chosen topic and willing to guide and oversee the project. The mentor may be a faculty member teaching in the program, a supervisor from the student's place of work, or any expert with appropriate credentials. Proposals are required prior to approval for registration. See the attached Guidelines and Timeline for more details.
Permission of Instruction required.
Independent Research Guidelines