DINOSAURS AND HISTORY OF LIFE
Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: basic high school science and math. Lab is a hands-on introduction to geochronology, paleontology, and historical geology with field trips. (See W1401 for lectures only.) Dinosaurs: a spectacular example of a common, highly successful form of life, dominant for 135 million years. Where did they come from? Why were they so successful? Why did they die out? … or did they? A basic introduction to the historical sciences and the interface between geology and biology.
- M 4:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
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Instructor:
Paul E Olsen
CULPA: 26 Wikipedia h-index: 71 Info - 4 points
OCEANOGRAPHY
Explore the geology of the sea floor, understand what drives ocean currents and how ocean ecosystems operate. Case studies and discussions centered on ocean-related issues facing society.
- TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Baerbel Hoenisch
CULPA: 3 h-index: 33 Info - 3 points
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS & DISASTERS
Prerequisites: high school science and math. An introduction to risks and hazards in the environment. Different types of hazards are analyzed and compared: natural disasters, such as tornados, earthquakes, and meteorite impacts; acute and chronic health effects caused by exposure to radiation and toxic substances such as radon, asbestos, and arsenic; long-term societal effects due to environmental change, such as sea level rise and global warming. Emphasizes the basic physical principles controlling the hazardous phenomena and develops simple quantitative methods for making scientifically reasoned assessments of the threats (to health and wealth) posed by various events, processes, and exposures. Discusses methods of risk mitigation and sociological, psychological, and economic aspects of risk control and management.
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
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Instructor:
Goran Ekstrom
CULPA: 10 h-index: 76 Info - 3 points
DINOSAUR & HISTORY OF LIFE-LEC
Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: basic high school science and math. Dinosaurs: a spectacular example of a common, highly successful form of life, dominant for 135 million years. Where did they come from? Why were they so successful? Why did they die out? … or did they? A basic introduction to the historical sciences and the interface between geology and biology.
- MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
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Instructor:
Paul E Olsen
CULPA: 26 Wikipedia h-index: 71 Info - 3 points
EARTH RESOURCES & SUSTAIN DEV
Prerequisites: none; high school chemistry recommended. Survey of the origin and extent of mineral resources, fossil fuels, and industrial materials, that are non renewable, finite resources, and the environmental consequences of their extraction and use, using the textbook Earth Resources and the Environment, by James Craig, David Vaughan and Brian Skinner. This course will provide an overview, but will include focus on topics of current societal relevance, including estimated reserves and extraction costs for fossil fuels, geological storage of CO2, sources and disposal methods for nuclear energy fuels, sources and future for luxury goods such as gold and diamonds, and special, rare materials used in consumer electronics (e.g. ;Coltan; mostly from Congo) and in newly emerging technologies such as superconducting magnets and rechargeable batteries (e.g. heavy rare earth elements, mostly from China). Guest lectures from economists, commodity traders and resource geologists will provide ;real world; input. Discussion Session Required.
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
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Instructor:
Peter Kelemen
CULPA: 8
h-index: 84
Info
- 3 points
EARTH'S ENVIRO SYST: CLIM SYST
Prerequisites: high school algebra. Recommended preparation: high school chemistry and physics; and one semester of college science. Origin and development of the atmosphere and oceans, formation of winds, storms and ocean currents, reasons for changes through geologic time. Recent influence of human activity: the ozone hole, global warming, water pollution. Laboratory exploration of topics through demonstrations, experimentation, computer data analysis, and modeling. Students majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences should plan to take EESC W2100 before their senior year to avoid conflicts with Senior Seminar.
- T 4:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
- 4.5 points
EARTH'S ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS: THE SOLID
EARTH'S ENV SYSTEM:SOLID
Recommended preparation: high school chemistry and physics; and one semester of college science. Exploration of how the solid Earth works, today and in the past, focusing on Earth in the Solar system, continents and oceans, the Earth's history, mountain systems on land and sea, minerals and rocks, weathering and erosion, glaciers and ice sheets, the hydrological cycle and rivers, geochronology, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, energy resources. Laboratory exploration of topics through examination of rock samples, experimentation, computer data analysis, field exercises, and modeling. Columbia and Barnard majors should plan to take W2200 before their senior year to avoid conflicts with the Senior Seminar.
- R 4:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
- 4.5 points
SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVPT
The course provides students with an understanding of Earth's natural systems that is essential to addressing the multi-faceted issues of sustainable development. After completing the course, students should be able to incorporate scientific approaches and perspectives into their research in other fields or policy decisions and be able to use scientific methods of data analysis. The semester will highlight the climate system and solutions from both physical and ecological perspectives; water resources; food production and the cycling of nutrients; and the role of biodiversity in sustainable development. The course emphasizes key scientific concepts such as uncertainty, experimental versus observational approaches, prediction and predictability, the use of models, and other essential methodological aspects.
- TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
- 3 points
CHEMISTRY OF CLIMATE
Pre-requisites Chem 1 and Calculus I ; Co-requisites Chemistry II (CHEM1404 or equivalent) and Calculus II (MATH UN2030 or equivalent)
By the end of this course, students will understand: The biogeochemical cycles driving the composition of trace gas and aerosol species that are both long- and short-lived in the atmosphere that influence climate by directly interacting with radiation (i.e. greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, CFCs, aerosols) and those that do so mainly by altering the concentrations of other gases (OH, NOx, etc.); The effects of these gas and aerosol species on climate and atmospheric composition; Climate mitigation strategies that are being considered in response to climate warming.
This course is designed for undergraduate students seeking a quantitative introduction to climate and climate change science. EESC V2100 (Climate Systems) is not a prerequisite, but can also be taken for credit if it is taken before this course.
- TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Roisin Commane
h-index: 25 Info - 3 points
GEOCHEM FOR A HABITABLE PLANET
Prerequisites: Any 1000-level or 2000-level EESC course; MATH UN1101 Calculus I and CHEM UN1403 General Chemistry I or their equivalents. The origin, evolution, and future of our planet, based on the book How to Build a Habitable Planet by Wallace S. Broecker. This course will focus on the geochemical processes that built Earth from solar material, led to its differentiation into continents and ocean, and have maintained its surface at a comfortable temperature. Students will participate in a hands-on geochemistry project at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
- TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Terry A Plank
CULPA: 6
Wikipedia
Info
- 3 points
SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY
This course will explore modern and ancient sedimentary environments and give students the knowledge and skills necessary to observe, describe, understand, and interpret sediments, sedimentary rocks and environments through time. The history of the earth is to a large degree written in sediments and sedimentary rocks. This history includes climate, the story of life, and the development of important economic resources. This course will have a special emphasis on the features of sedimentary rocks that are used to make environmental, hazard, and climatic interpretations, on the techniques used to put strata in context of time and space, and on the practical application of sedimentary geology. Some applications of sedimentary geology we will explore include coastline sustainability, microplastic and contaminant transport, and understanding extraterrestrial paleoenvironment.
Lab exercises, including a virtual field trip to Utah and Australia, will be used to reinforce major topics. This course is intended for majors and concentrators in Earth and environmental sciences, and for graduate students from other disciplines. Undergraduates in such related fields as Earth and environmental engineering, environmental biology, environmental chemistry, sustainable development and archaeology are also welcome. UN2200 Solid Earth Systems or equivalent course required. The lab is required for this course.
- T 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
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Instructor:
Sarah M Giles
Info - 4 points
COMPUTATIONAL EARTH SCIENCE
Prerequisites: Required: at least a semester of calculus and physics; any 1000-level or 2000-level EESC course. Computer models are essential for understanding the behavior of complex natural systems in geosciences. This course is an introduction to writing computer models to simulate Earth processes. Students will learn methods for numerical modeling of a variety of geoscience topics, such as nonlinear systems of air chemistry, ocean currents, atmospheric dispersion, and more. Simulations will be created by learning to program with a user-friendly language (Python). Student learning will be facilitated through a combination of lectures, in-class exercises, homework assignments and a final project on a student-selected topic.
- TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
William H Menke
CULPA: 14 Info - 3 points
SENIOR SEMINAR
Guided, independent, in-depth research culminating in the senior thesis in the spring. Includes discussion about scientific presentations and posters, data analysis, library research methods and scientific writing. Students review work in progress and share results through oral reports. Weekly seminar to review work in progress and share results through oral and written reports.
- R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
- 3 points
INTRO TO ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
Prerequisites: advanced calculus and general physics, or the instructors permission. Basic physical processes controlling atmospheric structure: thermodynamics; radiation physics and radiative transfer; principles of atmospheric dynamics; cloud processes; applications to Earths atmospheric general circulation, climatic variations, and the atmospheres of the other planets.
- T 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
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Instructor:
Lorenzo M Polvani
CULPA: 6
h-index: 69
Info
- 3 points
GLOBAL ASSMT-REMOTE SENSING
Prerequisites: Course Cap 20 students. Priority given to graduate students in the natural sciences and engineering. Advanced level undergraduates may be admitted with the instructors permission. Calculus I and Physics I & II are required for undergraduates who wish to take this course. General introduction to fundamentals of remote sensing; electromagnetic radiation, sensors, interpretation, quantitative image analysis and modeling. Example applications in the Earth and environmental sciences are explored through the analysis of remote sensing imagery in a state-or-the-art visualization laboratory.
- F 9 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
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Instructor:
Christopher Small
CULPA: 1 h-index: 47 Info - 3 points
Mineralogy and Mineral Resources
INTRODUCTION TO MINERALOG
Prerequisites: introductory geology or the equivalent, elementary college physics and chemistry, or the instructors permission. Minerals come in dazzling colors, amazing shapes and with interesting optical effects. But mineralogy is also an essential tool for the understanding of Earth evolution. Minerals represent fundamental building blocks of the Earth system and planetary bodies. Minerals form through geological and biological processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary from high to low temperatures, from the deep interior to the Earth’s surface and related to volcanism, tectonics, weathering, climate and life. Minerals are one of our most important sources of information on such processes through Earth’s history. Minerals also represent important natural resources and are fundamental to the global economy and modern technology as we know it. In this course, we will approach mineralogy from the standpoint of earth and environmental sciences, the study of mineralogy however is of interest to many other sciences including Material Sciences, Planetology, Archeology, Biology, Chemistry and Physics with most of the 20 Nobel Prizes awarded for research involving crystals being in these last fields. The goal of this class is to (1) understand the physical and chemical properties of minerals, (2) learn techniques of mineral identification with an emphasis on optical mineralogy, (3) understand the relationship between minerals and the broader geological context.
- T 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Yves Moussallam
h-index: 18 Info - 4 points
PALEOBIOLOGY & EARTH SYST HIST
Prerequisites: high-school biology, introductory college-level geology. Course is a survey of the biological and biogeochemical evolution of the Earth System. Students focus not only on a narrative of the panoply of biodiversity though time, but also on the development and the testing of evolutionary and geochemical hypotheses within a historical science. Case studies of mass extinctions and biological innovation as well as current topics and debates will be examined in detail. There are 4 full-day field trips.
- MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Paul E Olsen
CULPA: 26 Wikipedia h-index: 71 Info - 3 points
PLANT ECOPHYSIOLOGY
Prerequisites: General biology or the instructors permission. Given in alternate years. Plant organismal responses to external environmental conditions and the physiological mechanisms of plants that enable these responses. An evolutionary approach is taken to analyze the potential fitness of plants and plant survival based on adaptation to external environmental factors. One weekend field trip will be required.
- TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Kevin L Griffin
CULPA: 6
h-index: 59
Info
- 3 points
EARTH RESOURCES & SUSTAIN DEV
Prerequisites: none; high school chemistry recommended. This course is open to graduate students, and juniors and seniors within DEES, Sus Dev, Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, and APAM - or with the instructors permission. Survey of the origin and extent of mineral resources, fossil fuels, and industrial materials, that are non renewable, finite resources, and the environmental consequences of their extraction and use, using the textbook Earth Resources and the Environment, by James Craig, David Vaughan and Brian Skinner. This course will provide an overview, but will include focus on topics of current societal relevance, including estimated reserves and extraction costs for fossil fuels, geological storage of CO2, sources and disposal methods for nuclear energy fuels, sources and future for luxury goods such as gold and diamonds, and special, rare materials used in consumer electronics (e.g. ;Coltan; mostly from Congo) and in newly emerging technologies such as superconducting magnets and rechargeable batteries (e.g. heavy rare earth elements, mostly from China). Guest lectures from economists, commodity traders and resource geologists will provide ;real world; input.
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Peter Kelemen
CULPA: 8
h-index: 84
Info
- 3 points
WETLANDS & CLIMATE CHANGE
Prerequisites: introductory biology or chemistry, or the instructors permission. Analysis of modern wetland dynamics and the important ecological, biogeochemical, and hydrological functions taking place in marshes, bogs, fens, and swamps, with a field emphasis. Wetlands as fossil repositories, the paleoenvironmental history they provide, and their role in the carbon cycle. Current wetland destruction, remediation attempts, and valuation. Laboratory analysis and field trips.
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Dorothy Peteet
h-index: 38 Info - 3 points
STABLE ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY
Prerequisites: introductory chemistry and earth science coursework. Prerequisites: Introductory Chemistry and Earth Science coursework. Given in alternate years. This class will be an introduction to the field of stable isotope geochemistry and its application to understanding current and past environmental processes. The utility of stable isotopes as tracers will be examined with respect to the disciplines of hydrology, oceanography,paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, landscape evolution, carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle dynamics. We will focus on the stable isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen in water, ice, carbonates and organic compounds and why they fractionate in the environment. The theoretical background for isotope fractionation will be discussed in class. Radiocarbon as a tracer and dating tool will also be reviewed. In addition, the mechanics of how mass spectrometers analyze different isotope ratios will be explored in class and during experiments in the laboratory. Additional key parts of the class will be a review of paper or laboratory report and student-lead reviews of published papers on relevant topics.
- TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
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Instructor:
Braddock Linsley
h-index: 42 Info - 3 points
INTRO TO PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Prerequisites:
Recommended preparation: a solid background in mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Topics:
Physical properties of seawater, hydrography (water masses and their distribution), dispersal (advection and diffusion), ocean dynamics (Navier Stokes equation), processes (eddies, waves, tides), large-scale circulation (wind-driven gyres, overturning circulation).
- TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Andreas Thurnherr
Info - 3 points
EARTH SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM
Current topics in the Earth sciences.
- F 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Kaleigh B Matthews
Info - 1 points
MASTERS RESEARCH
Individual research in the students field of specialization at the masters level. DEES PhD students register for this in the semester in which thay take their Masters Exam.
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Instructor:
Kaleigh B Matthews
Info - 4 points
MICROBIAL OCEANOGRAPHY
- MW 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
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Instructor:
Sonya Dyhrman
Wikipedia h-index: 47 Info - 3 points
QUANT METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS
Prerequisites: calculus. Recommended preparation: linear algebra, statistics, computer programming. Introduction to the fundamentals of quantitative data analysis in Earth and environmental sciences. Topics: review of relevant probability, statistics and linear algebra; linear models and generalized least squares; Fourier analysis and introduction to spectral analysis; filtering time series (convolution,deconvolution,smoothing); factor analysis and empirical orthogonal functions; covariance and correlation; methods of interpolation; statistical significance and hypothesis testing; introduction to Monte Carlo methods for data analysis. Problem sets and term project require use of MATLAB or Python.
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
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Instructor:
Alberto M Malinverno
CULPA: 3
Info
- 4 points
ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS
Prerequisites: EESC W4008, APPH E4210, and advanced calculus, or the instructor's permission. This course is a continuation of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (APPH E4210) which is a prerequisite for this course. Exploration of atmospheric circulation based upon oabservations and interpretive models. Topics include wave/mean-flow interaction (the equilibration of instabilities and the wave-driven contribution to meridional transport), zonally symmetric circulations (Hadley and Ferrel Cells), maintenance of the mid-latitude circulation through extratropical cyclones, the zonally asymmetric circulation (stationary waves and storm tracks), and the stratospheric circulation (the quasi-biennial oscillation and meridional transport).
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
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Instructor:
Ronald L Miller
CULPA: 4 Info - 3 points
RACE, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL
RACE, CLIMATE, ENV JUSTIC
Climate change and environmental catastrophes are on the rise, and it has been well- documented by now that those facing the heaviest impacts have largely been communities of color and / or working class. Many of these communities are also survivors of colonialism’s deeper ongoing legacies of dispossession as well as of capitalist extraction projects; yet these same communities have long had much to teach on how to be in better relations with our planet and each other. The purpose of this seminar is to train students in how to ask critical questions when it comes to the production of knowledge or when doing science.
“Community-based research” and “co-production” are increasingly popular frameworks and methods that often struggle to address the power differentials between researchers in powerful institutions and the dispossessed communities in which they work. As such, we will interrogate these concepts while simultaneously learning from several examples of decolonial research methods.
We begin by examining the colonial foundations of the sciences, with a special focus on the geo- and climate sciences. The ideological underpinnings of these sciences assume the earth to be an inert object ripe for exploitation; this legacy of European modernity is often at odds with the worldviews of indigenous peoples and their relations with nature. We then explore several anti-colonial and critical science scholars’ works and ask: what would it mean to revisit the foundations of our disciplines with a decolonial lens? How do we know (study) and relate to a place in a non-extractive and mutually respectful way that centers local communities and indigenous knowledge and practices? We will explore this through several examples, including an in-depth dive into this seminar’s ongoing collaborative community project with The Black School, a New Orleans based community organization facing lead contamination on their land within the context of a long legacy of environmental racism.
Students taking the seminar for 3 credits and who aim to decolonize their own research will be trained in ethnographic methods by developing an anthropological lens - first through a self-ethnography workshop that focuses on the positionality and then through their own mini-ethnography projects.
- M 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Hadeel K Assali
Info - 2-3 points
Research Skills for Earth and Environmen
Sci Writing for Journal Pub
The goal of this course is to help students improve their writing for journal publication. Topics will include strategies for constructing an article; for keeping the manuscript moving forward; and for improving the quality of the student’s writing. Students must be actively working on a manuscript for publication, and must be willing to commit to a minimum of 10 minutes of writing per day. Additional work will include short reading and writing assignments throughout the term, and a small number of peer-review sessions outside of class. The course will be discussion oriented and taught in seminar style and will meet once per week for 1.5 hrs.
- W 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
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Instructor:
Meredith Nettles
CULPA: 3 h-index: 31 Info - 2 points
Theory of Ice Sheet Dynamics
This seminar will cover the fundamentals of the theory of ice-sheet dynamics. While the focus will be on viscous ice-sheet flow, we will cover heat flow, basal sliding, hydrology more briefly later in the semester.
We will start from first-principles and introduce all the key concepts needed to build an ice flow model, including stress, strain, rheology, vector calculus, tensors, stress balance, mass conservation. We will use these concepts to derive the simplest possible ice flow models (e.g., assuming perfectly plastic rheology, the shallow ice approximation) and build in complexity from there. We will use these models to build intuition for the first-order dynamics of ice sheets, by examining them analytically and numerically where appropriate. We will use a similar approach for the other topics later in the semester.
As well as a better understanding of ice-sheet dynamics, our aim will be to introduce students to mathematical modelling, demonstrating the overall approach, key concepts will nondimensionalization, and the power of simple models for understanding how natural systems work. We will also aim to build proper intuition for what partial differential equations and solutions to them really are.
Many of these topics could be useful in areas outside glaciology and anyone interested is encouraged to join us.
- W 10 a.m.-noon
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Instructor:
Jonathan Kingslake
h-index: 17 Info - 1 points