This course considers the importance of philosophical, literary, aesthetic, and other humanist approaches to ecology and environmental issues.

• Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
• Room: Gilman 479
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/20
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

An introduction to the science behind global environmental issues. Earth systems, biogeochemical cycles, and the interrelationships between the living and nonliving world are explored, along with applications to climate change, biodiversity loss, and other issues of global significance.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Gnanadesikan, Anand; Karimi, Saman; Zaitchik, Benjamin Frederick
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 60/110
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, CES-LE

The course provides a broad introduction to the principles and practice of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related tools of Geospatial Analysis. Topics will include history of GIS, GIS data structures, data acquisition and merging, database management, spatial analysis, and GIS applications. In addition, students will get hands-on experience working with GIS software.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Chen, Xin
• Room: Krieger 108
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/24
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE, ENVS-MAJOR

Basic concepts in geology, including plate tectonics; Earth’s internal structure; geologic time; minerals; formation of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks; development of faults, folds and earthquakes; geomagnetism. Corequisite (for EPS Majors): AS.270.221; optional for others. The course is introductory and open to undergraduates at all levels; freshmen are encouraged to enroll.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Viete, Daniel R; Wiemann, Jasmina
• Room: Shaffer 2
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 18/48
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, ENVS-MAJOR, ARCH-RELATE

This course is a hands-on learning experience for introductory geological concepts and techniques using geological tools, such as mineral/rock samples, microscopes, and maps. A Saturday fieldtrip in late Sep/early Oct is an essential part. The course is open to undergraduates at all levels; freshmen who wish to get their hands (and boots) dirty are encouraged to enroll.

• Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Viete, Daniel R; Wiemann, Jasmina
• Room: Olin 203
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/15
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

This course is an introduction to the use of remote sensing technology to study Earth’s physical and biochemical processes. Topics covered include remote sensing of the atmosphere, land and oceans, as well as remote sensing as a tool for policy makers. Also offered as 270.618.

• Days/Times: MF 10:00AM - 10:50AM, W 10:00AM - 10:50AM
• Instructor: Karimi, Saman; Lewis, Kevin; Zaitchik, Benjamin Frederick
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 9/18
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE

This course will introduce student to methods used in field-based ecological research addressing population, community and ecosystem-level questions. Outdoor fieldwork is an essential part of the course. Field activities will center around the riparian ecosystem adjacent to the Homewood campus and on the urban ecology of the greater Baltimore region. Students will build skills in data collection, analysis, synthesis, and presentation. Basic statistical instruction in R will be taught to aid data analysis.

• Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Avolio, Meghan Lynn; Szlavecz, Katalin
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/10
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, BEHB-BIOBEH, ARCH-RELATE

Forests are critical global ecosystems that provide not only timber and wood products, but an array of services including habitat for wildlife, water filtration, carbon storage, and recreational opportunities. This integrated seminar-based course features an interdisciplinary approach to understanding forested landscapes that stresses not only inventorying the biotic and abiotic components, but examining how these pieces are distributed in the landscape (patterns) and what forces drive these patterns (processes). Topics focus on the biological, geological, climatological, cultural, and historical underpinnings needed to observe, interpret, and analyze forest communities. It will cover aspects of biogeography, climate forcing of vegetation dynamics, effects of invasive species, land use change and creation of urban forests. This course has an associated 1- credit field trip that counts as a lab requirement for ENVS majors.

• Days/Times: Th 3:00PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Burgess, Jerry
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/14
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

This field oriented lab focuses on hands-on learning experiences in forest ecology. Efforts focus on foundational topics in forest ecology including: physiography and site quality; forest soils and nutrient cycling; ecological succession; forest dynamics; community structure; natural disturbance; and invasive/non-native species. Labs feature visits to local forest sites and one long weekend trip.

• Days/Times: Th 5:30PM - 6:20PM
• Instructor: Burgess, Jerry
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/14
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

This is a weekly reading seminar and fieldwork course focused on the bedrock geology and tectonic history of the Baltimore area. The course is majority fieldwork, with four local, half-day fieldtrips replacing four of the 1h classroom sessions. The course will consider the following four elements of Baltimore’s hard rock geology: (1) the Grenville-age basement gneisses; (2) Baltimore Terrane stratigraphy associated with rifting of Rodinia and subsequent tectonic activation of the passive margin; (3) Baltimore Mafic Complex record of subduction initiation in the ancient Iapetus Ocean; and (4) metamorphism and magmatism during the Appalachian Orogeny. For each of the four geological elements studied we will first read research papers on their age, origin and significance, before taking a fieldtrip to see associated outcrops.

• Days/Times: F 1:00PM - 2:00PM
• Instructor: Viete, Daniel R
• Room: Olin 347
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

A survey of core topics in atmospheric science, including dynamics, thermodynamics, radiative transfer, and chemistry. The course addresses both basic principles and applications to weather and climate. Recommended pre-requisites: General Calculus and Physics I and/or Oceans and Atmospheres.

• Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Waugh, Darryn
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of climate and infectious diseases. We will examine how variability in climate factors (such as temperature and rainfall) influences the incidence of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (e.g., malaria, dengue, meningitis, influenza), learning techniques for analyzing climate data and modeling climatic impacts on disease. A major focus of the course is on scientific communication via a course project involving scientific writing and data visualization. This course is primarily targeted towards upper-level undergraduates who are comfortable with their quantitative skills. Prior content knowledge in climate science and public health is not required. Prior coding experience is not required, but would be helpful.

• Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Yasanayake, Chanud Nisakya
• Room: Olin 145
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 10/18
• PosTag(s): n/a

The majority of Life that existed on our planet is extinct, and the small and biased number of lineages that survived into the present cannot tell a complete story of Life’s evolutionary history. To fill these blank pages, we need to explore the fossil record on Earth (and elsewhere in the solar system) for information that can be directly integrated with data for living organisms. However, modern biology is mostly a molecular science – and we know that biomolecules experience drastic chemical alteration during fossilization. This course tackles the ‘Molecular Gap’ between past and present life forms from a practical and research-oriented perspective! We will survey the various chemical approaches that allow to extract biologically meaningful information from modern and fossil samples, and explore their individual strengths and limitations. Then we will move on to cover the nature of different biological signatures encoding diagnostic traits across the tree of Life, and explore the importance of corrections for evolutionary relationships when integrating data. Lastly, we will discuss the potential of multivariate statistics in the systematic extraction of meaningful biosignatures from notoriously noisy modern and fossil biological data. We will use prepared training data sets during guided in-session exercises, and students will go through the complete cross-disciplinary process of developing a biosignature – translational skills, that will enable them to conduct independent research on the topic. Recommended Course Background: Three Upper Level Science Courses.

• Days/Times: M 3:00PM - 4:15PM, W 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Wiemann, Jasmina
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 17/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

This “book club” style seminar focuses on the exploration, discussion and critical analysis of a range of environmental films, art, and literature. This seminar, students will have the opportunity to do creative writing and visual arts, and reading environmental literature.

• Days/Times: T 4:30PM - 7:00PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/12
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

The water, energy and food (WEF) nexus is a topic of growing interest in the research and policy communities. This course will survey WEF concepts and principles, introduce tools of analysis, and engage students in case studies of critical WEF issues in the United States and internationally.

• Days/Times: W 3:00PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Burgess, Jerry
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/14
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, ENGY-SCIPOL, CES-LE

This seminar will provide the academic space, time, and mentoring for students to integrate, synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills obtained through the ENVS curriculum. The course focuses on the development of critical thinking and oral communication skills through intellectual engagement with complex and challenging environmental problems.

• Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/19
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR

This seminar explores topics related to career development and current events to support senior environmental majors as they transition to post-graduate life and work.

• Days/Times: W 12:00PM - 12:50PM
• Instructor: Burgess, Jerry; Santos-Rivera, Amailie
• Room: Olin 145
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/19
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR

This multidisciplinary course explores the origins of life, planet formation, Earth's evolution, extrasolar planets, habitable zones, life in extreme environments, the search for life in the Universe, space missions, and planetary protection. Recommended Course Background: Three upper level (300+) courses in sciences (Biophysics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Math, or Computer Science).

• Days/Times: MWF 11:00AM - 11:50AM
• Instructor: DiRuggiero, Jocelyne; Norman, Colin
• Room: Krieger 180
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 9/30
• PosTag(s): BIOL-UL, AFRS-AFRICA, BEHB-SOCSCI, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

This project-based course will provide training and skills in movement building through radical analyses of and approaches toward the state of food and food systems. The course immerses budding movement contributors in a theory- and practice-based experience. Students will engage in guided projects that support the movement toward freedom and self-determination through land and food. The course is co-taught by author, organizer, educator, and filmmaker Eric Jackson (Black Yield Institute) and anthropologist Nicole Labruto (Johns Hopkins University). Black Yield Institute (BYI) is a Pan-African power institution based in Baltimore, serving as a think tank and collective action network that addresses food apartheid. Participants will learn new research and design skills, contribute to projects relevant to BYI’s work, develop a critical analysis, and build relationships that will prepare them for growth in movement toward Black land and food sovereignty. The course builds on AS.145.400 Black Land & Food Sovereignty Praxis: An Environmental Justice Workshop, though the course is not a prerequisite. Open to undergraduate and graduate students. Class sessions will take place each week in Cherry Hill in south Baltimore. Meeting times include transportation to and from the Homewood campus. Admission by permission of instructors.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:30PM
• Instructor: Labruto, Nicole
• Room:  
• Status: Approval Required
• Seats Available: 4/12
• PosTag(s): MSCH-HUM, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, CES-LE, CES-RI

Without Amazonia, global warming could reach levels that threaten life on the planet. Yet, in an era of deforestation and climate change, Amazonia itself might be on the verge of disappearance, with disastrous consequences for the world. This course proposes interdisciplinary perspectives on Amazonia through a range of works drawn from history, anthropology, archeology, environmental studies, literature, and the arts. We’ll look at texts by European travelers and missionaries who contributed to the paradoxical image of Amazonia as a “virgin paradise” or a “green hell”; scientific studies and artists’ depictions of the region’s flora and fauna; the often-overlooked history of human occupation of the region; and projects to colonize, develop, or conserve the world’s largest tropical forest. What importance does Amazonia hold for Latin American and global geopolitics? How do art and literature, including indigenous writings, create, reinforce, or deconstruct clichés about the region? What alternative futures for our planet can Amazonia help us to imagine?

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Bedran, Marina
• Room: Gilman 217
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/15
• PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, INST-CP, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, CES-LE, MSCH-HUM

An introduction to planetary science and planetary exploration primarily for non-science majors. A survey of concepts from astronomy, chemistry, geology, and physics applied to the study of the solar system.

• Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Lewis, Kevin; Sing, David Kent
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/70
• PosTag(s): n/a

Ecology is the study of organisms and their environment. This course focuses on the patterns of distribution and abundance of organisms. Topics include population dynamics and regulation, competition, predation, host-parasite interactions, patterns of species diversity, community succession, the flow of energy and matter through ecosystems. We will also discuss the role of natural and human disturbances in shaping communities.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Avolio, Meghan Lynn
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/40
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, BEHB-BIOBEH, ENVS-MAJOR, ARCH-RELATE

The course provides a broad introduction to the principles and practice of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related tools of Geospatial Analysis. Topics will include history of GIS, GIS data structures, data acquisition and merging, database management, spatial analysis, and GIS applications. In addition, students will get hands-on experience working with GIS software.

• Days/Times: M 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Chen, Xin
• Room: Krieger 108
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/24
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE

A broad survey of the Earth’s oceans and atmospheres, and their role in the environment and climate. Topics covered include waves, tides, ocean and atmosphere circulation, weather systems, tornadoes and hurricanes, El Niño, and climate change. For science and engineering majors

• Days/Times: MWF 1:30PM - 2:20PM
• Instructor: Haine, Thomas; Waugh, Darryn
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/25
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

An introduction to the evolutionary history and diversity of mammals, with emphasis on the first half of the Cenozoic - the beginning of the Age of Mammals. The course will focus primarily on the adaptive radiation of mammals (including our own order primates) that followed the extinction of the dinosaurs, exploring the origins and relationships of the major groups of mammals as well as the anatomical and ecological reasons for their success. Lectures will be supplemented with relevant fossils and recent specimens.

• Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
• Instructor: Cooke, Siobhan Brighid
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

In this course, students examine the meaning and implications of biodiversity with a focus on disciplines associated with conservation biology, wildlife conservation and wildlife management, including taxonomy, genetics, small population biology, chemical and restoration ecology, and marine biology. This includes exploring 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 mitigate, stop, or reverse these threats. The course also includes the economic and cultural tradeoffs associated with each conservation measure at the global, national, regional, and local levels. One required field trip.

• Days/Times: Th 3:00PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Burgess, Jerry
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/15
• PosTag(s): BEHB-BIOBEH, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, AFRS-AFRICA

This class is an introduction to a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena in the world’s oceans. Underlying basic principles are exposed wherever possible. Topics covered include: seawater, waves, tides, ocean circulation, chemical oceanography, biogeochemical ocean processes, and remote sensing of the oceans. Recommended Course Background: freshman Physics, Chemistry, Calculus through ordinary differential equations.

• Days/Times: MWF 3:00PM - 3:50PM
• Instructor: Gnanadesikan, Anand
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 8/20
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

The course introduces basic aspects of cycles and flows in the soil ecosystem, and provides students with an overview of the higher groups of soil organisms. Laboratory and field surveying methods are also covered.

• Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Szlavecz, Katalin
• Room: Olin 247
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/10
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE

Seminar class on fundamentals of structural geology. Involves weekly readings/practical exercises on: (1) rock mechanics and deformation processes; (2) commonly-encountered deformation products/structures; (3) deformation style and associated fabrics/textures/structure; (4) metamorphism and deformation; (5) techniques for describing and measuring structures; (6) interpretation of structural data on maps and cross-sections; (7) approaches for inferring large-scale structure from limited data, and (8) methods for visualizing and analyzing structure. Recommended course background: AS.270.220, or instructor permission.

• Days/Times: M 4:00PM - 5:00PM
• Instructor: Viete, Daniel R
• Room: Olin 347
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/16
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE

Sedimentary rocks are the historical records of the Earth, documenting climate change, mass extinctions, and the evolution of life. This course will provide an introduction to sedimentary processes and sedimentary rocks. Focus is placed on linking physical observations to the ancient environments in which sedimentary rocks once formed. Fundamental tools for interpreting the sedimentary rock record, such as depositional models, geochronology, and chemostratigraphy will be reviewed. Two 1-day weekend field trips will occur over the course of the semester. There will also be weekly 1-hour labs. Lab and field trip times will be determined in the first week of class. Graduate and advanced undergraduate level. Recommended Course Background: AS.270.220 or instructor permission.

• Days/Times: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Smith, Emmy
• Room: Olin 204
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/12
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE

Stable isotope measurements are used to probe fundamental questions in the Earth and environmental sciences because they can be used to extract information about chemical, physical, and biological processes associated with the formation of geomaterials. Stable isotope patterns have been used for applications ranging from tracking the rise of oxygen on the early Earth to studying human diet. The majority of the course will focus on light isotope systems (O, C, S, etc.) and low-temperature applications, including: (1) tracing sources and sinks of fluids, sediments, biological materials, and contaminants, (2) studying rates and mechanisms of biochemical reactions, and (3) paleoenvironmental reconstructions. We will also review novel stable isotope applications including heavy isotope systems and mass independent fractionations. At the end of the course, students will be able to make interpretations about how stable isotope patterns inform our knowledge of how geomaterials are formed and provide information about the Earth system.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Gomes, Maya L
• Room: Olin 204
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 7/15
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE

Investigation into the content relevant to an ongoing spacecraft instrumentation project. An interdisciplinary team will enhance the skills and knowledge of science and engineering students. Topics include mission background, planetary science, sensor design, spacecraft systems, and mission planning, and sensor fabrication, calibration, integration, and testing, data analysis and interpretation, scientific/technical writing and publication.

• Days/Times: Th 9:00AM - 11:30AM
• Instructor: Horst, Sarah; Izenberg, Noam Raphael; Kraemer, David Robert Burke
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Approval Required
• Seats Available: 6/24
• PosTag(s): ROBO-RMLB, ROBO-RMSU

This is a discussion-based course in current research in ecology. Each week a student will lead a discussion of a published paper in the field of ecology.

• Days/Times: M 4:00PM - 5:00PM
• Instructor: Avolio, Meghan Lynn; Szlavecz, Katalin
• Room: Olin 346
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 9/15
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

Humans are having such a massive impact on Earth systems that some call this the Anthropocene epoch. Should we consider this state of affairs progress or catastrophe? How to we find a sustainable path to the future? This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the principles and practice of sustainability, exploring such issues as population, pollution, energy and natural resources, biodiversity, food, justice, and climate change through the lens of systems thinking. Course open to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

• Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/50
• PosTag(s): CES-LE, ENGY-TECH

Coastal, arctic, and arid ecosystems are significantly affected by climate change. This course invites us to think about small rural communities that have been profoundly affected by climate change. By combining physical climate systems analysis with ethnographic case studies and multiple theoretical models, the course offers insights from the intersection of climate science and anthropology on how the people in these areas interact with their environment over their lives. While examining the inhabitants’ knowledge-based views of climate and local socioecological systems, students in this course will develop more robust, flexible models of anthropological analysis for climate change (in general) and for smaller ecosystems (in particular) in the context of what is known about recent and future projected climate change.

• Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Karimi, Saman; Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana; Zaitchik, Benjamin Frederick
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Approval Required
• Seats Available: 5/10
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

Ecological anthropology course focuses on the anthropological assessment of environmental issues, the management of natural resources and the study of cultural and behavioral factors as they impinge upon our understanding human engagement with the environment. Course material will address human ability to respond to environmentally based adaptations, solutions, and resilience. Course activities and assignments will investigate how human knowledge is integrated into ecological systems across global communities.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/15
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, CES-LE

In this seminar students will read seminal pieces in the field of socio-environmental research. Socio-environmental research recognizes that society and nature inherently interact in such a way that they affect and change one-another - it is not only that society affects the nature or that nature only affects society. Solving environmental problems necessitates understanding this duality and thus an interdisciplinary background. Assigned readings will span early from thinkers on environmental problems (Before 1900) to current approaches to studying and solving environmental problems.It is aimed at upper level undergraduates and graduate students.

• Days/Times: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Avolio, Meghan Lynn
• Room: Olin 346
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

This course will provide students with a strong foundation in the conceptualization and operationalization of research, how to design a research project and explore different research methods in the environmental field. Students will learn key principles of research design including crafting a suitable research question, identifying appropriate methodologies, and writing a formal project proposal.

• Days/Times: W 3:00PM - 3:50PM
• Instructor: Burgess, Jerry
• Room: Olin 145
• Status: Approval Required
• Seats Available: 0/5
• PosTag(s): n/a