This class will explore the intersections of environmental and social justice issues through an analysis of literary fiction, documentaries and films, art, media, and archival materials. We will study how environmental issues are deeply connected with issues of race, class, gender, ethnicity, and the legacies of colonialism. We will pay close attention to the tensions encountered by notions such as environmentalism of the poor and the disparities that arise from a comparative and historical perspective Global South vis-à-vis Global North, and within the North, among the most vulnerable communities. We will consider the generative potential of storytelling and the arts for imagining an alternative socioeconomic and culture paradigm predicated on environmental sustainability and economic and social equity. This class is profoundly interdisciplinary, bringing together knowledge from all parts of students’ life. By the end of this course, students will see many connections between literary and cultural studies, environmental ethics, social justice, and civic engagement.

• Days/Times: MW 10:30AM - 11:45AM
• Instructor: Heffes, Gisela; Loiselle, Ken
• Room: Mergenthaler 426
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/17
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, MSCH-HUM

In The Great Derangement Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh writes that “the climate crisis is also a crisis of culture, and thus of imagination.” Worldwide, climate and environmental change is stirring the imaginary of novelists, filmmakers, and artists who are finding ways to frame, emplot, or even perform, an unmanageable phenomenon like climate change. How is climate change shaping new modes of storytelling and aesthetics? How do film, literature, and environmentally conscious art transform our perception of the world we inhabit and its unpredictable changes? Can climate change narratives help us to imagine futures of possibilities, maybe dystopian, uncertain, or even happy, but futures nonetheless? This multimedia course explores, through a transnational perspective, a variety of contemporary novels, films, and other media that attempt answer these questions.

• Days/Times: T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
• Instructor: Di Bianco, Laura
• Room: Gilman 75
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 4/18
• PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, MSCH-HUM

This seminar explores the history of thinking about non-human and human animals in France from the late sixteenth through the late nineteenth centuries. Topics to be explored include non-human sentience, interspecies relations, animals and industrialization, and the emergence of anti-cruelty laws. Taught in French.

• Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Loiselle, Ken
• Room: Gilman 77
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 8/14
• PosTag(s): 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
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 46/110
• 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: Szlavecz, Katalin
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 26/45
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE, BEHB-BIOBEH

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: 15/24
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, ENVS-MINOR

Introduction to the classification, crystallography, and physical properties of minerals. Weekly lab topics include field identification, crystal morphology and symmetry, optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. One field trip to the Smithsonian National Museum of History and Research Archives is planned.

• Days/Times: WF 9:00AM - 9:50AM, W 3:00PM - 6:00PM
• Instructor: Wicks, June K
• Room: Olin 203
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 16/20
• PosTag(s): 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: 9/32
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

Urban ecology has been called the ecology in, of, and for cities. In this course, we will explore how ecological concepts are applied to urban ecosystems and the different approaches to urban ecological research. Topics will include: Biodiversity, water dynamics, energy and heat island effects, and nutrient cycling, urban metabolism, design of greenspace, and sustainability of cities. We will use Baltimore as a case study for studying cities.

• Days/Times: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
• Instructor: Avolio, Meghan Lynn
• Room: Olin 204
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/22
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

Modern vertebrates (animals with backbones) are the products of a more than 500-million-year evolutionary history. This course surveys that history and uses it to explore such core evolutionary concepts as adaptive radiation, convergence, extinction, homology, phylogenetic taxonomy, and tree thinking. Emphasis will be placed on the origins of the modern vertebrate fauna and how fossils are being integrated with developmental biology to better understand major transitions in the vertebrate body plan.

• Days/Times: TTh 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Bever, Gabriel S.
• Room: Olin 204
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 8/20
• PosTag(s): BEHB-BIOBEH

Geobiology is the study of the interaction between rocks and life. Geobiologists investigate questions ranging from how organisms obtain energy from rocks to how evidence of life is preserved in rocks and informs us about the evolution of life on our planet and beyond. It is a rapidly expanding field because of its relevance to astrobiology, microbiology, paleontology, and reconstructing environmental change during ancient periods climate change with implications for evaluating our future under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In this course, students will learn about how organisms drive major elemental cycles that impact climate and habitability, how major evolutionary radiations have affected the trajectory of Earth surface environments, and the tools that are used to ask fundamental questions about why life has thrived on this planet and how we might detect if other planets support life.

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Gomes, Maya L
• Room: Olin 204
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 11/20
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

This course will examine the cycling of trace chemicals in the ocean, consider what we can learn from the distributions of these chemicals about the ocean circulation, and ocean ecosystems. Topics covered will include oceanic biological productivity, open water cycling of nutrients and oxygen, ocean acidification and sediment cycling.

• Days/Times: MWF 3:00PM - 3:50PM
• Instructor: Gnanadesikan, Anand
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 13/20
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

Field experience is an integral part of a geology student’s education. During this course, students will learn to digitize, synthesize, and interpret the observations they made during the January field-based class to interpret the geologic history and structure of southern California. Study USA: Geological Field Studies in California is a co-requisite for this course. For Spring 2020, the focus of the field work and course will be on applying concepts and techniques covered in Dynamic Earth (AS.270.220/1), Sedimentary Geology (AS.270.350), Earth History (AS.270.303), Planets, Life and the Universe (AS.020.334), and Isotope Geochemistry (AS.270.331). Sedimentary rocks are spectacularly exposed in this region and record over a billion years of key events in Earth history. Students will learn how these rocks have shaped our understanding of major evolutionary and environmental shifts in Earth’s past, while also learning how to map these units’ regional geographic distribution. Finally, students will also learn about the different tectonic events that have shaped the landscape that we see today in the western United States. The class is designed for upper level E&PS majors and E&PS graduate students.

• Days/Times: W 8:00AM - 8:50AM
• Instructor: Smith, Emmy
• Room: Olin 346
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/10
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

Fundamental concepts and basic principles of chemistry and physics applied to the study of planetary atmospheres. Vertical structure of planetary atmospheres. Atmospheric radiation, thermodynamics, and transport. Principles of photochemistry. Planetary spectroscopy and remote sensing. Upper atmospheres and ionospheres. Evolution and stability of planetary atmospheres. Recommended Course Background: basic physics, chemistry and calculus

• Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
• Instructor: Horst, Sarah
• Room: Olin 145
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

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. Seniors by instructor permission only.

• Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 11/80
• PosTag(s): ENGY-SCIPOL

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 3:00PM - 5:45PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana; Zaitchik, Benjamin Frederick
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 16/25
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

How did geology influence civilization? Major technological advances over the course of human history have relied on the ability to extract and use materials from the Earth. For this, the discovery of ore deposits and understanding of their potential to produce valuable metals such as gold, silver and copper was necessary. In this course, we will explore how human civilization is directly intertwined with the extraction of metal resources from the Earth, and how the location of these resources is controlled by various geological processes. We will identify the key innovations in metallurgical sciences over time and link these to specific geological regions and deposits. We will build upon this historical perspective to evaluate the omnipresent role of mining in the present world. Today, the race against climate change demands the development of new “green” technologies, which require an increasingly diversified array of critical metals, in turn requiring more sophisticated methods in mining and geometallurgy. Class discussions will be based on readings of scientific papers and book chapters in geosciences and archaeology.

• Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
• Instructor: Beaudry, Patrick
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• PosTag(s): n/a

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; Zaitchik, Benjamin Frederick
• Room: Olin 305
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 87/110
• PosTag(s): ARCH-RELATE, ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

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: 8/24
• 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: Olin 247
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 44/50
• 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: 11/15
• 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: Lewis, Kevin; Zaitchik, Benjamin Frederick
• Room: Krieger 108
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/12
• 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: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/10
• 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: Open
• Seats Available: 7/20
• PosTag(s): n/a

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: Open
• Seats Available: 7/20
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR

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: W 12:30PM - 3:00PM
• Instructor: Horst, Sarah; Kraemer, David Robert Burke
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/24
• PosTag(s): n/a

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:  
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/12
• 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 - 2:20PM
• Instructor: Waugh, Darryn
• Room: Olin 145
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/10
• 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 204
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 15/18
• PosTag(s): n/a

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: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
• Instructor: Kopelent-Rehak, Jana Hana
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 21/24
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, ARCH-RELATE

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 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 7/12
• 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: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/14
• PosTag(s): ENVS-MAJOR, ENVS-MINOR, ENGY-SCIPOL

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: 7/19
• 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; Schantz, Ashley
• Room: Olin 304
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/19
• 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: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/30
• PosTag(s): BIOL-UL, CHBE-ACBE, BEHB-SOCSCI