Pre-Course Survey

What is “The Environment”? How do people come to understand, interact with, and study their environments, particularly in cities? What tools of science can be used to quantitatively and qualitatively observe and describe ongoing dynamics and changes in environmental systems? How can these scientific tools be used to assess and ultimately steward environments? This course will introduce students to the following big ideas: a) systems science: understanding the Earth and its various environments as interacting systems of the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere, and biosphere (which includes the anthroposphere – humanity); b) critical thinking: synthesizing and evaluating data, as well as attention to power in systems; and c) hands-on and applied knowledge: field and lab-based analytical methods and communication. 

All class readings and assignments are on the class website (see panels below).