ENVR

This course surveys the wide range of modern energy sources, and considers the prospects for their future supply and availability. Each energy source is explored from a wide range of perspectives, including: its origin, geographic distribution, energy density, energy "type" (gravity, chemical, radioactive, solar), processing, refining, or transformation from one form of mass or energy to another, transport (both pre- and post- processing/transformation), environmental costs (upstream and downstream- lifecycle considerations), and economic costs (cost/unit of energy produced).

This course focuses on the decision making processes that shape the implementation of environmental policy in the United States. Environmental decisions are no longer the exclusive province of technical experts employed by government bureaucracies. Pioneering efforts to involve groups of environmental stakeholders (such as environmental groups, property owners, business interests, tribes, and officials at all levels of government) in environmental decision making began 30 years ago.

Detailed study of agents, processes, and products involved in landscape development and water movement at the Earth's surface. Special emphasis is on the effect of the Pleistocene (Ice Age) climate on landforms.

This course explores current real world problems of environmental justice -- the struggle of marginalized communities to manage profound environmental problems in ways that are often rendered invisible in the broader political landscape. The focus of the course will vary each time it is offered, depending on current debates and issues of concern in the greater Tacoma area and further afield. Consistently, it will explore the ways in which poverty and racism interact with problems of natural resource use, extraction, and management.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) comprises a complex system of tools that facilitate the collection, display and analysis of geospatial (location-based) data. A GIS is effective in supporting work across the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Specific applications include environmental sciences, public health, urban planning, conservation biology, geology, digital humanities, military and education, and continues to increase as technology advances.

This course provides a basic introduction to environmental policymaking in the U.S. system of government, which includes the processes by which laws, rules and regulations, agency guidelines, court decisions, and international agreements are established. The course explores several major areas of environmental concern.

Most of human learning occurs across the lifespan and takes place outside of school settings. Schools are but one part of a large educational infrastructure that includes informal learning environments such as families and friends, libraries, museums, the outdoors, workplaces, community-based organizations, the media, and the Internet. Informal learning environments are powerful sites for learning because they support rich social interactions and allow people to engage their own learning goals and generate their own highly personalized understandings.

Writing and presenting science clearly means thinking clearly about science. This course addresses the two main challenges of science literacy: (1) the struggle to understand, and (2) the struggle to communicate that understanding. This course provides students the opportunity to engage with the primary, scientific literature on a range of current interdisciplinary topics relevant to environmental science. Each topic is explored via case studies and review articles. In order to understand and discuss topics and readings, students apply environmental science methods and tools.

This course, using a tools-focused approach, provides a foundation in basic environmental sciences. The course emphasizes the following concepts: field skills, environmental sampling, data collection, data analysis, and development of scientific questions. Students gain experience applying these concepts in lab and field-based settings. For example, experiential opportunities may include air quality monitoring, water sampling, ecosystem characterization, biodiversity assessment, and spatial analysis.

This course provides a foundation for upper-level policy electives in the Environmental Policy and Decision-Making Program by focusing on institutions and participation in environmental policy. Students examine both domestic and international arenas, with particular attention to the ways in which citizens engage with environmental issues in both familiar and unfamiliar places.