ES Courses for Spring 2025
Please click on the course title for more information.
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ES 100 01 - Introduction to Environmental Science & Systems
Course: |
ES 100 - 01 |
Title: |
Introduction to Environmental Science & Systems |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course introduces environmental science through the lens of systems thinking. Given the staggering level of complexity found around us, a powerful approach in science is to simplify complex systems into key components that influence processes and provide predictive power. But how do we choose which factors to focus on? How disconnected are causes and effects? Although not a laboratory course, students will actively engage in data collection, analysis, and interpretation of systems ranging from energy in ecosystems to environmental toxins and human health. (Note that students may enroll in either ES 100 or ES 101, but not both.) |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Not open to students who have taken ES 101. |
Notes: |
Wendy Judge Paulson '69 Ecology of Place Living Laboratory course. This course does not satisfy the Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory requirement. |
Distribution(s): |
Data Literacy (Formerly QRF)
Natural and Physical Sciences
Data Literacy (Formerly QRDL) |
Instructors: |
Elizabeth Pierce Davis |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center L Wing 200 Active Learning Classroom - TF 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM |
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ES 102 01 - Environment and Society: Addressing Climate Change
Course: |
ES 102 - 01 |
Title: |
Environment and Society: Addressing Climate Change |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to Environmental Studies, with a focus on climate change. Major concepts that will be examined include: the state of scientific research, the role of science, politics, and economics in environmental decision-making, and the importance of history, ethics, and justice in approaching climate change. The central aim of the course is to help students develop the interdisciplinary research skills necessary to pose questions, investigate problems, and develop strategies that will help us address our relationship to the environment. |
Prerequisite(s): |
Open to First-Years and Sophomores. Juniors and Seniors by permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Jay Morton Turner |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 103 Classroom - TF 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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ES 125H 01 - The Climate Crisis and the Liberal Arts
Course: |
ES 125H - 01 |
Title: |
The Climate Crisis and the Liberal Arts |
Credit Hours: |
0.5 |
Description: |
The humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences are indispensable to understanding the climate crisis. Drawing on perspectives from across the liberal arts, the course instructors will plumb the depths of the climate crisis and imagine the possible ways of responding to it. What can the role of climate in human history reveal about our uncertain future? How do social constructions, including race and gender, shape our understanding of this problem? How have diverse cultures of the world related to nature and climate and how can our own relationships to nature and climate inform our responses? Can the arts help us to reconceive the crisis? How can the sciences help us assess and adapt to our future climate? Can we leverage psychological processes to change individual attitudes toward the environment? By examining such questions, we aim for deeper knowledge, both of the climate crisis and of the power of liberal arts education. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Cross Listed Courses: |
PEAC 125H 01 - The Climate Crisis and the Liberal Arts
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Instructors: |
Amy Banzaert
Jay Morton Turner
Codruța Morari |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 305 Classroom - T 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM |
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ES 214 01 - Social Causes and Consequences of Environmental Problems
Course: |
ES 214 - 01 |
Title: |
Social Causes and Consequences of Environmental Problems |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course focuses on the social science explanations for why environmental problems are created, the impacts they have, the difficulties of addressing them, and the regulatory and other actions that succeed in mitigating them. Topics include: externalities and the politics of unpriced costs and benefits; collective action problems and interest-group theory; time horizons in decision-making; the politics of science, risk, and uncertainty; comparative political structures; and cooperation theory. Also addressed are different strategies for changing environmental behavior, including command and control measures, taxes, fees, and other market instruments, and voluntary approaches. These will all be examined across multiple countries and levels of governance. |
Prerequisite(s): |
ES 102 or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
POL2 214 01 - Social Causes and Consequences of Environmental Problems
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Instructors: |
Beth DeSombre |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center E Wing 211 Classroom - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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ES 219 01 - Ecological Approaches to Cinema and Media Studies
Course: |
ES 219 - 01 |
Title: |
Ecological Approaches to Cinema and Media Studies |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course examines ecology’s intersection with cinema and media studies. Amidst climate change, ecological theorists have complicated boundaries between nature and technology and between humans and nonhumans. We will focus on the intersection of these ecological conversations with cinema and media studies. This course will consider a range of media, from mushrooms to cyborgs; explore cinematic innovations aimed at depicting nonhuman actors; discuss how media create their own environments; and cover topics like digital waste. Course readings will include a range of contemporary ecological perspectives, including texts from Feminist Science and Technology Studies, Black Studies, and Indigenous Critical Theory. We will apply these ideas in discussions of recent films. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video |
Cross Listed Courses: |
CAMS 219 01 - Ecological Approaches to Cinema and Media Studies
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Instructors: |
Jonathan Knapp |
Meeting Time(s): |
Collins Cinema - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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ES 220 01 - The Ecology of Humans: Environmental Limits and Conservation with Laboratory
Course: |
ES 220 - 01 |
Title: |
The Ecology of Humans: Environmental Limits and Conservation with Laboratory |
Credit Hours: |
1.25 |
Description: |
Humans and their environment make up a complex and dynamic system. As with all ecological systems, key components are the availability and use of resources and the interactions with other species - both of which have important impacts on the nature and stability of the system itself. This course investigates these far-reaching concepts by examining topics such as the broad implications of thermodynamics, energy and material flows through human and natural systems, natural resource management, and the conservation of resources and biodiversity. We will also explore the role of science and technology in surmounting previous limits (e.g. energy use and agricultural yields), as well as the implications of inherent limits that may never be broken. Laboratory work will focus on quantitative skills and modeling tools used to examine a range of systems. This course has a required co-requisite Laboratory - ES 220L. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One of the following - ES 100, ES 101, GEOS 101, GEOS 102, BISC 108, or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory
Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Natural and Physical Sciences |
Instructors: |
Alden Griffith |
Meeting Time(s): |
Whitin Observatory 123 Seminar Room - MR 2:20 PM - 3:35 PM |
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ES 220L L01 - Laboratory: The Ecology of Humans: Environmental Limits and Conservation
Course: |
ES 220L - L01 |
Title: |
Laboratory: The Ecology of Humans: Environmental Limits and Conservation |
Credit Hours: |
0 |
Description: |
This is a required co-requisite laboratory for ES 220. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One of the following - ES 100, ES 101, GEOS 101, GEOS 102, BISC 108, or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Instructors: |
Alden Griffith |
Meeting Time(s): |
Whitin Observatory 123 Seminar Room - W 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM |
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ES 228 01 - Environmental and Resource Economics
Course: |
ES 228 - 01 |
Title: |
Environmental and Resource Economics |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course considers the economic aspects of resource and environmental issues. After examining the concepts of externalities, public goods, and common property resources, we will discuss how to measure the cost and benefits of environmental policy in order to estimate the socially optimal level of the environmental good. Applications of these tools will be made to air and water pollution, renewable and nonrenewable resources, and global climate. In addressing each of these problems we will compare various public policy responses such as regulation, marketable permits, and tax incentives. |
Prerequisite(s): |
ECON 101 or ECON 101P. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
ECON 228 01 - Environmental and Resource Economics
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Instructors: |
Pinar Keskin |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 139 Case Method Room - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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ES 229 01 - Sacred Earth
Course: |
ES 229 - 01 |
Title: |
Sacred Earth |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Every religious culture regards the earth as a site of sacrality, whether understood as the creation of the gods and thus intrinsically sacred, or as an entity through and with which the sacred interacts. In our time of escalating ecological disaster and runaway global heating, humans can claim these traditions as one way of placing our human wreckage of the planet into a larger critical perspective than the scientific warnings, corporate denials, and governmental temporizing that currently inform the environmental crisis. This course will introduce students to ideas of the terrestrial sacred and how humans should relate to it from a range of religious and spiritual traditions, including Native American, Biblical, Christian, Transcendentalist, and today’s ecological thinkers. Together we will assess the value and applicability of these diverse approaches to sacred earth for today’s ever more urgent crisis of global environmental disruption. No prior knowledge of or course work in Religious Studies is required. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy |
Cross Listed Courses: |
REL 229 01 - Sacred Earth
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Instructors: |
Stephen Marini |
Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 130 Classroom - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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ES 229H T01 - Sacred Earth
Course: |
ES 229H - T01 |
Title: |
Sacred Earth |
Credit Hours: |
0.5 |
Description: |
Every religious culture regards the earth as a site of sacrality, whether understood as the creation of the gods and thus intrinsically sacred, or as an entity through and with which the sacred interacts. In our time of escalating ecological disaster and runaway global heating, humans can claim these traditions as one way of placing our human wreckage of the planet into a larger critical perspective than the scientific warnings, corporate denials, and governmental temporizing that currently inform the environmental crisis. This course will introduce students to ideas of the terrestrial sacred and how humans should relate to it from a range of religious and spiritual traditions, including Native American, Biblical, Christian, Transcendentalist, and today’s ecological thinkers. Together we will assess the value and applicability of these diverse approaches to sacred earth for today’s ever more urgent crisis of global environmental disruption. No prior knowledge of or course work in Religious Studies is required. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. |
Notes: |
|
Cross Listed Courses: |
REL 229H T01 - Sacred Earth
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Instructors: |
Stephen Marini |
Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 130 Classroom - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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ES 235 01 - Environmental Aesthetics
Course: |
ES 235 - 01 |
Title: |
Environmental Aesthetics |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
The world around us is rich with aesthetic qualities. It is beautiful, awesome, enchanting, and sublime. Places have moods, vibes, atmospheres, and ambiances. How can we think rigorously and systematically about the aesthetics of the natural and built environment? What role, if any, should aesthetics play in environmentalism, environmental policy, and our relationship with the world we live in? This course will focus on contemporary philosophical work that seeks to answer these questions. Themes may include the place of science, imagination, history, and culture in aesthetic judgment, the role of aesthetics in conservation, and the relationship between aesthetics and climate change. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy |
Cross Listed Courses: |
PHIL 235 01 - Environmental Aesthetics
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Instructors: |
Erich Matthes |
Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 130 Classroom - MR 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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ES 300 01 - Environmental Decision-making
Course: |
ES 300 - 01 |
Title: |
Environmental Decision-making |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
An interdisciplinary seminar in which students work together in small groups to understand and develop solutions for current environmental problems. Each year, we focus on a given environmental issue of concern to our community, e.g., environmental implications of building design, energy use, or water quality. In particular, we work to understand its scientific background, the political processes that lead to potential solutions, and the ethical and environmental justice implications. Student-led research provides the bulk of the information about the issue and its role in our local environment; lectures and readings provide supplementary information about the local situation and the global context. |
Prerequisite(s): |
A declared major in environmental studies and completion of six courses that count toward the ES major, or permission of the instructor. Open to Juniors and Seniors only. |
Notes: |
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Instructors: |
Beth DeSombre |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 103 Classroom - T 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM |
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ES 302 01 - Global Health and the Environmental Crisis
Course: |
ES 302 - 01 |
Title: |
Global Health and the Environmental Crisis |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Social understandings of the relationship between human health and the environment are visible and malleable in moments of crisis, from industrial disasters, weather-related catastrophes, and political conflict, as everyday events like childbirth and routine sickness. But these understandings vary dramatically across time and community. This course addresses the complex dynamics at work in the representations of and responses to health and the environment that emerge during moments of crisis. By studying the way these constructions are shaped by social, political, technological, and moral contexts, we will analyze the role of nature, knowledge, ethics and power in such contemporary problems as human migration, hunger, debility, and disease. The class will together consider the meaning of crisis and how it is shaped by social systems such as gender, sexuality, ability, class, and race. |
Prerequisite(s): |
Open to Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors or by permission of the instructor. A 200 level WGST course is recommended. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
WGST 302 01 - Global Health and the Environmental Crisis
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Instructors: |
Emily Harrison |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 251 Seminar Room - F 9:55 AM - 12:35 PM |
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ES 307 01 - Ecosystem Ecology with Laboratory
Course: |
ES 307 - 01 |
Title: |
Ecosystem Ecology with Laboratory |
Credit Hours: |
1.25 |
Description: |
The emergent structure and function of ecosystems are regulated by feedbacks between biological and physical systems from the microscopic to the global scale. We will study how ecosystems cycle carbon and nutrients and how the energy balance of ecosystems influences climate. We will also examine the role that humans play in managing, creating, and using services from ecosystems in our current era of rapid global change. Synthesizing these concepts, we consider the role of protected areas in preserving ecosystem functioning. Students will develop statistical skills working with authentic long-term ecosystem ecology datasets. Students in this course will develop independent data analysis projects that include scientific communication through presentations, writing, and visual displays of data. This course has a required co-requisite Laboratory - BISC 307L/ES 307L. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One of the following - BISC 201, BISC 202, BISC 209, BISC 210, BISC 247/ES 247, ES 220; or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
Ann E. Maurer '51 Speaking Intensive Course. Wendy Judge Paulson '69 Ecology of Place Living Laboratory course. |
Distribution(s): |
Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory
Natural and Physical Sciences |
Cross Listed Courses: |
BISC 307 01 - Ecosystem Ecology with Laboratory
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Instructors: |
Amy Mertl |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 305 Classroom - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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ES 307L L01 - Laboratory: Ecosystem Ecology
Course: |
ES 307L - L01 |
Title: |
Laboratory: Ecosystem Ecology |
Credit Hours: |
0 |
Description: |
This is a required co-requisite laboratory for BISC 307/ES 307. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One of the following - BISC 201, BISC 202, BISC 209, BISC 210, BISC 247/ES 247, ES 220; or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Cross Listed Courses: |
BISC 307L L01 - Laboratory: Ecosystem Ecology
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Instructors: |
Amy Mertl |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center N Wing 210 Field Sciences Teaching Lab - M 1:45 PM - 5:15 PM |
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ES 310 01 - Seminar: Climate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems
Course: |
ES 310 - 01 |
Title: |
Seminar: Climate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course will focus on the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. As greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have increased, the oceans have absorbed more than 93% of the excess heat and roughly ¼ of the carbon dioxide. The triple threat of warming temperatures, depletions in oxygen, and drops in ocean pH have led to dramatic effects on ocean ecosystems. Students will analyze the primary literature to examine 1) how these stressors are affecting physiology, demography, phenology, and distributions of marine species separately and when acting together, 2) the potential for adaptation/evolution, 3) what lessons can be learned from the paleorecord, and 4) the impacts on coastal communities and nations. The course incorporates student-led seminar-style discussions, and a final synthetic project where teams will present evidence for the impacts of climate change on a particular marine ecosystem. |
Prerequisite(s): |
One of the following courses - BISC 201, BISC 202, BISC 209, BISC 210, BISC 214, BIOC 219/BISC 219, ES 201, ES 220, EXTD 225, EXTD 226 or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
Ann E. Maurer '51 Speaking Intensive Course. |
Distribution(s): |
Natural and Physical Sciences |
Cross Listed Courses: |
BISC 310 01 - Seminar: Climate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems
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Instructors: |
Becca Selden |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 103 Classroom - W 1:30 PM - 4:10 PM |
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ES 329 01 - Environmental Issues in Developing Countries
Course: |
ES 329 - 01 |
Title: |
Environmental Issues in Developing Countries |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Poor sanitation, inadequate waste management, contaminated water supplies and exposure to indoor air pollution affect millions of people in developing countries and pose continuing risks to their health. The objective of this course is to provide students with a set of theoretical, econometric and practical skills to estimate the causal impact of environmental policies and programs with a particular focus on less-developed countries. Examples from the readings will explore the effect of laws, NGO programs or natural experiments on environmental quality and sustainability. Students will learn to critically analyze existing studies and to gauge how convincingly the research identifies a causal impact. Students will use these skills to develop an evaluation plan for a topic of their choice at the end of the term. |
Prerequisite(s): |
ECON 201 and ECON 203. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
ECON 328 01 - Environmental Issues in Developing Countries
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Instructors: |
Pinar Keskin |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 139 Case Method Room - TF 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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ES 381 01 - U.S. Environmental Politics
Course: |
ES 381 - 01 |
Title: |
U.S. Environmental Politics |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course examines the politics of environmental issues in the United States. The course has two primary goals: First, to introduce students to the institutions, stakeholders, and political processes important to debates over environmental policy at the federal level. Second, to develop and practice skills of analyzing and making decisions relevant to environmental politics and policy. Drawing on the literature of environmental politics and policy, this course will consider how environmental issues are framed in political discourse, various approaches to environmental advocacy and reform, and the contested role of science in environmental politics. The course will be organized around environmental case studies, including endangered species conservation, public lands management, air and water pollution, and toxics regulation. |
Prerequisite(s): |
A 200-level ES course or POL1 200 or permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Cross Listed Courses: |
POL1 381 01 - U.S. Environmental Politics
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Instructors: |
Jay Morton Turner |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center N Wing 220 Classroom - TF 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Science Center N Wing 220 Classroom - W 1:30 PM - 2:20 PM |
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