To learn more about the course, please refer to the latest course syllabus:
Course Description
This course evaluates the biology, chemistry, and geology of major and minor elements on Earth. Topics covered in this course include global cycling of water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur; their global budgets; and relationships to human activities and global change. We begin with the development of Earth as a habitable planet, from its origin to human impacts on global biogeochemical cycles in the ocean, land, and atmosphere. We will proceed by addressing biogeochemical cycles in each of the major sectors of the global Earth ecosystem (i.e., the atmosphere, terrestrial environment, oceans, etc.), with a particular emphasis on the role that organisms, including humans, play in these cycles. We will then synthesize this knowledge to deal with global biogeochemical cycles and several topical issues.
Course Goals
By the end of the semester, students will:
- Understand major global biogeochemical cycles.
- Understand the processes that drive global cycles of energy and materials, and how they are affected by organisms, including humans.
- Critically evaluate how global biogeochemical processes affect human societies and how human activities have modified global cycles of energy and materials.
- Have the ability to read and evaluate primary scientific literature in the field.
- Place reports in the popular press that relate to biogeochemical processes into a proper scientific context.
- Understand scientific issues and uncertainties relevant to related policy decisions.
What students say about the course...
“This was an amazing course. I think it should be required for all Environmental Science majors. It tied together a lot of my other courses while adding real world applicability.”
“Mary is one of the best teachers I've ever had and made class both fun and an amazing learning environment.”
“She explains everything so simply to start but also elaborates so we can see the bigger picture.”
“She has an outstanding grasp on the course material, and is so personable and easy to talk to that the lectures fly by.”
"Very friendly professor. Everything is applicable to real life and our world rather than just theory."
“Mary is passionate about it to so it's easy to feel like you can follow along and give input in lectures.”
“She made me more interested in the subject than I actually was.”
“Very well organized. Presentations flowed nicely and built off of each other nicely.”