GEOL 100: The Earth (3 cr.)
How does the earth work, what is it made of, and how does it change through time? Plate tectonics, Earth materials, landforms, structures, climate, and natural resources. Emphasis on the observations and hypotheses used to interpret earth system processes.
This is an introductory course in physical geology.
GEOL 406/506: Geology Field Course “EnvIRONments (1-2 cr.)
The topic ise iron-rich lakes, and students will participate in collecting field data that will be used in a scientific publication. Incorporates perspectives and techniques from aquatic geochemistry, limnology, microbial ecology, and hydrogeology. Geology and Environmental Science students are encouraged to participate.
Students enroll with the permission of the instructor. This is part of Swanner’s NSF CAREER award and was taught in Spring 2022, Fall 2023, and Spring 2023 over two different field areas.
GEOL/ENSCI 419/519: Aqueous and Environmental Geochemistry (3 cr.)
This course addresses the chemical principles underlying the fate of solid, liquid, and gas-phase inorganic and organic contaminants during interaction with natural phases. Laboratory activities are designed to enhance understanding of coursework and expose students to methods in environmental monitoring, analysis, and remediation. Additional topics include terrestrial environments, such as soils and aquifers, as well as an introduction to atmospheric contaminants.
The course is dual-listed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. It is cross-listed with ENSCI. It is offered in even Spring Semesters and meets T/Th 11-11:50 for lecture and a lab Fr 1:10-3:00.
BIOL/GEOL/ENSCI 483/583: Environmental Biogeochemistry (3 cr.)
This course covers the biological, physical, and geochemical controls on elemental cycling in the Earth system, with an emphasis on the dynamics of global change and anthropogenic perturbations to global biogeochemical cycles. Topics include the biotic and abiotic cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, metals, and water, and impacts of anthropogenic perturbations on these cycles across spatiotemporal scales, e.g. nanometer to global, and deep time to the present. Application of box models and principles of mass balance, kinetics, and thermodynamics will be used to analyze and predict system behavior.
This course is dual-listed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. It is cross-listed with ENSCI and BIOL/EEOB. It is co-taught with Prof. Steven Hall [EEOB]. This course is offered odd Spring semesters on MWF 10-10:50 AM.
BIOL 487/EEOB 587: Microbial Ecology (3 cr.)
Introduction to major functional groups of autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms and their roles in natural systems. Topics include Microbial diversity, major metabolic pathways and their importance to the environment, microbial survival strategies, sampling, and analysis of environmental microbes, microbe-microbe/plant/animal interactions, biomineralization, common clades, and their roles in the environment.
This course is dual-listed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. It is cross-listed with ENSCI and MICRO. It is offered every Fall semester, meeting MWF 9-9:50 AM. (not offered Fall 2021 due to sabbatical)