Freshman Colloquium (UNVR 195a)

Water Quality and the Environment

(FA 2007, FA2008)

Do you know where your water comes from? In this class, students will explore the path that water takes from precipitation to tap water. Students will learn and synthesize how hydrology, geology, and land use influence both the quantity of available water and the quality of the water you drink. Students will learn how to take multiple perspective of water use and think about balancing societal needs and those of the environment. Students will investigate issues affecting both water quantity and water quality in your hometown.

Watershed and Ecosystem Functions (WSM/SWES/HWR 456/556) (SP 2008)

Natural resource managers and policymakers are increasingly encountering the mandate for maintenance of ecosystem function in watersheds. What does this mean? How do we measure ecosystem function? How do we measure changes in ecosystems? This course will examine the structure and function of watersheds with emphasis on the ecosystem and geomorphic processes shaping watersheds. Students are introduced to processes that shape the structure and functioning of ecosystems and watersheds and their responses to natural and anthropogenic change. Students will develop critical reading and writing skills through analysis and discussion of weekly readings from the primary literature. All students will participate in a set of inquiry-based field trips to explore the effects of climate and rainfall variability on ecosystem processes; student teams will collect and analyze data, report and discuss their results in the context of current theory, and then synthesis the results from the three studies as a final report. Graduate students will conduct an independent project or literature review on a topic of their interest or related study that incorporates ecosystem concepts discussed in class. Through these activities, students will develop the ability to integrate and contexualize the principles of natural resource management and gain an understanding of the importance of maintaining ecosystem functions within watersheds to sustain the ecosystem services that they provide.

Soil and Watershed Biogeochemistry (FA 2008)

This seminar course is an investigation of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that shape soils, the biogeochemistry of watersheds, and their responses to anthropogenic changes. Topics will include soil formation and weathering of soils but emphasize soil carbon and nutrient cycling and the movement and storage of water, carbon, and nutrients in the context of a watershed.  Students will be responsible for leading a topic in class and writing a review paper on a topic of their interest in soil and watershed biogeochemistry.