Spring 2009

Please note: Beginning Spring 2006, all GG and EE courses have been merged into GE. Unless indicated, the course numbers and titles have remained the same.

For the most current listing of classes, please visit the Student Link. Click on "University Class Schedule" to search for classes.

CAS GE425/625 U.S. Environmental Policy

Sue Wing, Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:00 - 3:30. Prereq: GE309. Survey and historical overview of key environmental policies and regulations in the United States. Emphasis on policy development, including formulation and implementation of federal polltuion control regulations since the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970. Considers future policy needs.

CAS GE440/640 Digital Image Processing - Remote Sensing

Woodcock, MWF 11 AM – 12 PM. Prereq: CAS GE302 or equivalent. Pursues both the algorithms involved in processing remotely sensed images and their application. Topics include spectral and spatial enhancement, image classification and clustering, spatial analysis, and linear transforms.

CAS GE445/645 Physical Models in Remote Sensing

Myneni, TR 9:30 AM – 11 AM. Prereq: CAS GE 302 or equivalent. Devoted to understanding the physical process involved in remote sensing. Emphasis on topics of radiative transfer in the atmosphere, at the surface, and in sensors. Reflectance modeling, advanced sensor systems, and geometric effects.

CAS GE503 Micrometeorology

Friedl, TR 11 AM – 12:30 PM. Prereq: CAS GE310, CAS MA121, and CAS PY233 or graduate standing. Modern theories and techniques for measurement and analysis of physical processes occurring at the Earth’s surface: radiation regimes; energy and mass exchange; agricultural and forest micrometeorology remote sensing and modeling of land surface properties and processes.

CAS GE/ES507 Dynamical Oceanography

Anderson, MWF 2 PM – 3PM. Prereq: CASMA124 or CASMA127 or CASMA129 and CASES144, and CASPY212, or consent of instructor. Introduction to the physical ocean system. Physical properties of seawater; essential ocean dynamics; mixing and stirring in the ocean; simple waves; observed current systems and water masses; and coupled atmosphere-ocean variability.

CAS GE522 Environmental Policy and Decision-Making

Reibstein, M 5 PM – 8 PM. In-depth look at environmental policy and decision making: how society adresses environmental problems. Includes discussion of the environmental movement, law, science, technology, economics, and international relations. Examines new issues facing environmental professionals and approaches to creating a sustainable world. *previously GE520

CAS GE/BI530 Forest Ecology

Templer, TR 2 PM – 3:30 PM. Prereq: CASBI107 and CASBI303 or CASBI306, or consent of instructor. The major biotic and abiotic factors influencing forest ecosystem composition, structure and function. Role of solar radiation, hydrology, soils, succession, and management of forest ecosystems. Includes New England case study. Three hours lecture plus discussion.

CAS GE/IR536 European Environmental Policy

Selin, M 2 PM – 5 PM. Focuses on key concepts, actors, and issues related to European integration, environmental policy making, and sustainable development. Also examines transatlantic environmental relations and the role of the European Union in global environmental governance. Also offered as CAS IR 536.

CAS GE550 Modeling Environmental and Social Systems

Bauer, TR 9:30 AM – 11 AM. Requires stamped approval. Prereq: CAS GE275 or consent of instructor. Techniques of organizing energy, enironmental, or social systems into mathematical computer models. Includes the theory underlying different modeling techniques, programming skills, and a hands-on research project in which students develop their own models.

CAS GE/IR599 Science, Politics, and Climate Change

Selin, W 1 PM – 4 PM. Applies a science and technology studies perspective to climate change science and policy. Examines the relationships between scientific and political systems at global, national, and local levels.

GRS GE712 Regional Energy Modeling

Kaufmann, TR 3:30 PM – 5 PM. Prereq: consent of instructor. Regional energy modeling techniques and existing regional energy models. Current energy issues are discussed. Modeling procedures are introduced. Current regional and energy models are explored.

GRS GE805 Spatial Analysis Using Geographic Information Systems

Gopal, TR 3:30 PM – 5 PM. Prereq: CAS GE505 or GE565 and CAS MA613 or MA614. Covers advanced research topics in GIS dealing with the measurement, storage, retrieval, and analysis of spatial information. Topics include fuzzy sets, fractals, and spatial statistics. Completion of project is required.

Non-GE classes being offered:

GRS BI617 Biology of Lakes and Rivers

Kaufman, TR 9:30 AM – 11 AM. Prereq: graduate standing. Examines interrelational and biological parameters that determine the function of lakes and rivers as ecosystems. Limnology encompasses an interdisciplinary research area that combines elements of geography, geology, bydrology, physics, chemistry, and biology. Theoretical aspects and practical applications are considered. *Three hours lecture, three hours lab.

GRS BI686 Biological Design for Sustainable Development

Kaufman, TR 9:30 AM – 11 AM. Prereq: graduate standing. Study of biological constraints on the problem of human society's relationship with the ecosystems, terrestrial and marine, that sustain it. Case studies combining natural history, ecological theory, dynamical modeling, and experimental design in the search for workable solutions.

CAS ES588 Seminar in Earth Sciences

Marchant, R 4 PM – 5:30 PM. Prereq: CASES101 or CASES105 or consent of instructor. Discussion of current topics in earth sciences with assigned readings and lecture seminars.

SPH EH807 Urban Environmental Health

Marchant, R 4 PM – 5:30 PM. Prereq: SPH EH708 highly recommended. Most of the United States' population live in or around cities. The urban environment includes the often degraded natural environment, industry, and housing and social conditions such as poverty and violence that affect health. This course examines key urban physical and social health hazards including lead, asthma, overweight and obesity, poor housing, transportation, sprawl, racial segregation, and income inequality. It highlights solutions to current problems such as community empowerment, urban gardens, lead-safe yards, and integrated pest management in low-income housing. We include an environmental justice field trip in the Dudley St. Neighborhood Initiative area in Roxbury. Students will select and research a topic on urban environmental health as a final paper and for presentation in class.

GSM MK867 Marketing Social Change

Kienholz, W 6 PM – 9 PM. Prereq: GSM MK723 and GSM QM716 or consent of instructor. Many corporations are taking an interest in corporate social responsibility, as they realize the implications of climate change, respond to public, NGO and shareholder scrutiny of business practices, and see the need for long-term sustainability strategies. Businesses are analyzing how to incorporate practices that conserve resources and promote social good into the business model. Some companies are scrutinizing their supply chain, generating eco-footprints for their products, and developing metrics to evaluate the value that CSR brings to business. More and more, corporate marketers are integrating social-change strategies, from cause-related marketing to campaign sponsorship to social change advertising, into their marketing programs. The course Marketing Social Change will examine the roots of marketing social change -- marketing at traditional nonprofits, campaigns launched to influence public actions, legally-dictated social change, cause-related marketing -- and the evolution of corporate social responsibility. The course will explore how commercial marketing principles can be applied to positively influence social change. Particular emphasis will be placed on what it means for a corporation to be “socially responsible” and the complex issues facing marketing managers in evaluating the costs and benefits of CSR. The course will include lectures, discussions, guest lectures by experts in social marketing and corporate social responsibility, and a semester-long project at a socially responsible company or organization. Professor Kienholz holds a BA from Williams College and an MPA from Harvard University. Kienholz currently consults to international organizations on NGO-private sector partnerships designed to advance social change. If you have questions about the course, you may contact Professor Kienholz directly at Kristi_Kienholz@ksg04.harvard.edu.