300 Level

GE 300 Geography of World Commerce

Introduction to the components and flows of international commerce. Examines the spatial nature of the world economy and offers explanations for the forces that effect trade, environment, and development.

ES 301 Structural Analysis of Rocks (4 credits, Spring)

Prereq: ES 302; ES 222 recommended. Deformation of rocks and minerals, stress, strain; kinetic and dynamic analysis of folds, faults, joints, rock fabrics; regional settings of rock structures; interpretation of geological maps. Three hours lecture, two hours lab, and occasional field trips.
Instructor: Faul

ES 302 History of the Earth (4 credits, Spring)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or 140 or 142 or 144 or GE 104, or consent of instructor. Introduction to Earth history; origin of the Earth and solar system; origin and evolution of life; mass extinctions; interpretation of the geological record of Earth history; measurement of geological time; plate tectonics and the formation of mountains, continents, and ocean basins. Three hours lecture, two hours lab, with occasional field trips.
Instructor: Baxter

GE 302 Remote Sensing of the Environment

Introduction to sensor systems, methodology of remote sensing, and basic concepts of image analysis. Presents the ways in which remotely sensed data can be used in scientific investigations and resource management.

GE 304 Environmentally Sustainable Development

Traces the emergence of sustainable development as the defining environmental challenge of our times. Surveys and evaluates policies for balancing ecological sustainability and economic development in various parts of the world and at the global level. Also offered as CAS IR 304.

GE 307 Biogeography

Analysis of local, regional, and global distributions of plants and animals. Environmental and human influences on those distributions considered; changes resulting from geologically recent climatic fluctuations. Field trips.

GE 309 Intermediate Environmental Analysis and Policy

Prereq: CAS GE 100 and CAS EC 101. Introduction to economic and environmental theory critical to the formulation and evaluation of environmental resource policy. This theory is applied to real-world analysis of climate change, population growth, oil supplies, energy use, and globalization.

GE 310 Introduction to the Atmosphere

Prereq: CAS GE 101 or equivalent. Understanding physical processes of the atmosphere, ranging in scale from tornadoes to global winds. Emphasis on providing physical explanations of atmospheric phenomena and impact of weather on humanity. Satellite and weather modification technology.

ES 317 Introduction to Hydrology (4 credits, Spring)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or 140 or 142 or 144 or GE 104; MA 121, 123, or 127, or consent of instructor. Introduction to the science of hydrology and to the role of water as a resource, a hazard, and an integral component of the Earth’s climatic, biological, and geological systems.
Instructor: Salvucci

GE 331 Political Geography

Geographic treatment of the state’s raison d’etre, population, territory, resources, economic and political organization, boundaries, and frontiers. Survey of geopolitical theory, supranational organizations, and world power.

ES 331 Sedimentology (4 credits, Fall)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or 140 or 142 or 144 or 202 or GE 104, or consent of instructor. Properties and classification of clastic and carbonate sediments and sedimentary rock; processes that form, transport, and deposit sediments; environments of deposition; diagenesis; methods of analysis. Three hours lecture, three hours lab, and occasional field trips.
Instructor: FitzGerald

ES 333 Earth Surface Processes (4 credits, Spring)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or GE 104. Evolution of Earth’s landscapes. Topics include weathering rates, soil development, mass-movements and slope stability, desert geomorphology, tectonic landforms, and the effects of climate change in landform development. Three hours lecture, two hours lab.
Instructor: Marchant

ES 351 Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography (4 credits, Fall)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or 140 or 142 or 144 or 202 or GE 104. GE 101 recommended. Examines causes and effects of climate change throughout Earth’s history. Topics include ice age climates and glaciations; oceanic history; linkages between Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets; tectonic effects; ice-core, coral, and marine sediment records; El Niño; terrestrial extinctions.
Instructor: Kurtz

GE 356 Geography of Third World Development

Theory and experience of Third World development. Emphasis on issues of income distribution, geographical and regional inequality, importance of location in development planning, efficiency and equity consideration, models of and strategies for regional development.

ES 360 Geodynamics I (4 credits, Spring)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or 140 or 142 or 144 or 202 or GE 104; coreq: PY 211 or 241 or 251. Introduces basic physical principles of Earth’s structure and dynamics. Driving mechanisms and plate motion; reflection, refraction seismology, magnetism, gravity and the Geoid, heat flow, tomography, mantle convection. Oceanic and continental lithosphere in active tectonic regions.
Instructor: Dalton

GE 365 An Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Prereq: CAS MA 115 or EC 208. Practical hands-on computing experience using GIS for analyzing data from maps and other sources. Analytical functions unique to GIS are emphasized, as are applications in archaeology, land use planning, environmental monitoring, and other fields.

ES 371 Introduction to Geochemistry (4 credits, Fall)

Prereq: ES 101 or 105 or 140 or 142 or 144 or 202 or GE 104; and CH 101. Chemical features of Earth and the solar system; geochemical cycles, reactions among solids, liquids, and gases; radioactivity and isotope fractionation; water chemistry; origins of ore deposits; applications of geochemistry to regional and global problems.
Instructor: Staff

GE 375 Introduction to Quantitative Environmental Modeling

Prereq: CAS MA 115 or CAS MA 213 or equivalent. Introduces students to quantitative models of environmental systems. Emphasizes application of quantitative models to environmental problem solving. Includes computer exercises with examples from current environmental issues such as population growth, pollution transport, and biodiversity.

GE 381 Geography of Asia

Geographic survey of Asian Pacific Rim and South and Southeast Asian economies. Emphasis on their environmental base, historical and cultural traditions, economic and developmental characteristics. Current themes in population, resource adequacy, levels of development, and problems of regional organization are explored.

GE 382 Understanding the Middle East

Introduces the contemporary Middle East, Including the Arab world, Iran Israel, and Turkey; examines the systems of government; the roles of external powers; the origins of the state system; the sources and objectives of opposition forces; the prospects for political reform including democratization; and the prospects for future cooperation or conflict. Also offered as CAS HI 394.

GE 394 Environmental History of Africa

Focus on the African environment and ecological systems over the past 150 years. Topics include climatic change, hydrography, agriculture, deforestation, soil erosion, disease, conservation, famine,and the role of colonialism and goverrnment policy in environmental change. Also offered as CAS HI 394.