Courses

• CAS GE 502: Field Measurements for Remote Sensing
  Field measurements to support remote sensing activities. Theory and measurement of upwelling and downwelling flux fields with field radiometers and spectrometers; forest canopy leaf area using specialized instruments; hemispherical canopy photography; GPS field location and surveying techniques; simple forest mensuration.
• CAS GE 503: Micrometeorology: Energy and Mass Transfer at the Earth's Surface
  Modern theories and techniques for measurement and analysis of physical processes occuring 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 504: Physical Climatology
  Physical principles governing the climate system and the spatial and temporal patterns of weather elements on regional and global scales. Physics of energy, mass, and momentum transfer; the observed state of the atmosphere; climate feedback processes; and climate change.
• CAS GE 505: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  Provides a theoretical and practical introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Introduces the essentials in GIS, methods of data capture and sources of data, nature and characteristics of spatial data and objects, data structures, modeling surfaces, volumes and time, and data uncertainty. Emphasis is on applications. Laboratory exercises included.
• CAS GE 507: Dynamical Oceanography
  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. Also offered as CAS ES 507.
• CAS GE 509: Applied Environmental Statistics
  Survey of modern probability-based statistical methods in environmental science. Core concepts in likelihood and Bayesian approaches are used to address spatial, time-series, and latent variable models and non-Gaussian, non-linear, heterogenous, and missing data. Project-based course focused on applications to data.
• CAS GE 510: Physical Principles of the Environment
  Principles and concepts underlying the physical and ecological forces that cause environmental change. Topics include soil erosion, acid rain, thermal pollution, greenhouse effect, stratospheric ozone depletion, and loss of biodiversity.
• CAS GE 514: Dynamic Land Surface Hydrology
  Land surface hydrology with emphasis on the unsaturated zone. Development and applications of physics governing transport of water, vapor, and heat in soils and the near surface atmosphere. Effects of vegetation, topography, and water table runoff, evapotranspiration, and recharge.
• CAS GE 516: Multivariate Analysis for Geographers
  Applications of multivariate techniques to problems in spatial context, emphasizing interpretation. Review of regression and analysis of variance. Introduction to topics including canonical correlation, factor analysis, discriminant and clustering analyses.
• CAS GE 519: Energy, Society, and the Environment
  Focus on applied political economy and the intersection of policy, energy systems, and environmental systems. Project based learning, with an emphasis on energy technology and obstacles to deployment.
• CAS GE 521: Law for Sustainability
  A survey of the major features of environmental and related law: common law, statutory law, administrative law, and relevant procedural and constitutional issues. Students examine how well these laws work to bring about sustainability. Students read cases and practice advocacy.
• CAS GE 522: The Development of Sustainable Environmental Responsibility
  In-depth look at how society can address environmental problems: the history of the environmental movement; relevant legal, economic and cultural concepts; and international and emerging concerns. Examines root causes and constructive group processes for crafting a more sustainable world.
• CAS GE 523: Marine Urban Ecology
  Marine Urban Ecology is an emerging, interdisciplinary field that aims to understand how human and ecological processes can coexist in human-dominated systems. Topics, ecosystems, and organisms associated with urbanization in the Greater Boston area. Also offered as CAS GE 523.
• CAS GE 524: Environmental Justice
  Exploration of the origins of and current trends in environmental justice activism and scholarship. Introduces empirical evidence of environmental (in)justice, links contemporary environmental problems to historical and broader political-economic processes, and explores a range of responses to environmental injustice.
• CAS GE 525: Plant Physiological Ecology
  In-depth treatment of eco-physiological responses of plants and communities to environmental factors and climate change, as well as plant and community level impacts on the environment as manifested primarily in hydrologic, energy, and carbon cycles.
• CAS GE 529: Modeling and Monitoring Terrestrial Ecosystems Processes
  Analyzes the interface of ecosystem process modeling and remote sensing, modeling terrestrial primary production, and potential of remote sensing for collecting biotic and abiotic data in ecosystem process studies.
• CAS GE 530: Forest Ecology
  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. Also meets with CAS BI 530.
• CAS GE 533: Risk Assessment
  Investigates the science behind regulation designed to protect people from environmental hazards, through a practical focus on chemical hazards. Students develop a working knowledge of the risk assessment process and perform simple risk assessments for chemicals in the environment.
• CAS GE 550: Modeling Environmental and Social Systems
  Techniques of organizing energy, environmental, 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 555: World Oil Markets
  The world oil market is explained using the notion of supply chain. Each stage is described in terms of relevant theories from geology, economics, and politics, and how they interact to generate real-world behavior.

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