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Environmental Systems
ENVR E-108
Environmental Systems (23047)
(Website)
Eileen Ekstrom, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University.
Course tuition: noncredit $450, undergraduate credit $800, graduate credit $1,725.
Spring term:
Thursdays beginning Jan. 29, 7:35-9:35 pm, Northwest Science Building, Room B108. Optional sections to be arranged.
This course is dedicated to understanding the chemical and physical principles that control the fate and partitioning of environmental pollutants in water, air, and soil, and teaching the problem-solving skills to evaluate the processes. As an environmental journalist, manager, regulator, academic, or advocate, it is often necessary to be able to quickly assess the potential impact of an environmental disturbance or the possible mitigation by a remediation strategy. Most often, a reasonable estimation within an order of magnitude can be derived by simplifying the system to its key features, by making thoughtful assumptions, and applying a basic physical or chemical model that can be solved analytically without complex computer simulations. In this course, emphasis is placed on teaching problem solving, and therefore giving students skills they can later apply toward environmental problems in their careers. Each class is structured around an interesting environmental problem that illustrates the physical or chemical principles that are taught that day. Prerequisite: ENVR E-101, or the equivalent; a working knowledge of algebra. (4 credits)