| source Northwestern (X) |
level |
department ENVR_SCI Environmental Sciences Program (X) |
This course uses the example of the automobile to provide students with an integrated study of fundamental chemistry (thermodynamics, atmospheric chemistry, free radical mechanisms of reaction), industrial production, energy use, and public policy from an environmental perspective. The course begins with a review of the fundamentals of energy, and moves on to an explanation of how the internal combustion engine works. The history of automobile manufacturing is covered and the economic aspects of this industrial sector are discussed. The use of life cycle assessment to evaluate comprehensively the environmental costs associated with automobile manufacturing is explained. The efficiency and feasibility of various fuels, ranging from gasoline to diesel to hydrogen, and fuel additives is compared. The automobileÂs impacts to land, water and air are evaluated. The way in which the catalytic converter reduces the effects of exhaust emission on air quality is explained. Finally, strategies to lessen the impacts of the automobile, especially as it relates to CO2 emissions, are discussed. Student are evaluated by homeworks, quizzes and a final project.
Score: 14.132898 Details | Listing | Web page
Individual research in the environmental sciences. Students pursue research projects of their own choice, reporting on literature, formulating research questions, and structuring the research paper. Env. Sci. 398-2, offered in winter, involves actual writing and editing of the senior paper.
Score: 14.132898 Details | Listing | Web page
This course focuses on the growth of populations and their impacts. Topics include the history and projections of human population growth, harvested populations and their economics, and methods of population viability analysis for endangered species. Important context for the growth of populations is developed from basic concepts in ecology and evolution, such as the ecological niche, competition, predation, disease transmission, trophic structure, and energy flow. More advanced topics will also be addressed, including the biodiversity-stability relationship, the economic values of biodiversity and ecosystem function, and the biology and management of metapopulations in fragmented habitats.
Score: 14.132898 Details | Listing | Web page