ES 120 CC:LIVING ON A CHANGING PLANET

We inhabit a dynamic planet replete with physical dangers posed by geologic hazards, climate change and pollution. Societies demand geologic resources, but what costs and dangers stem from development and our attempts to control nature? The course details how the academic field of environmental geology contributes to a multidisciplinary understanding of global environmental problems. Explore your scientific, socioeconomic and ethical connection to our changing planet. Class lectures, discussions and assignments consider the construction, evaluation and dissemination of scientific knowledge and how that information impacts societal decisions and actions. Indoor and outdoor labs utilize students as scientists to collect, assess, explain and map local and global geologic hazards. No previous background in the geosciences is assumed.