Environmental Science Policy and Management

Covers topics ranging from mythological ideas about spiders and their importance in traditional cultures and folklore, to diversity patterns, ecology, behavior, and general biology of spiders. In the laboratory section, students learn to identify local spiders and to prepare a collection.

Introduction to soil microorganisms; diversity, ecology, and activity in the context of biogeochemical cycling, plant-microbe interactions, evolution, global environmental change, and biodegradation

Terrestrial environment including lower atmosphere, landscape, water, soil, geogases, and nutrient cycles. Hydrologic cycle. Precipitation, physiography, runoff, and erosion. Infiltration, evaporation, and transpiration. Exchange of gases between soil and atmosphere. Groundwater flow patterns, chemistry, and influence on rock and soil formation. Impact of natural resources development and disposal of wastes on environment. Development of quantitative insights through problem solving

This course describes how the physical environment (light, wind, temperature, humidity) of plants and soil affects the physiological status of plants and how plants affect their physical environment. Using experimental data and theory, it examines physical, biological, and chemical processes affecting transfer of momentum, energy, and material (water, CO2, atmospheric trace gases) between vegetation and the atmosphere. Plant biometeorology instrumentation and measurements are also discussed

Chemical mechanisms of reactions controlling the fate of pollutants in the subsurface environment. Chemical reactions in subsurface waters. Geochemical pathways of detoxification. Chemical modeling of pollutant geochemistry

Focus on processes controlling distribution, solubility, and biological availability of environmentally important elements in soils. Covers role of soil minerals and organic matter in controlling retention and release of soluble ions and molecules; reaction mechanisms; and energetics. Applies principles and concepts of soil chemistry to different environmental conditions in soils, e.g., acidity/alkalinity, aeration, water potential, and salinity, to predict changes in chemical behavior

Chemical, physical, biological processes which control nutrient availability in soil-plant systems. Ion movement, water potential relations, plant-microbial interactions are emphasized. Characteristics and causes of acid, alkaline, and saline soils. Offered odd-numbered years.

Five day-long Saturday field trips to locations in central California. The field study of soil development and morphology. Methods of soil morphological descriptions; study of factors controlling soil development; relationship of soil morphology to land use; quaternary geology of central California; use of soils in dating landscapes

Development, morphology, and classification of soils as related to geology, environmental factors, and time. Soils as functioning parts of ecosystems; use of soils in archeological and paleoclimatic studies; anthropogenic effects on soil ecosystems

Introduction to physical, engineering, chemical, and biological properties of soil; methods of soil description, identification, geographic distribution and uses; the role of soil in supplying water and nutrients to plants; and soil organisms. Soil management for agriculture, forestry, and urban uses will also be discussed. Includes a Saturday field trip