Teaching

I teach several courses at Huxley. The pages for these are on Blackboard at WWU. My classes are typically geared for students who are interested in global processes.

I'm working on new classes at Huxley in support of the Polaris Project. The Polaris Project is a collaborative effort by several universities and the Woods Hole Research Center. The press release describing it is here. The project includes a field course and research experience for undergraduate students in the Siberian Arctic.

Here is my teaching schedule for 2008-2009:

My 400-level classes are geared to Environmental Science majors or other science majors. Environmental Studies students (or students from other non-science backgrounds) are welcome in the 400-level classes but must be prepared to do some catch-up work. Come see me if you aren't sure what the classes involve.

Climate Change and Past Environments of the PNW have sections for graduate students (ESCI 592 and ESCI 523). I try to work closely with the grad students to make sure they are getting what they need out of the experience.

Class Descriptions:

Introduction to Global Change: There are six and a half billion people and we are changing the global environment at a pace unknown to history. In this class, we will unravel some of the linkages between biophysical systems, ecological responses, and human activities. We will cover changes to the climate, but also take a step back to appreciate the incredible suite of simultaneous global changes taking place in biotic diversity, hydrologic and chemical cycles, and human assimilation of Earth's energy. We will also discuss future scenarios and the potential for sustainability.

Climate Change: Climate change is one of the most pressing scientific and societal issues our species has ever faced. In order to understand climate change we will take an interdisciplinary look into the principles of climatology, ecology, biogeochemistry, climate modeling. We will discuss the scientific basis for climate change assessments and associated policy measures. We will discuss climate change impacts on terrestrial and marine ecosystems as well as potential societal effects. This course is aimed at environmental science seniors. Students in other disciplines who are willing to learn any background material they might not already know are welcome.

Past Environments of the Pacific Northwest: Ten thousand years ago, the 'primeval' forests on the slopes of Mt. Baker didn't exist. At Mosquito Lake there were open-canopy forests of alder, pine, and bracken. In fact, the Douglas fir forests we know today have only existed for a few generations of trees. In this class, we will study environmental changes in the Pacific Northwest during the Holocene (about the last 10,000 years). The focus of the class will be paleoecology - the study of the relationship between ancient organisms and their physical and biological environment. This course will introduce you to the central concepts of paleoecology, the techniques paleoecologists use to study ancient environments and ecosystems, and some of the current research in the field. We will focus on changes in the northwestern United States but the class will include a broad study of global paleoclimate. The class will be in lecture/lab format. The lab portion will include multiple field trips to significant paleoecological sites in Western Washington. As part of the class we will reconstruct past plant assemblages of the Pacific Northwest by analyzing pollen buried in lake sediments, examine fire regimes by looking at charcoal deposits left in the soil, and build tree-ring chronologies using ancient trees.

Ian the TA tries to keep track of students on a field trip to Mt Baker.	Holly coring a Mtn. Hemlock on Mt. Baker.

Energy and the Environment: Saying there is no such thing as a free lunch is a flip way of expressing the first law of thermodynamics and gets at the core of this class. How do our choices in energy production impact the global and local environment? What does the future hold in terms of human use of energy? This class emphasizes the physical principles behind energy and the effects of energy on the environment. We will explore the interdependence of world economies and environment as well as look at individual opinions and choices on energy related issues.

Neal listens to Eric at Canyon Industries explain how small hydro systems work. The blue unit on the left is part of a dual nozzle Pelton runner turbine.	Anna and Justin listen attentively as an engineer from Andgar explains how the methane from cow manure is turned into electricity at Vanderhaak Dairy.

Applications in Energy Production:NEW IN SPRING 2009! This class is designed to bring students into contact with the industries where energy is produced. This is a field-based class where we visit conventional and alternative energy facilities and learn how energy is produced and delivered to consumers. We pay particular attention to the basic physics, chemistry and biology of energy systems as well as their impacts on the environment.