How much have humans altered the planet they live on? Beyond climate change, humans have altered the Earth's land, oceans and biosphere to such an extent that the concept of a new geologic epoch defined by the action of humans is seriously debated. This seminar will examine the origins of the Anthropocene, the ways in which humans have altered Earth systems, whether or not these alterations warrant a new geologic designation, and what the future potentially holds for both humans and the planet.

This is an ABCS course designed to provide the student with an understanding of air pollution at the local, regional and global levels. The nature, composition, and properties of air pollutants in the atmosphere will also be studied. The course will focus on Philadelphia's air quality and how air pollutants have an adverse effect on the health of the residents. The recent designation by IARC of Air Pollution as a known carcinogen will be explored. How the community is exposed to air pollutants with consideration of vulnerable populations will be considered. Through a partnership with Philadelphia Air Management Service (AMS) agency the science of air monitoring and trends over time will be explored. Philadelphia's current non-attainment status for PM2.5. and ozone will be studied. Philadelphia's current initiatives to improvethe air quality of the city will be discussed. Students will learn to measure PM2.5 in outdoor and indoor settings and develop community-based outreach tools to effectively inform the community of Philadelphia regarding air pollution. The outreach tools developed by students may be presentations, written materials, apps, websites or other strategies for enhancing environmental health literacy of the community. A project based approach will be used to include student monitoring of area schools, school bus routes, and the community at large. The data collected will be presented to students in the partner elementary school in West Philadelphia . Upon completion of this course, students should expect to have attained a broad understanding of and familiarity with the sources, fate, and the environmental impacts and health effects of air pollutants.

This course is taught by the former Philadelphia Water Commissioner, the CEO of a $1 billion water, wastewater and stormwater utility. The objective of the course is to expose the student to the inner workings and management of the US water industry and the transformation of this industry to a 21st-century sustainable utility model. Influences from new technologies and aging infrastructure, acceptable levels of risk, public and private sector competition, climate change, the bottled water industry, resource recovery, rates and affordability and other issues will be investigated.
The context of the class discussions will center on how politics, vision and leadership are used to create and implement change in a traditional utility structure. The role of environmentalism, infrastructure financing, water/wastewater treatment facility operations, public affairs and media, and designing a capital improvement program are examples of other topic areas.

How do government policy-makers make decisions about potential threats to human health and the environment in the face of scientific uncertainty? The course develops the concept of Risk Assessment from the publication of the 1983 National Research Council (NRC) report commonly known as the "Red Book" which was used to rank the initial hazardous waste sites under the Superfund program. Using a variety of teaching tools, including lectures, panel discussions, and case studies, the course examines how public policy decisions regarding environmental risk are made and how effective those decisions are at reducing risks to affected populations. The course focuses on the complex interaction of science, economics, politics, laws, and regulations in dealing with environmental and public health risks. The course will begin with a review of the policy process and methods used in evaluating human health and environmental risks, including the traditional steps in the risk assessment process, including quantitative and qualitative aspects of hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The course will then focus on how scientific uncertainty, risk perceptions, socio-economic disparities, risk communication, and politics influence environmental risk-based decision-making. Issues such as special populations (e.g., children, elderly, immune-compromised, woman of pregnancy age, etc.) must be considered when developing risk reduction strategies. The use of the "precautionary principle" will be discussed in the context of different types of environmental stressors (e.g., pesticides, chemicals, climate change, air pollution, water quality, and land use) and how this important controversial principle is applied differently in contrasting national and European risk management policies.

This course is designed to introduce non-attorney, environmental professionals to the field of environmental law, policy and regulation. This is a survey course with a focus on the federal environmental regulatory system. General regulatory, enforcement and compliance assistance concepts will be presented and discussed in depth. Lectures will provide students with an introduction to and understanding of the primary components of a number of federal environmental statutes, including: Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; CERCLA; NEPA; EPCRA; RCRA; and the Safe Drinking Water Act. The interplay between federal and state environmental laws and requirements will also be discussed. A recurring theme will be the role that the environmental professional plays as part of the interaction between governmental regulators and members of the regulated community. Case studies will be presented to address the practical implications that environmental legal requirements have on the regulated community. The class will explore current topics, such as climate change regulation; federalism issues; regulation of e-waste; safe drinking water issues, and the jurisdiction of federal clean water protection efforts. Students also will develop important career tools including: learning how to testify effectively as an expert witness in administrative and judicial proceedings; and preparing persuasive expert reports.

Puerto Rico has a varied climate, geology, and topography that combine with periodic disturbance from earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes, floods, and the occasional tsunami (such as 1918 Puerto Rico Tsunami) to produce a rich diversity of ecological systems (see Miller and Lugo, 2009). Human use of the island’s mineral and biological resources together with agricultural production, military operations, industrial, commercial, and residential development and tourism have greatly reduced the area of intact systems and put pressure on surviving remnants. Fortunately, there are protected natural areas (see map by Gould et al., 2011) that provide the opportunity to observe and come to understand important ecological patterns and processes of tropical areas.
The course will include regular classes leading up to the trip over spring break during which we will review the literature and learn from Penn researchers about the ecological systems of the island, especially in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (see Harris et al., 2012). Students will work collaboratively on a specific system or location that we will visit and present to the class before we leave. Upon our return, students will work individually on a research topic of interest related to the field trip and present findings and analysis in class and in a paper

This course is a hands-on introduction to the concepts and capabilities of geographic information systems (GIS). Students will develop the skills necessary for carrying out basic GIS projects and for advanced GIS coursework. The class will focus on a broad range of functional and practical applications,ranging from environmental science and planning to land use history, social demography, and public health. By the end of the course, students will be able to find, organize, map, and analyze data using both vector (i.e. drawing-based) and raster (i.e. image-based) GIS tools, while developing an appreciation for basic cartographic principles relating to map presentation. This course fulfills the spatial analysis requirement for ENVS and EASC Majors. Previous experience in the use of GIS is not required.

An introduction to the chemistry of the earth's atmosphere. Covers evolution of the earth's atmosphere, its physical and chemical structure, its natural chemical composition and oxidative properties, and human impacts, including photochemistry, and aerosols; stratospheric ozone loss, tropospheric pollution; climate change, and acidic deposition. Chemistry in the atmosphere of other planets in our solar system will be covered.

This course will use the weekly EES seminar series to survey historic breakthrogh papers or topics in the earth sciences, as well as modern papers - written by the seminar speakers - that often put the classics in perspective. Graduate students (Ph.D. only) in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science will engage in the material through reading, presentation, and discussion. The course has several goals. (1.) To engender an understanding and appreciation of major breakthroughs in our field. (2.) To develop skills in presenting and discussing scientific results. And (3.) to refine students' understanding of what constitutes great science.

The culmination of the Earth Science major. Students, while working with an advisor in their concentration, conduct research and write a thesis.