Newspapers, magazines, professional journals and media outlets throughout the world every day contain stories concerning the impacts of pollution on the environment, wildlife and public health. Environmental laws are the primary tools that governments utilize to prevent, minimize and mitigate harmful impacts from such pollution. Environmental professionals (e.g., consultants, planners, engineers, inspectors, compliance officers, NGO representatives, policymakers) play a central role in the implementation and ultimate success or failure of these laws. This survey course presents environmental law in a new, accessible and thought-provoking manner. It focuses on the role of environmental professionals in the regulatory process and is designed to provide environmental professionals with a foundation that will enable them to better serve the interest of their clients, work productively with environmental attorneys and effectively represent individuals and businesses before governmental regulators. The practical aspects of environmental law will be addressed with the use of case studies. A variety of focus topics will be explored, including, but not limited to: regulation of PFAS; environmental justice; and the impact on recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on environmental protection. A number of important federal environmental statutes will be studied: Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; CERCLA; RCRA; NEPA; and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Finally, students will read the book “A Civil Action” which will be the focus of class discussions about the interactions between environmental professionals, victims of environmental pollution, environmental attorneys and the legal system.

This course explores the nature and use of digital geographic information systems (GIS) for the analysis and synthesis of spatial patterns and processes through 'cartographic modeling'. Cartographic modeling is a general but well defined methodology that can be used to address a wide variety of analytical mapping applications in a clear and consistent manner. It does so by decomposing both data and data-processing tasks into elemental components that can then be recomposed with relative ease and with great flexibility.

A detailed, comprehensive investigation of selected environmental problems. This is the first course taken by students entering the Master of Environmental Studies Program.

Water, the “universal solvent”, is a miraculous substance that makes Earth unique
in the solar system and, possibly, the galaxy. This course will dive into the
wonderous physical and chemical properties of water from the micro (water
properties and composition) to macro (global water resources) scale and highlight
its role in sculpting almost every facet of Earth’s environment. Water will be
examined within a scientific framework, from wicked water problems to
wonderous water bodies to the paradox of an abundant yet incredibly precious
resource. We will study the vital role of water in life, its movement across around
our planet, its part in the growth (and downfall) of civilizations, and the ways in
which humans are having profound impacts on all aspects of the water cycle. We
will also look at how water interacts with other Earth systems, use topical case
studies to examine water issues in the Anthropocene and examine what lies in
store for water quality and availability in the twenty-first century during an era of
rapid environmental change. Assignments will include class presentations, an
opinion piece, and a review article for a leading journal. This course will include a
local field trip.

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 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.

This course, through the analysis of many different environmental cases studies, aims to introduce students to myriad earth and environmental issues—understanding how humans interact, affect and are influenced by our environment—as well as giving students an introduction to how complex cases are analyzed and what goes into decision-making at the individual, group, state, federal and global levels. The class analyzes 1-2 case studies each week, beginning with at-home preparatory assignments for each class, followed by in-class activities such as debates, drafting action plans, role-playing and group decision-making simulations. Each student will also research and develop a case study of their own, including a lesson plan for how the case study would be taught to a later college class.

Survey of the physical, chemical and biological properties of freshwater ecosystems, both riverine and lentic, natural and polluted.

The destruction of the world's forests through wild fires, deforestation, and global heating threatens planetary bio-diversity and may even, as a 2020 shows, trigger civilizational collapse. Can the humanities help us think differently about the forest? At the same time that forests of the world are in crisis, the "rights of nature" movement is making progress in forcing courts to acknowledge the legal "personhood" of forests and other ecosystems. The stories that humans have told and continue to tell about forests are a source for the imaginative and cultural content of that claim. At a time when humans seem unable to curb the destructive practices that place themselves, biodiversity, and forests at risk, the humanities give us access to a record of the complex inter-relationship between forests and humanity. Forest Worlds serves as an introduction to the environmental humanities. The environmental humanities offer a perspective on the climate emergency and the human dimension of climate change that are typically not part of the study of climate science or climate policy. Students receive instruction in the methods of the humanities - cultural analysis and interpretation of literature and film - in relation to texts that illuminate patterns of human behavior, thought, and affect with regard to living in and with nature.

This course introduces students to ecocritical literature. It is an exploration of how language and literature engages with and shapes our relations to and our understandings of the natural world. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.