The growing field of climate technology requires a multifaceted skill set anchored in a sound understanding of finance and policy. This course is designed for students interested in the climate economy seeking to gain functional proficiency in climate finance and policy. The course will cover four key areas of the climate economy from a finance and policy angle: electrification, carbon management, critical minerals & materials, and breakthrough technologies. The finance portion of the course will deliver a basic understanding of the financial reporting of companies within the given subsector, functionality of the relevant technologies, capital structure of relevant companies, and general business model of relevant companies. The policy portion of the course will deliver a basic understanding of the salient policies and issues facing companies in the aforementioned subsectors as well as sector wide headwinds and tailwinds catalyzed by policy. Throughout the course, students will build a financial model, business plan, and present their end deliverable in a shark tank format at the end of the course with observers drawn from the field to provide networking opportunities.

From Wall Street to rural Sub-Saharan Africa, technology innovation to aging infrastructure-this course will explore the; impact of water and consider what future leaders need to know about the dynamics of the industry, investment and business opportunities, and water-related risk; Opportunities for water are booming around the world, in large part because of existing or looming shortages and decades of underinvestment, population growth, rapid industrialization and urbanization, pollution, and climate change. Water is the only irreplaceable natural resource on the planet. Its critical role in every aspect of the global economy, could, in fact, lead it to be the next gold or the next oil; This course will address the fundamentals of the water sector from an international perspective. The future of water will be critical to our global economic, social and political development and will likely become one of the most influential factors in business decisions for the future. Furthermore, it is essential for leaders across all sectors-from pharmaceuticals to financials, energy to agriculture-to understand how to sustainably manage and account for water resources, capitalize on new technologies, mitigate water-related risks and navigate through complex and dynamic policy and regulation. The course will engage students in high-level discussion and strategy formation, challenging them to develop creative and sustainable solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing environmental, business and water industry leaders today. Interactive sessions and projects will provide an introduction to appropriately managing, valuing and investing in water assets to create sustainable and compelling business opportunities.

This course offers a broad and practical introduction to the acquisition, storage, retrieval, maintenance, use, and presentation of digital cartographic data with both image and drawing based geographic information systems (GIS) for a variety of environmental science, planning, and management applications. Its major objectives are to provide the training necessary to make productive use of at least two well known software packages, and to establish the conceptual foundation on which to build further skills and knowledge in late practice.

When we think of environmental policies in the USA, we may think of one or more laws geared to improve our nation's air, water, ecosystems, and biodiversity. However, environmental policies and policy-making comprise more than just specific laws and regulations. Making and implementing environmental policy is a process influenced by multiple political, cultural, and economic factors in addition to scientific factors, all of which impact the ability of policies to be effective, that is, to actually improve the environment. In this course, we develop a framework to analyze the effectiveness of the social actors, process and outcomes of environmental policy-making. We ask questions such as: How do policy makers define environmental problems and solutions? Who are the social actors involved in the process? How are policies created and negotiated? What underlying assumptions and realities about the roles of government and society shape policy instruments and design? Are science and risk accurate or distorted? How are social and environmental justice intertwined? To answer these complex questions, we contextualize and critically analyze policies to determine how both government and society impact on regulatory approaches. We study the institutions involved and examine social and ecological outcomes of environmental policies. We also discuss contemporary issues and policy situations that arise throughout the course of the semester, and comment on them in a class blog. Finally, students will select an environmental issue and formulate a policy proposal to recommend to decisionmakers.

The course focuses on the natural history of different wetland types including climate, geology, and,hydrology factors that influence wetland development Associated soil, vegetation, and wildlife characteristics and key ecological processes will be covered as well. Lectures will be supplemented with weekend wetland types, ranging from tidal salt marshes to non-tidal marshes, swamps, and glacial bogs in order to provide field experience in wetland identification, characterization, and functional assessment. Outside speakers will discuss issues in wetland seed bank ecology, federal regulation, and mitigation. Students will present a short paper on the ecology of a wetland animal and a longer term paper on a selected wetland topic. Readings from the text, assorted journal papers, government technical documents, and book excerpts will provide a broad overview of the multifaceted field of wetland study.

This course will focus on how food is produced around the globe and inputs required to ensure food security. Topics explored include: Integrated Pest Management, Precision Agriculture, Product Stewardship, Biodiversity, Biologicals, Organics and Synthetic Products, GMOs, Sustainable Development Goals, Regulations, Stakeholders (Growers, NGOs, consumers, etc.), and Food waste.

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

This interdisciplinary course exposes students to the three dimensions of sustainable development -environmental, economic, and social- through an examination of three products -peyote, coca, and coffee- that are crucial in shaping modern identity in areas of Latin America. The course integrates this analysis of sustainable development in relation to cultural sustainability and cultural practices associated with peyote, coca, and coffee and their rich, traditional heritage and place in literature, film, and the arts. This is an upper level seminar open to majors and minors of Spanish and those who have completed Pre-requiste SPAN 1800 or SPAN 1900 or permission of the Undergraduate Chair.

This course will provide an overview of the cross-disciplinary fields of civil engineering, environmental sciences, urban hydrology, landscape architecture, green building, public outreach and politics. Students will be expected to conduct field investigations, review scientific data and create indicator reports, working with stakeholders and presenting the results at an annual symposium. There is no metaphor like water itself to describe the cumulative effects of our practices, with every upstream action having an impact downstream. In our urban environment, too often we find degraded streams filled with trash, silt, weeds and dilapidated structures. The water may look clean, but is it? We blame others, but the condition of the creeks is directly related to how we manage our water resources and our land. In cities, these resources are often our homes, our streets and our communities. This course will define the current issues of the urban ecosystem and how we move toward managing this system in a sustainable manner. We will gain an understanding of the dynamic, reciprocal relationship between practices in an watershed and its waterfront. Topics discussed include: drinking water quality and protection, green infrastructure, urban impacts of climate change, watershed monitoring, public education, creating strategies and more.

Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, impaired hearing, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death. Children up to the age of six are especially at risk because of their developing systems; they often ingest lead chips and dust while playing in their home and yards. In ENVS 1615, Penn undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of lead poisoning, the pathways of exposure, and methods for community outreach and education. Penn students collaborate with middle school and high school teachers in West Philadelphia to engage middle school children in exercises that apply environmental research relating to lead poisoning to their homes and neighborhoods.