An introduction to processes and forces that form the surface and the interior of the Earth. Topics include, changes in climate, the history of life, as well as earth resources and their uses. Field trips required.

Overnight field trips required Aug 20-21, 2020 and Aug 24-25, 2020. Additional fees apply. Healthy resilient communities are successful outcomes of built places. This course is designed for MES students to build area expertise through lectures, on-site visits and real time simulations. Students will travel to New York City and Washington DC to learn about these topics and observe current practices first hand.

We are entering an era of growing water infrastructure failures and remaining "legacy" water pollution challenges. Fortunately, a network of global water CEOs from water utilities, industry and engineering consulting are leading the water sector towards innovative change. They are finding solutions at the intersection of science, engineering/technology and policy and paving the path forward for our water industry and our global water resources. This short course is led by the former CEO of Philadelphia Water and the Chair of the Leading Utilities of the World Network. Professor of Practice Howard Neukrug will lead a series of discussions on: (1) a brief history of water infrastructure systems in the US and the paradox of how our water resources have been used, valued, and priced over time; (2) a specific focus on the past 50 years of Philadelphia's efforts to meet the challenges of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act through leadership in the legislative, regulatory, management, and policy and research arenas of the water business; and (3) personal interviews with key water leaders on their greatest challenges past and future and how they are managing change and innovation towards more sustainable water systems in the 21st century.

Industrial Ecology is the multidisciplinary study of industrial systems and economic activities and their links to natural systems. The word "industrial" represents how humans use natural resources in the production of goods and services. "Ecology" refers to the concept that our industrial systems need to operate within sustainable natural ecosystems. The application of industrial ecology requires a movement of industrial processes from open loop business processes, where resource and capital investments move through the system to create products and waste, to a closed loop system where wastes (aka by-products) become inputs for new processes. This approach will allow to move to a circular economy. The implementation of industrial ecology, which aligns business operations with the natural cycle, creates the opportunity for a circular economy and has the potential for significant benefit for industry as well as for the long term viability of the human population and the natural ecosystem. Prerequisite: Approval from the instructor if course prerequisites not met.

This course will connect students with thought leaders and experts working to solve the critical water challenges of the 21st century. Students will go behind the scenes of the "water business" and meet with some of the nation's leading professionals and practitioners through 3 days of site visits to some of the world's greatest public water systems - Philadelphia, NYC and Washington, DC and to the headquarters of several of our nation's most innovative private water companies - Aqua American, American Water and Suez Water. These professionals and practitioners are invested in meeting today's water challenges which include delivering potable drinking water, managing rainwater/flooding, treating wastewater and protecting and enhancing our rivers and streams. Major challenges and issues to be investigated throughout the course include: climate impact on our water supplies and rivers; how we are adapting our natural and anthropogenic systems to make them more resilient and sustainable; emerging contaminants and technologies to monitor and treat these contaminants; the conflict between managing for drought and flood; public versus private business models; and equity, justice and the very value of water. Readings are required prior to the start of the course with a report and presentation as a wrap-up. Professor Neukrug, former Water Commissioner and CEO of Philadelphia Water will be available for pre-course discussions to ensure students are ready to jump into the water on day 1 of the class.

This course will evaluate the multiple factors that must function to ensure the sustainability of estuaries of national significance. Since the beginning of the environmental movement in the 1960s, we have attempted to protect and improve our watersheds and estuaries through a series of environmental laws, but we learned over the last three decades that regulatory-based "command & control" approaches may have achieved their limits of success, and we now need to think more holistically in order to achieve the Clean Water Act goal of "fishable and swimmable" waters. In this course we will explore the new collaborative strategies and partnerships, which are available, and how social, economic and cultural factors are equally important as regulation to achieve estuary restoration. The National Estuary Program (NEP) was established in 1987 by amendments to the Clean Water Act (Section 320) to identify, restore and protect estuaries along the coasts of the U.S. Unlike traditional regulatory approaches to environmental protection, the NEP targets a broad range of issues and engages local communities in the process. The program focuses not just on improving water quality in an estuary, but on maintaining the integrity of the whole system - its chemical, physical, and biological properties, as well as its economic, recreational, and aesthetic. This course will examine the twenty estuaries of national significance, including the Chesapeake and the Delaware Bays, in an effort to define the condition of estuaries in the US and what strategies can be utilized to attain water quality and habitat goals while achieving important socioeconomic needs of the estuary's diverse stakeholders. You will examine the history of estuary management, the factors that stress water quality and habitat, and what strategies are commonly used to reduce risks while safeguarding the environment and public health.

Over the course of six Sunday field trips, we will travel from the barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean in southern New Jersey to the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, visiting representative sites of the diverse landscapes in the region along the way. At each site we will study and consider interactions between geology, topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and disturbance. Students will summarize field trip data in a weekly site report. Evening class meetings will provide the opportunity to review field trips and reports and preview upcoming trips. Six all-day Sunday field trips are required.

This course will provide an understanding of the Earth's climate system and how and why this has changed through time. The emphasis will be placed on spatial and temporal scales in the modern system while exploring the evidence for past change, possible mechanisms to explain these changes and the implications of these changes to past, present and future global climate. Students will learn to reconstruct the history and scales of climate change through the use of proxies; understand the mechanisms that act to drive climate change; show and understanding of the long-term natural climate variability on a global and regional scale; understand the importance of natural environmental change, against which to assess human impacts, recent climate change and issues of future environmental change.

Using the regional geology as a framework for comparison, this online course aims to 1) introduce the varied ecosystems of the region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains, 2) provide an approach to site analysis that examines connections between climate, geology, topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic, and 3) investigate restoration and management efforts to build resilience in a changing climate. We will study natural and modified areas representative of regional physiographic provinces (areas of similar geology and topography) to better understand landscape patterns and processes as well as case studies of restoration and management projects. Students will complete weekly assignments and a research project involving a presentation and paper on a topic of interest. *This is an online course*+

Over the course of six Sunday field trips, we will travel from the barrier islands along the Atlantic Ocean in southern New Jersey to the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, visiting representative sites of the diverse landscapes in the region along the way. At each site we will study and consider interactions between geology, topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and disturbance. Students will summarize field trip data in a weekly site report. Evening class meetings will provide the opportunity to review field trips and reports and preview upcoming trips. Six all-day Sunday field trips are required.