Welcome to ENVR 1400 & 1401

Foundations in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences!

 

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Course Schedule

  

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SYLLABUS 

Course description

This course focuses on the complex array of topics that collectively form the discipline of environmental and sustainability sciences. Students will be presented with a series of lectures and case studies focused on the problems facing today’s natural, human-managed and coupled human/natural ecosystems. The course will quantitatively integrate across the underlying science and the human dimensions of environmental challenges. These include an understanding of the basic chemistry, physics and ecology of environmental change and how this science is informed and altered by culture, politics, worldviews, ethics, and economics. Students will learn to use quantitative techniques to analyze data as a means of exploring relationships among societal and ecological drivers affecting economic, ecological and socioeconomic stability.  Students will learn how the scientific method is used to separate facts and data from opinion, and will apply these methods to explore the causes and solutions to global climate change and other environmental challenges. Throughout the course students will develop an understanding of why environmental challenges are almost always inherently “wicked problems” and why “systems thinking” that includes social, ecological, and economic aspects of environmental and sustainability sciences are critical to finding solutions.

 

Course Objectives & Learning outcomes

At the end of this course students will be able to:

• Identify the breadth of fields that are necessary to tackle the challenges facing the global environment.
• Quantitatively describe the chemical, physical, and ecological underpinnings of important environmental challenges.
• Assess the various perspectives held on environmental challenges and recommend actions to counter misperception and move toward solutions.

Office Hours (Ben)

In person

• Mondays 12-2pm
• 032 Holmes Hall
  
  • Basement, MES offices

By appointment

• I'm more than happy to schedule a time to meet up in-person or over zoom if you can't make normal office ours or for any other reason. Send me an email to schedule a meeting.

 

 

Instructors

ENVR 1400 (lecture) Dr. Ben Dittbrenner                    dittbrenner@northeastern.edu  I am an aquatic ecologist and focus on novel approaches to reducing the effects of climate change on aquatic systems and bolstering ecological resilience in stream and wetland communities. As part of this work I relocate beaver into vacant systems to identify the effect that they have on aquatic systems. You will learn a lot more about beaver than you had ever dreamed during the duration of this course.
ENVR 1401 (lab)  Brian Donnelly I am a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Marine and Environmental Science department. My research focuses on how coastal microbial communities respond to human- and climate-driven environmental change such as sea-level rise and nutrient enrichment and how these microbial communities recover once environmental pressure is alleviated. I also study the function of the microbial communities in terms of important elemental cycles, specifically carbon and nitrogen, as they underlie the major ecosystem functions of tidal wetlands. donnelly.b@northeastern.edu
ENVR 1401 (Lab) Joshua Nooij I am a second year Environmental Science and Policy Graduate Student at the faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences. My main interest is in ecological restoration and enhancing sustainability science education. I currently work in Dr. Helmuth's lab. This past summer I worked with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management on the Shellfish Management Plan. nooij.j@northeastern.edu

 

 

Structure of Course

The course is structured around paired lecture and lab discussion sessions.

Lectures

During each of the two weekly lectures, we will review the reading through a short reading quiz, present an overview of the week's materials, and work in small groups to tackle a problem set. Students are expected to have read the assigned chapter before class and the reading quiz administered at the start of each class will reinforce this.

Labs

During labs, we will work in small groups to discuss and unwrap environmental issues presented in a series of case studies. These case studies will mirror and enhance what you've been learning in the lecture portion of this course. We will also use this time to learn how to find, read, and analyze scientific, peer-reviewed literature, a skill that will come in handy as you progress through your time at Northeastern. You will also use these new-found skills in your final projects where, in groups, you will research an environmental issue and its potential solutions.

 

Textbook (required)

• Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions 6^th Edition by McKinner, Schoch, Yonavjak and Mincy. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2019.

Course materials & accessibility

• All course materials will be made available electronically through canvas. Some materials are linked or embedded through Google Docs. Some international students may have difficulty accessing some of these materials if their home country restricts Google products. If you find this to be the case for you, please try accessing course material through Northeastern's VPN.

• Information on accessing and using the Northeastern VPN can be found here.

 

Grading Criteria

• Cumulative grades will be posted as soon as assignments are graded.
• Final projects must be turned in for students to pass the course. 
• These grading schemes are subject to minor changes.
• Grades will be assigned according to Northeastern University's grading policy. Percent scores will be transformed to point scores according to a linear regression of the interval (0.7, 4.0) on the interval (51%, 96%), where the minimum passing score is 0.7 (51%), and 96% or above is a 4.0, listed in the following grid:

 

     

Grading Scale:

Minimum letter grades are guaranteed for the following percentage points (but an upward curve is always possible):

                                    B+       87%                 C+       77%                 D+       67%

A         94%                 B         84%                 C         74%                 D         64%

A-        90%                 B-        80%                 C-        70%                 D-        60%

 

Exams are mixed format and draw from the lecture material and assigned readings. The Final Exam will be semi-cumulative, in that 25% of the questions will reflect material covered in the first ¾ of the class.

 

Missed Exams & Quizzes: There will be no make ups for missed exams, except in the case of a emergency (which is defined here as something which generates a doctor's note, police report, or federally-declared national disasaster). If you miss an exam due to an emergency, please contact me immediately. If you know that you will miss an exam due to a university-related activity you must let me know at least two weeks prior to the exam.

 

Students are expected to attend all lectures, and attendance will be taken.

Getting Help and Contacting Us               Please contact Ben, Brian, or Joshua for clarification on any questions you might have.    If you message us via Canvas, it is possible that we won't see it and we will never respond.  Please email us at the addresses above.

 

 

 

Assignments & Late Policy                      

• All assignments are accessed and submitted on-line. Assignments must be submitted by precisely on the due date. As assignments, quizzes, and other deliverables will be all submitted directly through canvas, no wiggle room will be given and canvas will restrict late submissions.  Any submission after the deadline will be considered a late assignment. 
• Each student is permitted to submit one late assignment without penalty as long as it is submitted within 7 days of the original due date.
• After the first forgiven late assignment, any other late assignments are worth 50% of their original point value as long as it is submitted within 7 days of the original due date. The reason for this is that the skills in assignments build on each other and failure to complete one will detract from subsequent work. 
• No assignments are accepted beyond 7 days of their due date. Any assignment or other deliverable missing or submitted after 7 days will be given an automatic zero.

          

 

Academic Honesty                            You are encouraged to work together and discuss assignment questions as well as methodologies for solving the problems with classmates. Unless stated otherwise, feel free to work in groups or alone as you please in order to come up with a methodology for solving the problems. HOWEVER The homework that you submit must be done solely by you. Make sure that you have done the calculations and analysis, that you have written the answers, that you have made the maps, and that the answers are in your own words and works.  Plagiarism is a serious offense at the Northeastern University. It will not be tolerated and will be treated as a serious offense that can lead to dire consequences, including expulsion. Any obvious occurrences of cheating will be immediately forwarded to appropriate authorities for disciplinary action. If you are uncertain as to what plagiarism is (and is not), please carefully review NU policies.

 

Official Class Mascots

Castor canadensis North American Beaver

Reasonable Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Northeastern University is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. Students who have disabilities may wish to consult the Disability Resource Center (http://www.northeastern.edu/drc/getting-started-with-the-drc) for aid with resources and accommodation. Those who wish to receive academic services and accommodations must present their accommodation letters from the DRC at the beginning of the semester so that accommodations can be arranged in a timely manner.  Please come to me with any questions or concerns - I want to ensure that your disability is not an obstacle in excelling in this class.

 

Title IX

The University strictly prohibits sex or gender discrimination in all university programs and activities. Information on how to report an incident of such discrimination (which includes sexual harassment and sexual assault) is located at http://www.northeastern.edu/titleix. Tutoring and other resources: The University and the College operate many free centers in support of student learning. The University operates a College Reading and Learning Association certified peer-tutoring center (see URL: http://www.northeastern.edu/csastutoring/ for more information).

 

Students are required to take part in the TRACE evaluations. 

 

My take on Inclusion and Diversity

I value all students regardless of their background, country of origin, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability status, and am committed to providing a climate of excellence and inclusiveness within all aspects of the course. If there are aspects of your culture or identity that you would like to share with me as they relate to your success in this class, I would be happy to meet to discuss. Also, if you have any concerns in this area or are facing any special issues or challenges, I encourage you to discuss the matter with me as you feel comfortable, with assurance of full confidentiality (only exception being mandatory reporting of NU Academic Integrity Policy violations and Title IX sex and gender discrimination).

Disability accommodations

Formal and Informal Accommodations: I am committed to assisting students requiring special accommodations for circumstances that are registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). If you have an accommodation letter from the DRC, please give it to me as early as possible in the semester or as soon as you receive the letter.

If you are not formally registered with the DRC and have anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, or other issues that affect your ability to fully participate and learn in this class, I encourage you to check in with me as you feel comfortable so that we can figure out what kind of support you need to thrive in this class.

 

Basic Needs Security

Any student who has difficulty affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day, or who lacks a safe and stable place to live, and believes this may affect their performance in the course, is urged to contact We Care (https://studentlife.northeastern.edu/we-care/) for support. Furthermore, please notify me if you are comfortable in doing so. This will enable me to provide any resources that I may possess to assist you.