Teaching
Current courses at Colorado College
I am on sabbatical in 2021-22, and will update my offerings for 2022-23 when the course grid has been finalized. Stay tuned!
EV128: Introduction to Global Climate Change
This course provides an introduction to climate science and global climate change. We cover the fundamentals of the Earth-atmosphere system, natural climate variability and historical climate change, evidence for modern climate change, projections for future climate, and policy options for responding to climate change. This course includes both qualitative and quantitative activities designed to enhance students’ understanding of Earth’s climate, how it has changed in the past, and how it may change in the future. A key objective of the course is to improve the students’ “climate science literacy”, which is the understanding of their influence on climate and climate’s influence on society. At the end of this course, students are able to understand and discuss the scientific concepts related to Earth’s climate system; historic and modern climate change, and evidence that supports our understanding of it; how scientists make predictions of future climates; and recent climate policies and how climate change is regulated at the international level. (2020-21 offerings: Block 3)
EV212: Energy – Environmental Thermodynamics and Energetics
Energy is a concept that is central to all the sciences and to many of the environmental issues facing us today. In this course we study this idea and its ramifications. We explore the physics and chemistry of energy, focusing on the laws of thermodynamics as well as the chemical kinetics and equilibrium needed to understand chemical systems as a means of energy storage. We look at how these laws apply to the generation and use of energy in contemporary society. We also examine options for converting to renewable energies in various cities through block-long research projects, such as conducting a home energy audit and retrofit or developing an alternative energy portfolio for cities around the world. (2020-21 offerings: Blocks 4)
EV333: Atmospheric Dynamics
This course investigates the complexities of Earth’s dynamic atmosphere, including its structure and properties as well as the transfer of energy and matter within it. We apply the laws of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy toward understanding the Earth’s atmosphere as a dynamic, compressible fluid (gas) in constant motion. Using our own observations along with physical principles and meteorological models, we also learn to “read” the atmosphere and describe its behavior over different spatial scales. As such, while developing a quantitative understanding of atmospheric motion and properties, we simultaneously build practical knowledge of the meteorological systems that impact our daily lives. (2020-21 offerings: Block 5)
EV421: Environmental Synthesis
This is an interdisciplinary course for both Environmental Science and Environmental Studies senior students that explores a pressing environmental issue. In Spring 2021 our theme was: Environmental Resilience and Justice in 2021: Lessons Learned and Future Directions. We reflected on recent events impacting the U.S. and the world – the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, racial injustices, and more – and considered the ways in which they informed or highlighted certain environmental issues. While these events continue to have devastating impacts, they also offer an opportunity for learning, growth, and change. Using the foundations students built throughout their time at Colorado College, they considered implications of these events for broad concepts including equity and environmental justice, and examined how they could reframe engagement with more focused themes, such as air quality, public health, energy infrastructure, land use planning, and the utilization of public spaces. Students considered natural and social science perspectives to reflect on present and potential environmental challenges and, in turn, sought to inform planning in the local urban environment within Colorado Springs.
EV431: Atmospheric Chemistry
The composition of Earth’s atmosphere is a central facet of life on this planet. It determines the transfer of radiation to and from Earth’s surface, impacting global temperatures as well as physical and biological processes. It determines the air that we and other species breathe, as well as the appearance and visibility of the sky. It is ever-changing due to human activity, and our emissions to it continue to be the subject of environmental policies and regulations. In this course we study he chemical and physical processes controlling the spatial and temporal distributions of atmospheric constituents in the stratosphere and troposphere, and we apply these concepts toward the characterization of atmospheric composition. (Not offered in 2020-21).
