Department of Environmental Sciences

[Spring semesters, odd years; Fisher]. Purpose & Overview: To understand what a glacier is and how it shapes the landscape. Specific topics will include: mass balance, ice flow, hydrology, erosion, deposition, glacial landforms, landform assemblages, glacial lake processes, proglacial environments and the development of the Ohio glacial landscape. Laboratory exercises are included and a weekend field trip is mandatory.

[Spring semesters, even years; Fisher] Goals: To provide an understanding of the Quaternary Environment in both glaciated and nonglaciated areas. For the past two million years the Quaternary has been a time of rapid change on planet Earth with the rise of Homo sapiens, repeated episodes of climate change, and cyclical fluctuations in sea level, vegetation and ice sheet paleogeography. Many of the world's resources are the result of Quaternary processes, with much of the world's population reliant upon those resources and landscapes. What is in store for the future? With the majority of Earth's population living within only a few meters of sea level, it is desirable to attempt predictions of the future. For these reasons it is important to understand the events of the Quaternary for our future is most likely a continuation of the last few million years.

[Fall semesters, every year; Stierman, Krantz, Fisher].  Purpose & Overview: To integrate glacial sedimentology and stratigraphy, with near-surface geophysical methodologies. Field work will involve collecting a variety of field data using ground penetrating radar, shallow seismic and resisitivity tools, and verification will be attempted using coring and section descriptions. This data will be used to understand the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the glacial landforms and landscapes from which it was collected. Data worked up in the lab will then be presented as posters. The beginning of the semester will involve 2-3 weeks of lectures with assigned readings/seminars. The middle of the semester will involve collecting field data, and the last third of the semester will involve data analysis, and interpretation, followed by poster presentations.

[Fall, every year, Martin-Hayden] Course Objective: Introduce the fundamentals of the relationships between groundwater flow and geology with applications to water resource evaluation, utilization, chemical characterization and contaminant transport. This course is designed as the fundamental course in groundwater for students who plan to use hydrogeology in their carriers, e.g., environmental geologists, civil and environmental engineers, and environmental specialists and scientists. Syllabus

[Fall, even years; Spongberg]. Basic principles of soil formation, physics, chemistry and biology with emphasis on their influence on fluid and chemical migration and preservation of soil quality from geological, agricultural and environmental perspectives.

[Fall, odd years; Spongberg]. Chemical reactions of environmental concern. Water and soil chemistry related to contaminant fate, transport and mobility under specific environmental conditions and related to toxicity and governmental standards. Petroleum formation, migration and accumulation in the subsurface. Computer software used.

[Spring, every year; Stierman]. Technology and techniques for determining locations and elevations during field surveys; transferring field measurements to a digital database; total station, GPS and other tools used in ecological and geological research.

[Fall, every year; Spongberg]. Environmental regulations concerning hazardous waste, characteristics of hazardous waste and disposal technologies, toxicology, characteristics of organic chemicals and heavy metals, biodegradation, soil science, groundwater contamination, risk assessment, and site investigation.

[Spring, even years; Martin-Hayden].  Applications of hydrogeological monitoring, analyses, and modeling using mathematics, statistics and computers. Subjects include: well field and pump test design, sampling strategies, data presentation and analysis, and modeling fundamentals.  Syllabus

[Fall, every year; Neher].  Prerequisite: MATH 1760 or 1860 or equivalent.  Application of statistical tools to sampling and measurement in biology and testing of hypotheses. Computer lab is included.

[Spring, every year; Dwyer]. Prerequisite: EEES 2150, CHEM 1210, or consent of instructor. Topics include the diversity of microbial life and activities, the functioning of microbial ecosystems in energy and carbon flow, and in the remediation of polluted environments; the detection and control of pathogens.  Syllabus

[Spring, every year; Brown] Prerequisite: consent of instructor.  Programming the Excel spreadsheet using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). VBA programming language, controls, charts and objects; applications to geology and environmental science. Two hours lecture, two hours laboratory.

[Some years - taught on demand; Stierman] Prerequisite: college physics. Electrical resistivity, electromagnetic conductivity, magnetometer and seismic refraction are used to characterize materials concealed under the earth's surface.

[Fall, even years; Dwyer]. Prerequisite: EEES 2150, CHEM 1210, or consent of instructor. Topics include the environmental fate and transport of contaminants; their transformation and biodegradation by plants and microorganisms; bioremediation strategies including solid phase, slurry phase, and vapor-phase treatments, and natural attenuation. Syllabus

[Spring, odd years; Neher]. Underlying concepts and theory of modern soil ecology will be reviewed including spatial and temporal distributions, sampling methods, biogeochemical cycles and ecological functions of soil. Syllabus