Biogeochemistry

Catalog description

This course is intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and will focus on global environmental changes and the intersections between biology, geology, chemistry and environmental sciences. Throughout the semester students will explore the cycling of biologically important elements (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) in order to understand their role in shaping ecosystem processes and in the development of life on Earth. In the first half of the class, students will explore the biological/chemical processes that shape the past, present and future Earth System. In the second half of the course, students will investigate inter-related nature of these processes/reactions in regulating global biogeochemical cycles. Topics to be covered in this class include the origin of the Earth, elements and life; the Gaia Hypothesis; Geochemical tools to study Earth processes; biological and chemical processes occurring on Earth's surface; Global Climate/Environmental Change. Recommended Preparation: ( CHEM 105 or CHEM 111 ) and ( CHEM 106 or ENGR 145 ). Offered as EEPS 352 and EEPS 452 .