Water for People and Nature

Catalog description

This course addresses the pressing questions, “How much water do we need, and how do we balance conflicting demands for this critical resource?” We will examine the physical and biological science behind the various stages of the water cycle through lectures and readings, and we will learn about watershed hydrology and the science of environmental flows through online simulations. We will analyze anthropogenic impacts on water resources through participation in a hypothesis-driven experiment testing the influence of stressors on living stream mesocosms, and we will read and discuss local examples of water resource challenges and solutions. We will reflect on our own use of water through recording a water use diary and calculating our water footprint. This course affords students the ability to critically examine and evaluate the principles of the scientific method, model construction, and use the scientific method to explain natural experiences and phenomena.