Geohazards & Natural Disasters

Catalog description

This course will focus on the physical processes that create environmental hazards (e.g. earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes), the primary controls on their frequency and intensity, and how human decision-making, including economic, political, and cultural forces, can influence the magnitude of impact when they inevitably occur. Hands-on labs familiarize students with the scientific method as well as the real-world tools that scientists apply to risk analysis and hazard mitigation. Particular attention is paid to how physical data are presented and interpreted. In-class discussions focus on case studies from around the world to introduce students to a wide range of hazard scenarios, and demonstrate how the effects of various hazards differ in the developing and developed world. This course consists of two hours of lecture and two hours of lab each week.