Bernice Rosenzweig

Climate change will be the defining issue of the coming decades. It threatens the ecosystems and infrastructure that human society relies upon and will impact most aspects of the global economy, policymaking, and day-to-day life. This First-Year Studies course will provide the basic foundation in earth systems and climate science needed for students who are interested in careers in environmental science, policy, law, or advocacy. It will also be valuable for students who are concerned about how climate change will impact their communities and their careers in other fields. In the early fall, students will participate in Climate Week New York City events, where they will learn about local climate-change issues along with international government and private-sector efforts to address climate change. During the rest of the fall semester, we will draw on fundamental concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science to learn about human-caused global warming and its context in the more than four billion-year history of our planet. For their first conference project, students will learn about climate-change indicators and will present their research on an indicator of their choice at the college poster symposium. In the spring, we’ll build upon this foundation to investigate the linkages among global climate, natural ecosystems, and human society. We will explore topics such as biodiversity, food and agriculture, adapting to climate-change impacts, and the energy-systems transition needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. We will also visit the Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB) to learn about climate change and the Hudson River Estuary. For their spring conference project, students will learn to conduct a scientific literature review and will write a research paper on the climate-change process or on an issue in which they’re most interested. Readings for the course will primarily be from an earth-science textbook but will also include scientific research studies, technical reports, and essays on climate change and society. There will also be four written assignments each semester and in-class quizzes to reinforce the concepts that we learn in class. This seminar will alternate biweekly one-on-one conferences with biweekly small-group workshops on climate data analysis, technical writing, the use of science to inform policy and advocacy, and communicating science.

Natural hazards are earth-system processes that can harm humans and the ecosystems on which we rely; these hazards include a wide variety of phenomena, including volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, heat waves, and hurricanes. The terms “natural hazard” and “disaster” are often used interchangeably, and many examples of natural hazards have resulted in disastrous loss of life, socioeconomic disruption, and radical transformation of natural ecosystems. Through improved understanding of these phenomena, however, we can develop strategies to better prepare for and respond to natural hazards and mitigate harm. In this course, we will use case studies of natural-hazard events to explore their underlying earth-system processes—covering topics such as plate tectonics, mass wasting, weather, and climate—along with the social and infrastructure factors that determined their impact on people. We will also discuss related topics—such as probability, risk, and environmental justice—and the direct and indirect ways that different types of natural hazards will be exacerbated by global climate change. Students will attend one weekly lecture and one weekly group conference, where we will discuss scientific papers and explore data on natural hazards processes and case studies. This lecture will also participate in the collaborative interludes and other programs of the Sarah Lawrence Interdisciplinary Collaborative on the Environment (SLICE) Mellon course cluster.

Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge currently facing humanity. If allowed to continue unabated, its future impacts will be catastrophic for both natural ecosystems and human society. But while some climate change is “locked in” due to past greenhouse gas emissions, there is still time to develop infrastructure systems and environmental management policies to avoid many of the worst potential impacts. In this course, we will explore the concept of “ecological resilience” and how it can be applied to environmental management challenges such as climate change. We will learn about how natural and social scientists collaborate to develop projections of climate-changed futures, along with the science underlying climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies. This course will meet as a weekly lecture with a weekly group conference. During group conference, students will have the opportunity to work together on a “visioning” project to develop a plausible scenario of a hopeful, climate-resilient future.

The global environmental movement of the past half-century coincided with a technological revolution that has allowed us to collect many types of new data about our planet. From remote data generated by satellites, to data generated by sensors operating under harsh environmental conditions, to crowdsourced observations submitted by the general public, environmental scientists now have access to a wealth of new information that can be used to better understand Earth systems and the ways that human activities impact our environment. In this seminar, we will explore a variety of types and formats of environmental data and their applications. Participating students will develop a foundation in scientific computing and data visualization using SciPy, a collection of open-source software packages in Python. We will also consider broader issues when using data in environmental science, including privacy, accessibility, communicating uncertainty, and ethics. Through conference work, students will design and implement an environmental data-analysis project focused on a topic of their choice.

Climate change will be the defining issue of the coming decades. Climate change threatens the ecosystems and infrastructure that human society relies upon and will impact most aspects of the global economy, policymaking, and day-to-day life. This FYS course will provide the basic foundation in earth system science needed to understand why the planet is warming, drawing on fundamental concepts of physics, chemistry, and biology. During the spring semester, we’ll build upon this foundation to investigate the linkages between global climate, natural ecosystems, and human society. We will explore topics such as biodiversity, land use, adapting to climate-change impacts, and the energy-systems transition needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. This class will alternate biweekly individual conferences with biweekly small-group workshops on climate data analysis, technical writing, and communicating science.

Geospatial data are information associated with locations on the surface of the Earth. This can include a variety of different types of data used in environmental science, such as sample collection locations at a field study site, the areal extent of a forest biome, or the output generated by global climate models. The analysis of geospatial data also allows social scientists to identify disparities in access to natural resources or exposure to pollutants and hazards and has been critical to the study of environmental justice. This course provides an introduction to foundational concepts in geodesy, cartography, and geostatistics, along with practical experience in geospatial data analysis using open-source geographic information systems (GIS) software. Although we will focus primarily on environmental applications, the skills learned in this course can be utilized in many natural and social-science disciplines—and can also help you avoid getting lost!

Geospatial data is information associated with locations on the surface of the Earth and can include a variety of different types of data used in environmental science, such as sample collection locations at a field-study site, the areal extent of a forest biome, or the output generated by global climate models. The analysis of geospatial data also allows social scientists to identify disparities in access to natural resources or exposure to pollutants and hazards and has been critical to the study of environmental justice. This course provides an introduction to foundational concepts in physical geography and geodesy, cartography and geostatistics, along with practical experience in geospatial data analysis using open source Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Although we will focus primarily on environmental applications, the skills learned in this course can be utilized in many natural and social-science disciplines, as well as to help you avoid getting lost!

The Earth’s climate has changed dramatically throughout its approximately 4.5 billion-year history, but the recent warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases poses a unique threat to humanity and many natural ecosystems. This course will cover the basic climate and Earth-system science needed to understand human-caused global warming. We will learn about the history of Earth’s climate and the diverse methods that scientists use to understand how it is changing. We will also explore current issues in climate-change science and how they are commonly miscommunicated or misrepresented in popular media. This course will meet as a weekly lecture with a weekly group conference.

Green infrastructure has the potential to transform our cities, replacing asphalt and concrete with soil, vegetation, and waterways. But while cities across the globe are now developing green infrastructure plans to protect water resources, enhance biodiversity, and adapt to the impacts of global climate change, there is an ongoing debate on what green infrastructure actually is. And there are still many remaining barriers to its broad implementation in our cities and suburbs. In this seminar, we will explore green infrastructure through the lens of ecosystem services—the regulating, provisioning, and cultural benefits that natural ecosystems provide for free to humans. Through quantitative case studies and field visits to green infrastructure projects in Yonkers and New York City, we will learn about a variety of different types of green infrastructure, including rain gardens, green roofs, detention basins, and constructed wetlands. We will also learn about the challenges associated with assessing the performance of green infrastructure and will critically evaluate existing green infrastructure plans and designs.

Natural hazards are Earth-system processes that can harm humans and the ecosystems on which we rely. These processes include a wide variety of phenomena, including volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, heat waves, and hurricanes. The terms “natural hazard” and “disaster” are often used interchangeably. There have been many examples of natural hazards that have resulted in catastrophic loss of life, socioeconomic disruption, and radical transformation of natural ecosystems; however, through improved understanding of these phenomena, we can develop strategies to better prepare for and respond to natural hazards and mitigate harm. In this course, we will use case studies of natural-hazard events to explore their underlying Earth-system processes, covering topics such as plate tectonics, mass wasting, weather, and climate, along with the social and infrastructure factors that determined their impact on people. We will also explore related topics—such as probability, risk, and environmental justice—and the direct and indirect ways that different types of natural hazards will be exacerbated by global climate change. Students will attend one weekly lecture and one weekly group conference, where we will discuss scientific papers, explore data, and work on a collaborative project to investigate a potential natural-hazard event.

The pollution of our air, water, and soils is responsible for millions of deaths across the world each year, along with immeasurable harm to natural ecosystems. In this seminar, we will study the chemistry of environmental pollutants that are most salient today—including lead, soot, pesticides, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), sewage, nutrients, and greenhouse gases—and how their chemistry influences their fate and transport through the environment and, in turn, their impacts on human health and natural ecosystems. We will also learn about basic techniques of pollutant monitoring and strategies to remediate different types of pollution and restore healthy ecosystems and communities. Beyond this, we will explore the broader concept of pollution, considering how compounds that can be vital to our survival can also harm our environment and how thresholds for when a compound becomes a “pollutant” are determined. Course work will include both chemistry problem sets and diverse readings about historic and current pollution issues. Conference work will allow students to develop a case study of a pollution incident or ongoing issue.

A watershed is an area of land (and the soils that underlie it) that drains to a common outlet. But this simple concept provides a critically important framework for understanding our most important water-management issues, along with many processes in environmental science and ecology. Watersheds can be defined across a range of spatial scales—from a suburban parking lot to the drainage basin of the Amazon River—and their diverse forms and characteristic represent a variety of climates, land uses, and topographies. In this course, we’ll learn how watersheds are delineated and explore the flow of water through watersheds, covering topics such as precipitation, evapotranspiration, infiltration, stream and river networks, and groundwater flow. During the second semester of the course, we’ll build on this foundation to study topics in watershed management, including water infrastructure, urbanization, interbasin transfers, flooding, water quality, and the impacts of global climate change. The course will include a weekly lab session, with indoor data-analysis activities along with field visits to sites in the Hudson River and Bronx River watersheds. No prior experience in earth or environmental science is required; however, students should be prepared to draw on the math skills they learned in high school for the water analyses that we’ll perform in this course.