University of Nevada, Reno

Physical Geography of the Earth’s Environment (GEOG 103)

PDF link: GEOG 103 Syllabus

The goal of this course is to provide each student with a well-rounded understanding of planet Earth. All
of Earth’s geosystems, from the solid Earth to the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the biosphere, are
examined through case studies such as hotspot volcanism, hurricane formation, glacial landscape
evolution, and carbon-climate feedbacks. Short lectures, interviews, videos, texts, and exercises will also
allow students to explore and investigate the complex interactions between these systems as well as how
they affect, and are affected by, humans.

Texas A&M University

Science and Politics of Climate Change (GEOS 444)

PDF link: GEOS 444 Syllabus

The goal of this course is to provide each student with an open environment to learn and discuss the science and politics of climate change. The course is split into four topics: Is the climate changing? (students gain a well-rounded understanding of the science that underpins climate change); Do humans have anything to do with climate change? (students learn about the Anthropocene and the importance of carbon in our world); Why is climate change a problem? (students analyze the ethics related to climate (in)action, how the issues are framed by different stakeholders, the potential consequences on Earth’s systems and our civilization); Can we do anything about climate change? (students discover mitigation and adaptation solutions that have been put forward over the past decade).

This course is composed of traditional lectures, student presentations, as well as time slots allocated for team work. Hands-on activities will take many shapes, including paper/book discussion, data analysis, redaction of short essays, and academic debates, and will be performed in class.

Past Climates (GEOG442/GEOG642/GEOS442)

PDF link: GEOG 442 Syllabus

The goal of this course is to provide each student with an introduction of the field of paleoclimatology. The course is divided into 4 main sections: (1) Drivers of climate change, (2) Proxies and Dating methods, (3) Climate since the Last Glacial Maximum, and (4) Case studies (student projects). In the first section, students learn about tectonics-scale and orbital-scale climate forcings. The second section focuses on key archives, methods, and tools used to reconstruct climate change. In the third section, students examine a series of events that have marked the Pleistocene and the Holocene epochs. Lastly, students have the opportunity to explore a time period, an event, a record, or a proxy of their choice; a report and an oral presentation will ensue.

Workshop in Environmental Studies (GEOG 380)

PDF link: GEOG 380

The goal of this course is to provide each student with the opportunity to apply their knowledge to work on real scientific research. Each semester, a general research topic is proposed, and students work in teams to research a specific part of the topic. For example, a research topic from a previous semester was applying a data-driven approach to study a number of eco-friendly green solutions by reading scientific papers and analyzing their respective supply chains, carbon footprints.

This course is composed of traditional lectures, student presentations, as well as time slots allocated for team work on the final project. Throughout the semester, students will work in groups composed of ~5 undergraduate students. Each group will choose a specific part of the research topic to gather and analyze data associated with it, and document their findings. Deliverables will include a literature review, a data synthesis, a white paper containing key information presented as original tables, figures, and graphs, and a blog post accessible to a broad audience. The vision for this blog is that it will grow into a reliable source of information for a lay audience over the years, as new student projects will be added every semester.

Planet Earth (GEOG 203)

PDF link: GEOG 203 Syllabus

The goal of this course is to provide each student with a well-rounded understanding of planet Earth. All of Earth’s geosystems, from the solid Earth to the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere, are examined through case studies such as hotspot volcanism, hurricane formation, glacial landscape evolution, and carbon-climate feedbacks. Short lectures, interviews, videos, texts, and exercises will also allow you to explore and investigate the complex interactions between these systems as well as how they affect, and are affected by humans.

As part of the coursework for GEOG 203, I assign short documentary lectures to watch that a student and I created:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM-Loofp5fMEuD9uxD4DzWXnIo_vu_mFL