The Core Areas of the WSSS program include material we deem necessary for integrated analysis of water issues; thus they support our six previously described research areas and in turn are deepened by our research findings. MS/MA students are required to take one course each in three of the four core areas; PhD students take courses in all four areas. Prerequisites may be excused with the permission of the instructor; a student may be granted credit in one area if exceptionally well-qualified and approved by the WSSS School Coordinator (see Exemption form in Appendix). The required core areas and associated courses include the following. Several are cross-listed.

1) Water Resources Science and Technology
2) Biological Aspects of Water and Health and Nutrition
3) Water Planning and Policy
4) Economic and Systems Analysis

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Water Resources Science and Technology concentrates upon the physical aspects of water science and management. Elective courses include:

• CEE-112 Hydrology and Hydraulics. An introduction to the science of hydrology and to the design of water resource systems. Basic hydrologic processes such as precipitation, infiltration, and streamflow are discussed. Applications of hydrology to reservoir design, flood control, hydropower systems, dam safety, and stormwater management are emphasized. Fall.

• CEE-172 Fate and Transport of Environmental Contaminants. A study of the movement and distribution of contaminants in the air, water, and soil environments. An in-depth study of fate and transport mechanisms. Transport modeling, measurement and monitoring, as well as analytical methodologies for measuring environmental contaminants and quality assurance protocols. Spring.

• CEE-212 Chemical Principles for Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. This course focuses on the basic principles of chemistry as they apply to problems in environmental and water resources engineering. Emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of the thermodynamic and chemical equilibrium principles that underlie important processes in natural water and engineered aquatic systems. Because this course is taught in an engineering department, significant emphasis is placed on quantitative problem solving. The goal of the course is to educate students to be able to solve a wide range of water chemistry problems relevant to environmental and water resources engineering. Prerequisites: undergraduate chemistry. Fall.

• CEE-213 Transport Principle for Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. An examination of transport phenomena in the natural or engineered environment. Topics include: momentum transport, energy transport, mass transport, interphase mass transfer, and environmental applications of ideal and non-ideal reactor models. Students will enhance their ability to apply a first principles approach for analysis of complex environmental systems. Prerequisites: Equivalent of Mathematics 38 and Engineering Science 8. Fall.

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Biological Aspects of Water and Health and Nutrition covers public health, epidemiology, biology, ecology, and environmental impacts.

• CEE-241/MPH-241 Water Biology and Health. Knowledge of the central role of water in health; detailed coverage of selected prototypic or model diseases which include schistosomiasis, cryptosporidiosis, cholera, and others; animal/human interactions and ecological factors that affect human host susceptibility; chemical agents and their interactions with pathogens; how nutrition deficits may alter susceptibility to pathogens; methods of assessing the occurrence of water borne disease; principal methods of controlling the propagation of water-borne diseases. Fall.

• BIO-142 Population and Community Ecology. (Formerly Biology 71/195E.) Introduction to population dynamics and community structure, including adaptations to the physical environment, competition, predator-prey interactions, mutualism, and community structure. Writing-workshop format. Prerequisites: Biology 13, 14, and English 2. (Group C.) Fall 2005 and alternate years.

• BIO-143 Evolutionary Ecology. Theory and evidence on mechanisms of evolutionary change in natural populations. Population genetics, speciation, biogeography, biochemical coevolution, life history strategies, sexual selection, and genetics of endangered species. Prerequisites: Biology 13, 14, 41, or equivalent. Fall 2006 and alternate years

• BIO-144 Principles of Conservation Biology. Learning and application of principles from population ecology, population genetics, and community ecology to the conservation of species and ecosystems. Focus on rare and endangered species, as well as threatened ecosystems. Includes applications from animal behavior, captive breeding, and wildlife management. Readings from current texts and primary literature. Prerequisite: Biology 14 or equivalent. Spring 2005 and alternate years.

• BIO-181 Tropical Ecology and Conservation. Ecology and evolution of biodiversity in the tropics. How human activities change patterns of biodiversity. First-hand experience in contrasting tropical habitats of Costa Rica. Seminar meets 75 minutes once per week. Discussions of original literature; presentations of particular ecosystems, communities, or organisms; team design of research project to be completed during two weeks of intensive fieldwork in December/January in Costa Rica. Funding may be available for those in need. Prerequisites: junior standing, Biology 141, upper-level Group C biology course, and consent. Fall 2005 and alternate years.

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Water Planning and Policy includes the use of policy and planning to achieve desired outcomes in water resources management.

• CEE-294K/ UEPP-294K/DHP-P255 Integrated Water Resources Management. Explores the major issues in integrated socio-economic and biophysical assessment of water resources and analysis methods. The scale includes both river basin and national assessments in both developed and developing countries. Topics include basic water uses, water stresses, socio-economic impacts, institutions, policy, management strategies, and national and river basin assessment methodologies. Spring in 2006-2007, then Fall 2007-2008.

• UEPP-279 Water Resources Policy and Planning and Watershed Management. Presents a comprehensive approach to water resources management through the integration of environmental science and policy. Intended for students with or without technical backgrounds. Course examines groundwater, lake, riverine, wetland, and coastal management issues and relies heavily on practical case studies to illustrate successful methods. Fall

• DHP- P250 Elements of International Environmental Policy. This course is designed to provide an introduction to international environmental policy development beginning with the scientific identification of the problem, the assessment of its economic and social impact, and the political forces that shape international agreements. It is recommended that students intending to concentrate in the environment and resource field take this course unless they have a solid environmental background. Following a short introduction to some of the basic scientific and economic factors that characterize most environmental problems, the course examines five case studies that illustrate the range of international problems facing diplomats and corporations. Bilateral, multilateral and commons issues are studied using examples of air, climate, hazardous waste, fisheries, and biological diversity. The emphasis is on the development of effective policy solutions based on sound scientific and economic information that meet the often-divergent political positions of nations. Fall.

• DHP- P251 International Environmental Negotiations. Hundreds of environmental and resource treaties have now been negotiated between and among nations, most of them during the past thirty years. The unique nature of environmental problems has brought a new style to international negotiations, which relies much more heavily on scientific and other technical expertise. Because the scientific knowledge base is constantly evolving, far more flexible, process-oriented treaties are being negotiated to address environmental issues than has traditionally been the case in other areas. This seminar brings together a scientist and a negotiation specialist to examine with students the nature of the international environmental negotiation process and its evolution. Examples of multinational negotiations of treaties and agreements are examined in a variety of contexts. The role of actors other than negotiators is explored and their role and influence on agreement outcome are identified. Student papers identify strategies for creating sustainable effective treaties by prescribing changes to the current negotiation process. Fall.

• NUTR 212 Agricultural Science and Policy I. First part of a two-semester sequence. May be taken independently by non-AFE students; both semesters required of AFE students. This course covers the major biological, chemical and physical components of agricultural systems. Each is discussed from the viewpoints of both the underlying natural processes and principles, and their significance for major agricultural, food safety, and environmental policy issues in the US today. In the first semester, the topics covered are soils, water, air and energy, all of which are highly relevant to global climate change as well as resource conservation policies. Prerequisites: Graduate standing or instructor consent. Instructors: Merrigan and Lockeretz. Fall.

• NUTR 213 Agricultural Science and Policy II. Second part of a two-semester sequence. May be taken independently by non-AFE students; both semesters required of AFE students. This course covers the major biological, chemical and physical components of agricultural systems. Each is discussed from the viewpoints of both the underlying natural processes and principles, and their significance for major agricultural, food safety, and environmental policy issues in the US today. In this second semester, the topics are plant nutrients, plant-pest interactions, crop breeding, and livestock growth and reproduction. Major policy issues associated with these areas include protecting groundwater from nitrogen contamination; regulating and monitoring pesticide use; regulating agricultural biotechnology; and regulating “factory” animal production. Prerequisites: Graduate standing or instructor consent. Instructors: Merrigan and Lockeretz. Spring.

• UEP-174A Clean Air & Clean Water Policy. Forty years ago, rivers caught fire and the odor of smokestacks hung in the air. A great deal has changed since, much of it due to the passage of two of the most significant examples of national environmental legislation anywhere – the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. But major challenges remain: many waterways remain polluted; air- and waterborne toxics threaten human and ecosystem health; new studies find that existing risks – particulates in the air, heavy metals in the water – are more hazardous than once believed; enforcement is spotty; inter-jurisdictional pollution transport often escapes the regulatory net; and the delicate partnership between the EPA and the states shows signs of wear. This course will examine – with a critical eye -- these two towering achievements of American environmental policy. We will unpack their major elements (the command-and-control approach to effluent permitting and the market-based acid rain allowance trading system are two examples), and consider their similarities and differences. We also will look at their precursors and the events leading to their enactment. And we will ask some basic questions: Are single-medium (air, water, etc.) regulatory systems inevitable? Do these statutes operate at cross purposes? Should regulatory emphasis be placed at a more local level – the states or even municipalities? What is the role of agencies, courts and legislatures in implementing air and water policy? Does a better way exist -- perhaps a regulatory system directed at inputs rather than outputs? And what is the Bush EPA up to? You will emerge from this course with a strong substantive understanding of air and water policy, a clearer sense of the role citizens and activists can play in shaping that policy, and a deeper appreciation of the interplay among regulatory bodies, levels of government and potential regulatory strategies. Summer.

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Economic and Systems Analysis provides tools to analyze and evaluate complex, multifaceted problems. In most cases, students are also taking statistic courses as part of departmental requirements. Course options include:

• CEE-214 Environmental and Water Resources Systems Engineering. Mathematical models of water resource systems are presented in combination with optimization procedures and decision theory, to generate an integrated approach to the planning, design and management of complex water resource systems. Water resource systems applications are formulated as decision problems where an optimal solution is sought yet cost, safety, and technology appear as competing constraints. Applications include regional water quality management, siting treatment plants, reservoir system operations and design, irrigation flood control and river basin planning. Prerequisite: senior standing or consent. Spring.

• ECON-105 Mathematics for Economists. Introduction to mathematical economics. Core topics: calculus, linear algebra, unconstrained and constrained optimization, difference and/or differential equations, and dynamic optimization with emphasis on the use of these techniques in economics. Prerequisites: Economics 11, Mathematics 11 and 12, or consent. Fall.

• ECON-130 Topics in Environmental Economics. Research seminar for students who wish to pursue environmental economics beyond the level of Economics 30. Topics may include the design and administration of environmental excise taxes, the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis, the economics of renewable and exhaustible resources, and the sustainability of economic growth. Prerequisites: Economics 11 and 30, or consent.

• UEPP-262 Environmental Economics. Economic tools for assessing environmental policy. Examines market failures that lead to environmental degradation, such as air and water pollution, uncontrolled toxic wastes, and natural resource depletion. Environmental policies, including regulation, tradeable permits, fuel taxes, and subsidies to conservation, are examined in terms of economic efficiency (using cost/benefit analysis), distributional impacts, and effectiveness in protecting the environment. Prerequisite: UEP 251 or consent.

• CEE-151 Engineering Systems: Deterministic Models. (Cross-listed as Engineering Psychology 151 and Engineering Science 151.) An introduction to the use of systems theory and modeling in the study/design of complex deterministic engineering, economic, environmental and social systems. Topics include network models, including PERT/CPM, economic analysis, optimization, linear and dynamic programming. Practical treatment is stressed; applications and projects involve several areas, including civil and environmental engineering and engineering psychology. Fall.

• CEE-152 Engineering Systems: Stochastic Models. (Cross-listed as Engineering Psychology 152 and Engineering Science 152.) An introduction to network models in the study/design of engineering, economic, environmental, and social systems with an emphasis on systems exhibiting random behavior. Topics include basic network models, Markov chains, queuing theory, reliability analysis, and genetic algorithms. Practical treatment is stressed; applications and projects involve several areas, including civil and environmental engineering. Spring.

• Fletcher EIB E246 Natural Resource and Environmental Economics. This course will introduce students to the underlying concepts and major debates in contemporary environmental economics. Building on basic concepts from microeconomics, this course emphasizes how environmental degradation takes place in market economies and how incentives can be designed to protect the environment. Topics covered will include resource consumption, innovation, international trade and the environment, global climate change and environmental regulation. Special attention will be paid to how such issues play out in Mexico and Latin America .Students will engage in empirical data analysis to test relevant environmental economics hypotheses. Open to students who have completed E201 or equivalent Background in basic statistics and working knowledge of Excel is encouraged. Spring.

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