Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability

This course will introduce students to the principles of environmental sustainability. Students will explore various aspects of sustainability, including energy use, industrial processes, waste generation and disposal, and the built environment. As part of the focus on solutions, the course will introduce students to tools society can use to attain and implement sustainable practices, such as policy, law, education and communication, marketing, research advocacy, and international agreements and collaboration.

This course will introduce students to current and future trends in energy technology, policy, and sustainability. It will address topics such as resource sustainability, relevant aspects of economics, sociology of innovation diffusion, product design principles, and the environmental impacts of existing and emerging energy technologies. Analysis of the range of current and future energy choices will be stressed, as well as the role of energy in determining local environmental conditions and the global climate.

This course will introduce students to the basic methods of land use planning, including: goal development and formalization, planning intelligence and information systems, population forecasting, land use forecasting, land suitability analysis, land use location requirements, land classification planning, natural/sustainable land use design, and the analysis of regional or local land use plans. Through lecture, discussion, case studies, and assignments, the class will examine fundamental land use controls (i.e., General Plans and Zoning), land use policy, and contemporary land use management techniques.

This course illustrates the fundamental concepts of GIS and remote sensing technologies in the context of land use planning and management. Topics include the physical basis for remote sensing, remote sensing systems, digital image processing, data structures, database design, and spatial data analysis. The course is not intended to provide students with extensive training in particular image processing or GIS packages, however, course exercises and the final project will require GIS data analysis and presentation skills.

This course will introduce students to the concepts of green infrastructure planning and design and the implementation of renewable technologies. The framework presented for planning and design will focus on increasing the performance of green infrastructure systems. Students will examine case studies and participate in exercises to develop richly layered, interconnected, and sustainable communities that increase human health and ecological resilience

This course is designed to review the practical application of watershed planning as a tool to manage land, water, and ecosystem resources. Students will explore the public policies and practices of watershed planning by examining case studies in water supply, water quality, drought, floodplain, and storm water management in the U.S. The watershed management curriculum will utilize a multi-disciplinary approach, involving the fields of geography, environmental science, geology, public policy, urban and regional land planning, geographic information systems (GIS) and engineering.