Courses

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. Equivalent to ECON UN4500. The theory of international trade, comparative advantage and the factor endowments explanation of trade, analysis of the theory and practice of commercial policy, economic integration. International mobility of capital and labor, the North-South debate.

An introduction to the enormous diversity of life on Earth. From bacteria to mammals, this course will survey species diversity, with an emphasis on ecological interactions and conservation. The course will also use basics of genetics and evolutionary biology to explore how diversity is generated and maintained. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills a science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.

An introduction to the enormous diversity of life on Earth. From bacteria to mammals, this course will survey species diversity, with an emphasis on ecological interactions and conservation. The course will also use basics of genetics and evolutionary biology to explore how diversity is generated and maintained. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills a science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.

Water covers the majority of the earth’s surface but what of the life in these waters? Rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries and oceans provide habitat for an extraordinary diversity of animals. This course explores the amazing array of aquatic animals that occupy both freshwater and marine ecosystems as well as the natural and human activities that impact their survival. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.

Water covers the majority of the earth’s surface but what of the life in these waters? Rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries and oceans provide habitat for an extraordinary diversity of animals. This course explores the amazing array of aquatic animals that occupy both freshwater and marine ecosystems as well as the natural and human activities that impact their survival. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.

Using evolutionary principles as the unifying theme, we will survey the study of animal behavior, including the history, basic principles and research methods.

We will also analyze videos from the field as we explore the fascinating world of animal behavior.  Through a range of approaches, students will gain familiarity with the scientific method, behavioral observation and research design.   Although this is listed as a 3000-level course, no prior biology experience is required. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates

Dinosaurs  explores how science works and provide practical knowledge about the history of life and how we have come to understand it. We learn how to analyze the evolutionary relationships of organisms and examine how dinosaurs came to be exemplars of a very successful group of organisms dominant on land for 140 million years. We will delve deeply into how direct descendants of small carnivorous theropod dinosaurs evolved into birds, still more diverse than mammals, dominating the air. The Mesozoic, a “hot-house world”, with no ice caps and was the kind of world we are hurtling towards because of our input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and we will look at how their time is a natural experiment for our future. The non-avian dinosaur met their end in a remarkable cataclysm discovered by detective work that we will delve deeply into as a paradigm of the scientific method  Finally, they are fun and spectacular - monsters more fantastic than any person has invented in legend or religion - and they are still with us!  

Prerequisites: declared major in Earth and environmental sciences and the departments permission. Students with particular interest in one of the many components of the Earth and environmental sciences should approach a director of undergraduate studies during the registration period so that tutorial-level exposure to the subject can be arranged. Each point requires two hours each week of readings, discussion, and research work under the close supervision of a member of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, American Museum of Natural History, or Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In consultation with the supervisor, the student selects a topic for intensive study and the time and place of the tutorial discussion sessions. May be repeated for credit up to a maximum of 12 points, with a maximum of 6 points with each staff member.

The course examines the ocean's response to external climatic forcing such as solar luminosity and changes in the Earth's orbit, and to internal influences including atmospheric composition, the hydrological cycle, the cryosphere, and atmospheric and ocean circulation, using deep-sea sediments, corals, ice cores and other paleoceanographic archives. An analysis of the assumptions underlying the use of climate proxies and their interpretations will be presented. Particular emphasis will be placed on amplifiers of climate change during the alternating ice ages and interglacial intervals of the last few million years, such as natural variations in atmospheric "greenhouse gases" and changes in deep water formation rates, as well as mechanisms of rapid climate change during the late Pleistocene. The influence of changes in the Earth's radiation distribution and boundary conditions on the global ocean circulation, Asian monsoon system and El Nino/Southern Oscillation frequency and intensity, as well as interactions among these systems will be examined using proxy data and models. This course complements GU4937 Cenozoic Paleoceanography and is intended as part of a sequence with GU4330 Terrestrial Paleoclimate for students with interests in Paleoclimate.