Summer Sessions | Courses | Earth and Environmental Sciences

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Directory of Classes

For up-to-date course information running in the summer term, you may also refer to the Directory of Classes.

Directory of Classes

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Courses
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Dinosaurs and the History of Life
EESC1004S001 3 points.

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!  

Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
EESC1004S001 001/10213 Session B Mo 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
We 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Paul Olsen
3 Open for Enrollment
(auto-fill Wait List) 		In-Person
Dinosaurs and the History of Life
EESC1004SAU1 0 points.

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!  

Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
EESC1004SAU1 AU1/11092 Session B Mo 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
We 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Paul Olsen
0 Closed for Online Registration
(no Adds or Drops) 		In-Person
Food Journeys in the New York Metropolitan Region: Towards Sustainable Farms, Healthy Communities, and Just Policies
EESC2020X001 3 points.

This course will provide an introduction to food production, distribution, consumption, and waste management through four key lenses: agriculture and soil health; human health and nutrition; justice and equity; and food systems and climate change. Policy will be a unifying theme across all four lenses. The course will have a central focus on the NYC region but will include a global perspective. Students explore these units to imagine a food system that produces food in an ecologically mindful way while supporting our communities and the planet.  Most units will culminate with a shared meal inspired by the topics explored that week.  Students will engage with experts and practitioners in each field and explore a hands-on learning experience through field trips to locations including farm centers, community gardens, and food distribution centers in New York City and the Hudson Valley region. These field trips will be held on the following Fridays: May 26, June 2, June 9, June 16 and students will be expected to attend all field trips. The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and the Columbia Climate School will be key partners in the course.   

 

 

Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
EESC2020X001 001/00012 Session A Tu 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Th 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Sandra Goldmark
Cynthia Rosenzweig
Natalie Greaves-Peters
3 Closed for Online Registration
(no Adds or Drops)
Food Journeys in the New York Metropolitan Region: Towards Sustainable Farms, Healthy Communities, and Just Policies
EESC2020X002 3 points.

This course will provide an introduction to food production, distribution, consumption, and waste management through four key lenses: agriculture and soil health; human health and nutrition; justice and equity; and food systems and climate change. Policy will be a unifying theme across all four lenses. The course will have a central focus on the NYC region but will include a global perspective. Students explore these units to imagine a food system that produces food in an ecologically mindful way while supporting our communities and the planet.  Most units will culminate with a shared meal inspired by the topics explored that week.  Students will engage with experts and practitioners in each field and explore a hands-on learning experience through field trips to locations including farm centers, community gardens, and food distribution centers in New York City and the Hudson Valley region. These field trips will be held on the following Fridays: May 26, June 2, June 9, June 16 and students will be expected to attend all field trips. The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and the Columbia Climate School will be key partners in the course.   

 

 

Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
EESC2020X002 002/00050 Session A Tu 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Th 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Cynthia Rosenzweig
Sandra Goldmark
Natalie Greaves-Peters
3 Closed for Online Registration
(no Adds or Drops)
TUTORIAL IN EARTH SCIENCE
EESC3000W001 3 points.
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.
Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
EESC3000W001 001/12967 X Summer Session
Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Folarin Kolawole
3 Registration Block
(no Adds)
(self-man. Wait List) 		In-Person