DEPARTMENT OF EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

Spring 2025 Class Schedule

• Spring 2025 Class Schedule
• Spring 2025 Course Descriptions

Spring 2025 class Schedule

Spring 2025 course descriptions

EARTH 101 - Earth Science for the 21st Century 

Earth science encompasses the geology, chemistry, biology, and physics of our planet, while appreciating its beauty. Environmental degradation, natural resources, energy, climate change, and geologic hazards are among the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century. This course introduces students to Earth science through topical lectures and discussion of current events and research in Earth science. Topics include formation, evolution, structure, and composition of the Earth, plate tectonics and the rock cycle, the water cycle, climate change, paleoclimate, peak oil and fracking, renewable energy, nuclear fuel cycle and policy, geology of the National Parks, and job prospects in Earth science.

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EARTH 201 – Earth Systems Revealed 

Introduction to Physical Geology: The study of Earth systems and their interactions. This course will approach the study of Earth systems from two perspectives: 1) description and classification of Earth's features, including Earth materials, internal structure, and landforms and 2) description and explanation of the physical, chemical and biological processes that form and modify these features. Topics include minerals; sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks; the interior Earth, oceans, and atmosphere; solid Earth processes, such as volcanism, seismicity, and plate tectonics and their interactions with the atmosphere and hydrosphere to drive surface Earth processes, such as climate, weathering, and glaciation; geologic time; global change. Recommended Background: At least one credit in math, chemistry, biology or physics. Natural Sciences Distro Area

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EARTH 343 – Earth Systems Modeling

Introduction to the art and science of reducing Earth's complex systems into simple numerical models to build a better understanding of how components interact and evolve. Recommended Background: At least one 200-level course in Earth or Environmental Science, one course in each of calculus and physics.

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EARTH 344 – The Scientific Foundations of Decarbonization

The Scientific Foundations of Decarbonization will address the fundamental scientific understanding of how biogeochemical cycles moderate greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and marine realm, how changes in these gases control Earth climate on short and long timescales, and how human activities have rapidly altered the geologic balance of the carbon cycle. This knowledge base provides the foundation to understand decarbonization. Because most decarbonization strategies target different aspects of the carbon cycle, the core content of the course will review the geochemistry of carbon on land, in the lithosphere, and in the atmosphere, oceans, and other waters. This background will prepare students for a series of guest lectures from alumni of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences (currently employed in decarbonization start-ups and government agencies) that will present the most recent advances in decarbonization  being investigated and/or implemented in the U.S. and abroad.

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EARTH 345 – Physics of Rock Deformation in Planetary Materials

Rock deformation governs many geological processes that shape the history and the future of terrestrial planets, including mantle convection, plate tectonics, earthquake cycles, volcanism, etc. Physics of rock deformation involves generation and motion of crystalline defects in minerals, such as vacancies, dislocations, and grain boundaries. This course provides an interdisciplinary treatment of the science of deformation of solid Earth with an emphasis on the materials science (microscopic) approach. We cover mechanical behavior over various time-scales, including the elastic, anelastic (viscoelastic), and plastic response, in addition to the applications of these results to important geological and geophysical problems. Special attention is given to high-temperature creep of olivine, the main constituent of the lithosphere and upper mantle. No previous knowledge of geology/geophysics or of materials science is assumed. The basics of continuum mechanics and thermodynamics are presented as far as they are relevant to the main topics of the course.

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EARTH 450 – The Subsurface: Real Estate, Residents, & Resources

Description TBD.

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EARTH 450 – Research Writing for the Physical Sciences

Description TBD.

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