[*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90b. Preparing for Natural Disasters]
Catalog Number: 3253
Göran Ekström
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Examines the interplay between science, the individual, and society in responding to the threats and effects of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other disasters. Aspects of risk assessment and risk perception, in particular in relation to infrequent and devastating events. The reliance on the well-informed individual to exhibit risk-averse behavior is compared with the role of government laws and regulations. Investigation of the question of who eventually pays for disaster relief and reconstruction; discussion of insurance and alternative solutions.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90c. Ecology and Land-Use Planning
Catalog Number: 3792
Richard T. T. Forman (Design School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–5:15, with intensive field study, including a required one-week field study, plus a one-day field study.
Investigation of how local and regional human activities such as housing, agriculture, water supply, and natural resource use can be arranged in the landscape so that environmental processes are not disrupted and ecosystems are maintained for the long term. The focus is on learning and applying spatial and ecological principles to land-use planning with the intention of regional biodiversity conservation, maintenance of water quality, and addressing other environmental issues.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90d. Status of Environmental Justice as a Public Policy Issue
Catalog Number: 5824
James S. Hoyte
Half course (fall term). M., W., 2:30–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Examines the influences of race, socioeconomic status, and interest group politics in the formulation and implementation of U.S. federal and state environmental policy. Topics include the civil rights struggle and the environmental justice movement, role of race in environmental policymaking, residential and occupational exposure patterns of environmental pollution, racial diversity in the environmental movement, socioeconomic factors shaping the research agenda for environmental affairs, facilities siting and community impacts, and lead contamination as an environmental justice issue.
Note: Offered jointly with the Kennedy School of Government as ENR-205.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90e (formerly *Environmental Science and Public Policy 90ehf). Marine Conservation Biology
Catalog Number: 6879
Callum M. Roberts
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–5. First Course Meeting Time: Thursday 2/1 at 2. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17, 18
Conservation biology is the science of protecting biological diversity while allowing for sustainable use by people. The course will explore the subject from a marine perspective and will begin with a detailed look at fishing, revealing the limitations of present management approaches and the need for radical policy reform. The function, design and role of marine protected areas will then be examined, including their potential for improving fishery management. Throughout, the course will contrast approaches to conservation in the sea and on land, in particular looking at the implications of large scale ecological and physical processes for management of marine ecosystems.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90f. Global Change and Human Health
Catalog Number: 4434
Paul R. Epstein (Medical School) and James J. McCarthy
Half course (spring term). W., 2:30–5.
Global consequences of increasing human population and our consumption of natural resources include extensive changes in many natural ecosystems and in the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. In the last decade, geographic ranges of certain well known infectious diseases have expanded and new diseases have become threats to human health. This seminar will explore hypothesized linkages between changes in ecosystems, climate, and the epidemiology of certain infectious diseases.
[*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90h. Alternative Energy Potential]
Catalog Number: 2284
Henry Ehrenreich
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Examines alternative energy options such as photovoltaic and wind within the environmental context of conventional fossil and nuclear based sources. Begins with an elementary exposition of needed energy and thermodynamic concepts, which assumes no previous exposure to physics, and a brief historical survey of energy use in relation to economic and social needs. Emphasizes the potential and problems of alternative energy sources through lectures, readings, class presentations, and discussions.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90i. Population and The Human Condition
Catalog Number: 9228
John P. Holdren and Daniel P. Schrag
Half course (spring term). W., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 5, 6
How does the human population—its size, growth rate, age composition, and geographic distribution—influence problems of resources, environment, and development and the prospects for solving them? How many people can the world support? Population variables interact with economic and technological ones in generating pressures on resources and environment, and all these variables and their interactions are shaped by social and political as well as economic forces. This seminar explores what is known, supposed, and (diversely) contended about the relation between population and the human condition—past and future—bringing to bear historical data, scenarios of future possibilities, and a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Environmental Science and Public Policy 90j. Mitigation of Climate Change
Catalog Number: 5757
James J. McCarthy and Bill McKibben
Half course (fall term). W., 1:30–4. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7, 8
While the evidence for anthropogenic influences on Earth’s climate has become increasingly clear, plausible strategies to reduce the rate of climate change remain complex and for the most part largely untested. This seminar will examine options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing the capacity of natural systems to sequester carbon. It will further examine costs and benefits of mitigation, and place these in the context of alternative strategies such as adaptation to climate change.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90k. Environment and National Security
Catalog Number: 4242
Michael B. McElroy and Stephen T. Curwood
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1:30–4. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16, 17
This seminar will explore environmental issues affecting the national security of the United States. We begin with a review of the report “A National Security Strategy for a New Century” submitted by the White House to Congress in December 1999. Topics to be discussed in the seminar include climate change, pollution of air and water, shortages in supply of fresh water, short-falls in food production and depletion of natural resources with particular emphasis on trends currently underway in poor and developing countries. National security interests of the United States are particularly sensitive to developments in the Middle East, Russia, China, South Asia, East Asia and the Central Asian Republics but are not confined to these regions. As we shall discuss, environmental stress anywhere can have unanticipated consequences far removed from its source. We live in a global society: problems of human health or economic security or environmental security cannot be easily limited by restrictions imposed at national borders.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 91r. Supervised Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 1705
James J. McCarthy and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Supervised reading and research on topics not covered by regular courses of instruction. Students must complete a registration form, including permission from their faculty sponsor, with the concentration office before course enrollment. A final paper describing the research/reading completed during the term is due in duplicate to the Head Tutor on the first day of reading period.
Note: Intended for junior and senior concentrators in Environmental Science and Public Policy; open to sophomore concentrators only under exceptional circumstances. Permission of the Head Tutor is required for enrollment. May be counted for concentration only with the special permission of the Head Tutor.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 99r. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 5666
James J. McCarthy and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Senior honors candidates must take at least one term of this course (fall or spring) while writing a thesis. If taken for two terms, only one term can be counted toward meeting concentration requirements. Signature of the Head Tutor required for enrollment.