Graduate Courses
ENV 645: urbanization, global change, and sustainability
This is a science class that examines the interactions and relationships between urbanization and global environmental change at local, regional, and global scales with an emphasis on the biophysical aspects of urbanization. It provides an in-depth assessment of how urbanization affects the planet’s environment. This is a combined lecture/seminar course.
ENV 960: Urban Climate capstone
Cities contribute to about 70% of carbon emissions and are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. If we are to keep global warming to under 2 degrees C, cities must be part of the climate solution to reduce emissions. At the same time, cities must increase their resilience to climate change and develop strategies for adaptation to extreme climate events. Cities around the world are beginning to develop strategies to both mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions as well as adapt to climate change.
In this capstone, students work in teams to develop strategies to increase climate resilience and mitigate emissions for their urban client (e.g., New Haven, Freetown). Students will apply analytical skills, methods, and tools acquired from previous classes and work experience to develop urban climate strategies.
ENV 725: remote sensing of land-cover and land-use change
This is an advanced course on the use of satellite remote sensing to monitor terrestrial land-use and land-cover change. The course combines lectures, seminar discussions, and labs to emphasize digital image processing techniques to detect landscape dynamics using data from satellite sensors. Lab assignments will focus on data from the Landsat sensors. Topics covered include: quantitative versus qualitative land cover changes; temporal, spatial, spectral variations in land cover change; change vector analysis; landscape pattern analysis, accuracy assessment of change; urban expansion; agricultural productivity; deforestation; wildfires; vegetation phenology; changes in impervious surface.
To enroll in this course, students must have prior experience in remote sensing.
ENV 855: climate change mitigation in urban areas
This class provides an in-depth assessment of the relationships between cities and climate change, and the central ways in which urban areas, cities, and other human settlements can mitigate climate change. The course explores two major themes: 1) the ways in which cities and urban areas contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change; and 2) the ways in which urban areas can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
Undergraduate Courses
EVST 346: Urbanization and the Environment in China and India
Study of contemporary urbanization processes in China and India, with a focus on environmental challenges and sustainable development. Energy, food, water, and land-use systems; manufacturing, industry, and technology; cultures and lifestyles. Introduction to conceptual and analytical tools for assessing the effects of urbanization.
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EVST 349: Urbanization, Food Systems, and the Environment
The primary question the class examines is: How will 21st century trends in urbanization affect the production and demand for food? This course explores the implications of urbanization on food systems and the environment. The class treats urbanization as multi-dimensional and simultaneous demographic, economic, and biophysical processes, and considers food systems as the life cycle of food, from production, processing, and distribution to demand, consumption, and waste.