ENSC 181 Terrestrial Environment

Interactions among humans and natural land-based systems and their environmental consequences. Topics and labs include land-based ecology, biodiversity, biomes, forests, agriculture, rangelands, soils, groundwater, geologic mineral and energy resources, mining, waste management, recycling, environmental justice, ecological economics, conservation, and sustainable production. Lab included. ENSC 181-182-183 can be taken in any order

Credits

4

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Evaluate and perform scientific procedures and methods
2. Evaluate interactions among humans and natural land-based systems and their environmental consequences in case studies
3. Describe terrestrial ecology, biomes, and biodiversity and explain the biological, geologic, chemical and physical interactions of their components
4. Describe benefits and drawbacks of practices in forests, agriculture, rangelands, soils, groundwater use, mining, conservation, and waste management
5. Describe methods of mineral and energy resources extraction and their environmental consequences and mitigation and evaluate the human benefits and consequences of their extraction and use
6. Evaluate environmental justice, ecological economics, and sustainable production