Lower-Division

Introduces students to the range of natural species and communities occurring on the UCSC campus. All class time is spent outside, and each week a different area of campus is visited. Course 24 is recommended.

Introduction and training in the skills needed to create, manage, and exhibit natural history collections, including plants, insects, fungi, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

Students gain proficiency in illustration media, and acquire training in the essential skills needed to create natural-history inspired illustrations. Students create illustrations and paintings by studying organisms in the Norris Center for Natural History collections, as well as those living on and around campus. Some experience in basic drawing and/or natural-history sketching is recommended.

Students learn the fundamentals of organismal biology and ecology through observations in the field, museum specimens, and field journaling. Class focuses on a particular taxonomic group or natural community, such as reptiles, fungi, insects, coastal prairie, or chaparral. Enrollment by application. Please email envsadvi@ucsc.edu for applications.

Provides an overview of the physical and chemical environment of planet Earth. Fundamental chemistry and physics is introduced in the process of learning about Earth in a holistic way. The influence of human societies on the global environment is one focus of discussion. Earth's many spheres are explored first: the lithosphere; the atmosphere; the hydrosphere, and the ecosphere. Then global cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and several other elements are studied in the context of basic sciences and societal issues.

Covers principles of ecology including limits to species abundances, evolutionary ecology, population dynamics, community interactions and patterns, and ecosystem patterns and dynamics.

Introduces the policy and economic dimensions of some pressing environmental challenges. Case studies may include, biodiversity conservation, waste, water, climate change, and other topics to examine the drivers and policy responses to environmental problems and the trade-offs in different policy solutions.

Introduction to freshwater resources from multiple scientific and policy perspectives. After a review of basic concepts, water issues affecting cities, farms, open space, and multiple-use landscapes are studied. Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have previously received credit for ENVS 165.

A broad overview of the impacts of human activities on the global climate system. Topics include how climate affects the distribution of ecosystems, the influence of global climate change on biodiversity, ecosystem function, and consequences for the human enterprise.

An interdisciplinary overview of the science and policy of global climate change. Topics include Earth system science, climate change impacts on the environment, climate change policy, and the future of climate change politics from the local to the global.

Our current food system is unsustainable for the environment and unjust for the farmers, farmworkers, and consumers who depend on it. Course provides an interdisciplinary, experiential, and systems-focused introduction to agroecology and other approaches to advancing a more just and ecologically sustainable food system. Students will come to understand agroecology as a science for understanding agricultural ecosystems, as a farming practice, and as a social movement to change the way we produce and distribute/access food. Course examines many topics—including biological fertility and pest management, seeds, livestock raising, and aquaculture—from the perspective of both the natural and social sciences, leaving students with a perspective that transcends any particular academic discipline. Students gain hands-on experience with farming research, production, and food distribution happening across the UCSC campus farm and food system.

A supervised off-campus learning experience related to environmental problem solving. Focuses on initial experiences in applied work and specific skill development. Students may be placed individually or with a team in government agencies, private organizations, citizen action groups.

Directed reading, supervised research, and organized projects relating to environmental problems. May be repeated for credit with consent of the chairperson of Environmental Studies Department. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.

Provides for department-sponsored directed reading, supervised research, or organized project for lower-division students under the direct supervision of a faculty sponsor. May not be counted toward major requirements. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency.