[David Smith Exploring Innovation.pdf
Tilo Chopin
The need has never been greater for individuals who can address increasingly complex environmental issues. The Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) Program seeks to produce future leaders with interdisciplinary analysis and problem-solving skills. ES&P majors work in teams to address sustainability projects on campus or with local community partners. During the summer as well as the academic year, students can conduct research with the ES&P program faculty whose work spans the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. During the summer, ES&P also supports students participating in the NOAA College-Supported Internship Program.
Smith College Botanic Garden, September 15, 2023 through June 28, 2024
ES&P is a co-sponsor of this exhibit developed by Professor Colin Hoag, which focuses on the botanical contexts of Plath's feminist thinking and the history of botany at Smith College that made it possible.
Prospective majors should consult with a faculty adviser in choosing their courses. In their first semesters, students are encouraged to enroll in one of the foundational courses and ENV 101, as well as statistics.
Students with a strong academic background who wish to conduct independent and original work on an environmental topic are encouraged to pursue an honors project. Interested students should contact potential honors advisers by the beginning of February in the spring semester of their junior year. Please consult the director of honors for specific requirements and application procedures.
Offered as CHM 108 and ENV 108. An introduction to environmental chemistry, applying chemical concepts to topics such as acid rain, greenhouse gases, air quality, pesticides and waste treatment. Chemical concepts are developed as needed. N
Beginning in the late 20th century, human organization and experience has increasingly been influenced by digital forms of communication, production and integration with the environment. This is an environmental, technological, social landscape that will likely dominate the rest of our lives, but how can we responsibly accept or use it without putting it in context with other forms of technology and communities? We will examine life and our relationship to nature in organic, mechanical and digital societies in order to understand the following: 1) How we may be different types of people as a result of our technology, and 2) How technological change can be linked to social transformations. Because technology and its effects on society are multifaceted, we will draw from several disciplines. Sources from historians, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, political scientists and ecologists will be used to reconstruct these worlds and place our own in clearer context. Enrollment limited to 18. S
Offered as GEO 150 and ENV 150. A geographic information system (GIS) enables data and maps to be overlain, queried and visualized in order to solve problems in many diverse fields. This course provides an introduction to the fundamental elements of GIS and applies the analysis of spatial data to issues in geoscience, environmental science and public policy. Students gain expertise in ArcGIS--the industry standard GIS software--and online mapping platforms, and carry out semester-long projects in partnership with campus offices or local conservation organizations. Enrollment limited to 20. N
While focusing on topical environmental issues, students learn how to gather, analyze and present data using methods from the natural and social sciences. Data are drawn from multiple sources, including laboratory experiments, fieldwork, databases, archival sources, surveys and interviews. Emphasis is on quantitative analysis. Environmental topics vary in scale from the local to the global. Corequisite: ENV 202. Prerequisite: ENV 101. Enrollment limited to 18. NS
In this laboratory complement to ENV 201, students use a variety of methods to gather and analyze different types of environmental data (quantitative, qualitative, spatial). Corequisite: ENV 201. Prerequisite: ENV 101. Enrollment limited to 18. NS
Why has the U.S. Congress failed to address so many environmental issues since the heyday of the 1970s? What can the current administration do on climate and environmental justice without Congress? Where is environmental policy being made if not in Congress? This course explores the political, economic, legal, ethical, and institutional dimensions of the environmental policy making process. The focus is on understanding policy-making systems at a range of scales and how to influence and improve them. Prerequisite: ENV 101 or equivalent. Enrollment limited to 20. (E) S
The approximately six hundred federally recognized American Indian tribes in the United States are among the thousands of contemporary Indigenous groups in the world. Such a diversity of human culture, experience and history provides a unique vantage point for studying how people are connected to the environment. By surveying how indigenous people shape and are shaped by the environment on several continents, with a focus on North America, students will gain a greater understanding of the variation and importance of human environmental relationships. Perspectives from Indigenous studies, history, philosophy, ecology, biology and anthropology will be some of the disciplines used in the course. Enrollment limited to 30. HS
How do maps lie? Do maps describe or create spaces and places? How does the design of a map impact its message? And how does all of this matter for environmental social movements? This course is a practice-based investigation of questions such as these, through bringing the insights of critical cartography to bear on environmental social movements. Students develop a map portfolio, improved skills in cartography and a deeper sense of how maps have been used to describe and influence environmental issues. Prerequisite: ENV 150/ GEO 150. (E)
This course focuses on the interpretation and communication of environmental issues and solutions from multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives. Using contemporary environmental issues as a foundation, this course emphasizes careful assessment of both message and audience to design effective communication strategies for complex issues. Students develop the ability to read, interpret and critique environmental research from a variety of disciplines; to consider the needs and motivation of their audience; to develop evidence-based arguments tailored to a particular audience; and to articulate those arguments clearly and concisely. Prerequisite: one semester of statistics. ENV 101 and ENV 201/ENV 202 are strongly recommended. Enrollment limited to 18. Instructor permission required. NS
This course examines climate change and energy policy from several perspectives including scientific, economic, equity, political and practical considerations. We examine sources and trends of greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts and then focus on a specific sector (e.g., electric power) to consider existing policies, market structures and the spectrum of approaches to reduce emissions. Students work in small groups on projects in an active policy area and prepare a briefing and memo. Prerequisite: ENV 101 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. NS
This course will examine the connections between natural resource management and environmental justice in the US and the Global South. We will study the benefits and limits of traditional top-down approaches to the management of forests, land, fisheries, biodiversity, underground resources, water, food, and genomes in different parts of the world. By discussing case studies of environmental justice issues from tar sands mining in Alberta to the impact of biofuels and GMOs on local populations in Mexico, students will question and rethink the management of natural resources. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. S
This course explores global environmental justice and decolonial planning issues, debates and policies in the context of an urbanizing world marked by race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, caste, class and other lines of difference. The course draws from scholarship in urban studies, anthropology, sociology, geography and other related fields to develop an appreciation of global environmental injustices. With particular attention to decolonial planning approaches, students learn about efforts to redress environmental injustices, whether through formal planning and policies, social movements, community organizing or everyday environmentalism. The course covers environmental issues at multiple scales from around the world and explores the interrelatedness of themes. Prerequisite: ENV 101. Priority given to ENV majors. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.
Admission by permission of the instructor. Special Studies are open to qualified juniors and seniors and, in appropriate cases, to sophomores. Students are encouraged to contact the instructor in advance of the semester they intend to take this course.
Students in this course investigate the origin, nature and importance of the diversity of life on Earth, key ecological processes and interactions that create and maintain communities and ecosystems, principle threats to biodiversity, and emerging conservation strategies to protect the elements and processes upon which we depend. Throughout the semester, the course emphasizes the relevance of diversity and ecological studies in conservation. Corequisite: BIO 131 is recommended but not required. N
Students pull on their boots and explore local habitats that may include the Mill River, MacLeish Field Station, Smith campus Botanic Gardens and local hemlock forests. Students gain experience with a diversity of organisms by conducting research projects that can enhance their understanding of ecology and conservation. Students practice the scientific process and document their work in a lab notebook. Research skills developed include hypothesis development, data collection, statistical analysis and presentation of results. Because research projects vary seasonally, please see the Department of Biological Sciences website for more information. Enrollment limited to 16. Corequisite: BIO 130 recommended. (E) N
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