Lower Division Courses numbered 1–99 are designed primarily for freshmen and sophomores but are open to all students for lower division credit. (Graduate students requesting to enroll in lower-division undergraduate courses will not receive unit credit nor will the course fulfill degree requirements.) Upper Division Courses courses numbered 100–199 are open to all students who have met the necessary prerequisites as indicated in the catalog course description. Preparation should generally include completion of one lower division course in the given subject or completion of two years of college work.
GRADUATE COURSES
Courses numbered 200–299 are open to graduate students. (Undergraduate students must obtain the signature of the instructor, School Dean, and the Dean of Graduate Studies. Graduate level units will count towards the required 120 units for graduation; however students are urged to meet with their academic advisor in order to determine if graduate course units may be used to fulfill a graduation requirement.)
CROSS-LISTED/CONJOINED COURSES
Cross-listed Courses are the same course offered under different course subjects at the same level (either undergraduate or graduate) that share the same meeting time, requirements, units, etc. Conjoined Courses are the same course but one is undergraduate and one is graduate.
COREQUISITE COURSE
A corequisite course is a course that must be taken at the same time as another course.
PREREQUISITES
Prerequisites for courses should be followed carefully; the responsibility for meeting these requirements rests on the student. If you can demonstrate that your preparation is equivalent to that specified by the prerequisites, the instructor may waive these requirements for you. The instructor also may request that a student who has not completed the prerequisites be dropped from the course. If the prerequisite for a course is not satisfied, students must obtain the approval of the instructor (or school designee) of the course they wish to take.
For all undergraduate courses a “C-” or better grade is required for a course to be used as a prerequisite for another course. If a course was taken for a “P/NP” grade then a “P” grade is required.
For all graduate courses a “B” or better grade is required for a course to be used as a prerequisite for another course. If a course was taken for a “S/U” grade then a “S” grade is required.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
No credit is allowed for completing a less advanced course after successful completion (C-or better) of a more advanced course in the foreign languages. This applies only to lower division foreign language courses, not upper division courses.
GRADING OPTIONS
Unless otherwise stated in the course description, each course is letter graded with a P/NP or S/U option (unless required for your major or graduate program). The policy regarding Grading Options, can be found in an alternate section of the catalog.
Basics of the hydrological cycle and the global climate system. Fundamentals of surface water hydrology, hydrometeorology, evaporation, precipitation, statistical and probabilistic methods, unit hydrograph, and flood routing.
Prerequisite: (ENVE 020 or MATH 015) and (MATH 012 or MATH 022 or equivalent exam). Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion, Laboratory included. Cross-Listed with ESS 110.
ENVE 114: Mountain Hydrology of the Western United States
[3 units]
Principles of snow formation, occurrence, and measurement; components of evapotranspiration; runoff generation; groundwater recharge processes; water resource assessments; and resource management. Focus on California and the southwestern US. Design project.
Prerequisite: ENVE 110 or ESS 110. Normal Letter Grade only. Offered spring only.
Spatial and temporal patterns in climate and their association with land surface characteristics and processes. Methods for exploiting these for hypothesis testing, modeling, and forecasting. Applications include seasonal forecasting, ecological modeling, and analysis of processes such as flooding and wildfire.
Detection of, adaptation to, and mitigation of global climate change. Climate-change science, sources, sinks, and atmospheric cycling of greenhouse gases. Societal context for implementing engineered responses. Assessment of options for responding to the threat of climate change.
Prerequisite: CHEM 002 or CHEM 002H or equivalent exam. Discussion included.
Fundamentals of environmental microbiology: physiology, biochemistry, metabolism, growth energetics and kinetics, ecology, pathogenicity, and genetics, with application to both engineered and natural environmental systems. Specific applications to water, wastewater, and the environmental fate of pollutants.
Prerequisite: ENVE 020 and (BIO 001 or equivalent exam). Normal Letter Grade only. Laboratory included.
Basic physics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere; fundamentals of atmospheric sciences important to environmental problems; chemistry and physics of atmospheric pollutants; visibility; air quality modeling; emissions; and air pollution control strategies.
Prerequisite: ENVE 020 or ESS 020. Normal Letter Grade only. Offered spring only.
Topics include government regulations, design and economics of air pollution control for point and spatial sources, strategies for regional air pollution control and engineering solutions. Air pollution control for both point and mobile sources is addressed in the context of case studies.
Prerequisite: ENVE 130. Normal Letter Grade only. Offered spring only. Conjoined with ES 238.
Introduction to water resources planning and management, with an emphasis on California water problems. Water planning theory will form the basis for exploring applied analytical and quantitative methods in the field, including systems analysis, risk assessment, and geospatial modeling. A design project will focus on solving contemporary water management problems.
Prerequisite: ENVE 110 or ESS 110. Normal Letter Grade only.
Fundamentals of electromagnetic remote sensing, concepts of information extraction and applications pertinent to environmental engineering and earth systems science. Topics include remote sensing principles, aerial photography, photogrammetry, image interpretation, image processing, and applications of remote sensing in a range of environmental applications (e.g. water resource, terrestrial ecosystems, climate change and other environmental topics).
Prerequisite: (MATH 021 or equivalent exam) and (PHYS 008 or PHYS 008H or equivalent exam). Normal Letter Grade only. Offered fall only. Laboratory included.
Presents the tools of decision science using a quantitative approach with a focus on investment, finance, management, technology and policy decisions. These tools include decision tree analysis, risk and uncertainty analysis, stochastic dominance, the value of information, probability bias, and subjective probability.
Current systems for energy supply and use. Renewable energy resources, transport, storage, and transformation technologies. Technological opportunities for improving end-use energy efficiency. Recovery, sequestration, and disposal of greenhouse gases from fossil-fuel combustion.
Prerequisite: ENVE 020 or ESS 020. Normal Letter Grade only.
Concepts and applications of solar thermal processes; applications of solar collectors for water heating; active and passive building heating and cooling; fundamentals and design of wind energy systems; economics of solar energy.
Open only to standing(s): Junior, Senior. Normal Letter Grade only. Offered spring only.
Introduce recent development of energy policy and present fundamental optimization and simulation tools for modeling firm and market behavior for the energy sector, with a focus on electric power.
Properties and behavior of organic and metal contaminants, in soils, groundwater, surface waters, and air. Emphasis on phase transfer and transport for organic compounds; complexation and surface processes for metals. Topics include modeling of environmentally important compounds, photochemical reactions, natural organic matter, sorption phenomena.
Prerequisite: ENVE 100 or ESS 100. Normal Letter Grade only.
Processes governing the distribution and transformation of anthropogenic organic chemicals in the environment. Topics include chemical-physical properties of organic chemicals, sorption processes, bioaccumulation, chemical transformations, photochemical transformations, modeling concepts.
Water treatment, use, reclamation, and reuse. Introduction to modeling and designing treatment systems; both conventional and advanced technology. Use of mass balances for system evaluation and design. Design project.
Measurement and interpretation of data; stream gauging, hydrography, and limnology exercises; evaporation studies; micrometeorological instruments and methods; discharge measurement; flood plain mapping; preparation of hydrologic reports. Field workshops.
Introduction to fundamental field instruments used for vadose zone and subsurface field investigations. Analysis of groundwater wells and of a (hypothetical) contaminated site. Field workshops.
ENVE 184: Field Methods in Environmental Chemistry
[1-3 units]
Introduction to the fundamental field instruments used for environmental chemistry field investigations. Air, water, and soil sample collection and preservation procedures. Particle separation and analysis, ion selective electrodes, colorimetric assays for nutrients and metallic species, extraction of organic species. Experimental design, measurements, and interpretation of data.
Students will work on multidisciplinary teams on selected and approved design projects, practice design methodology, complete project feasibility study and preliminary design, including optimization, product reliability and liability, economics, and application of engineering codes. Final report and presentation.
Prerequisite: ENVE 100 and ENVE 110 and ENVE 130, which may be taken concurrently, and ENVE 160, which may be taken concurrently. Open only to standing(s): Senior. Normal Letter Grade only. Laboratory included. Cross-Listed with ENGR 190.
Presentation and discussion of professional environmental and water resources engineering practices. Professional ethics and the roles and responsibilities of public institutions and private organizations pertaining to environmental engineering.
Exploration of linkages in environmental systems and tools to evaluate important features of those systems. This is done by examining the characteristics of different Earth compartments (pedosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere) in terms of mass and energy balance, residence times and interactions. To provide a context, we examine how each of these compartments interacts with the global water cycle.
An introduction to principles of soil science designed for graduate students in Environmental Systems and other groups. ES 201 examines the soil as a natural resource and soils as ecosystems. Soil is the reservoir on which most life on earth depends, as the primary source of food, feed, forage, fiber, and pharmaceuticals. Soil plays a vital role in sustaining human welfare, assuring future agricultural productivity and environmental stability. Environmental soil science explores the major physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils, and fundamental processes that regulate interaction of the terrestrial biosphere with other components of the earth system.
Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion included. Conjoined with ESS 170.
An introduction to principles of soil science designed for graduate students in Environmental Systems and other groups. ES 201 examines the soil as a natural resource and soils as ecosystems. Soil is the reservoir on which most life on earth depends, as the primary source of food, feed, forage, fiber, and pharmaceuticals. Soil plays a vital role in sustaining human welfare, assuring future agricultural productivity and environmental stability. Environmental soil science explores the major physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils, and fundamental processes that regulate interaction of the terrestrial biosphere with other components of the earth system.
Prerequisite: ES 201, which may be taken concurrently. Normal Letter Grade only. Laboratory included. Conjoined with ESS 170L.
Thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical process in soil systems. Topics include the formation and identification of common minerals, adsorption/desorption, precipitation/dissolution, and electrochemical reactions in soils. Graduate requirements include individual additional exercises and preparation of a research paper.
Quantitative analysis of Earth systems using principles of thermodynamics, kinetics, and isotope geochemistry; solution-mineral equilibrium and phase relations; equilibrium and reactive transport approaches to modeling geochemical processes at ambient and elevated temperatures. Graduate requirements include individual student projects.
Focus on organic chemical reactions in soils and sedimentary environments. Topics include the formation and weathering of natural organic matter and reactions of natural organic matter with pollutants. Graduate requirements include individual additional exercises and preparation of a research paper.
Examines biogeochemical cycles in watersheds, streams, oceans, and lakes for the elements of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur and other metals such as mercury. Includes weekly lecture and discussion sections. Assignments consist of problem sets, reading and discussion of scientific articles, and student analysis of case studies.
Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion included. Conjoined with ESS 105.
ES 206: Instrumental and Spectroscopic Methods in Environmental Systems
[3 units]
Instrumental and spectroscopic methods and quantitative analysis applied to the study of environmental materials, including inorganic, organic, and biological samples. Emphasis on practical applications and individual student research projects. Laboratory included.
Prerequisite: Prior knowledge of Environmental Chemistry recommended. Normal Letter Grade only. Laboratory included.
The objective of this class is to provide students with probabilistic and statistical methods to analyze environmental data. This class emphasizes both theoretical and applied aspects of data analysis methods. Weekly lab exercises are from environmental applications. Topics include: distribution, hypothesis test, linear regression, multiple regression, uncertainty analysis, outlier detection, sample design, and spatial and temporal data analysis.
ES 208: Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Earth Materials
[3 units]
Surface, colloid, and interfacial chemistry related to soil, environmental, and microbial applications; properties, energetics, and reactivity of surfaces and interfaces of Earth materials; the role of mineral surfaces in promoting and catalyzing chemical phenomena at phase boundaries. Graduate requirements include individual additional exercises and preparation of a research paper.
ES 209: Chemistry and Mineralogy of Earth Materials
[3 units]
Chemical principles, structure, and bonding of minerals and Earth materials, including crystallography (symmetry, space groups, group theory), coordination chemistry, bonding models (valence bond, crystal field, and MO theories), and electronic and magnetic properties.
Prerequisite: ESS 100 and CHEM 010. Course may be repeated for credit. Conjoined with ESS 109.
Processes governing the distribution and transformation of anthropogenic organic chemicals in the environment. Topics include chemical-physical properties of organic chemicals, sorption processes, bioaccumulation, chemical transformations, photochemical transformations and modeling concepts.
Hydrologic and geologic factors controlling the occurrence and use of groundwater on regional and local scales. Physical, mathematical, geologic, and engineering concepts fundamental to subsurface hydrologic processes. Introduction to ground-water flow and transport modeling, with emphasis on model construction and simulation.
ES 214: Mountain Hydrology of the Western United States
[3 units]
Principles of snow formation, occurrence, and measurement; components of evapotranspiration; runoff generation; groundwater recharge processes; water resource assessments; and resource management. Focus on California and the southwestern US. Design project. Graduate requirements include more in-depth investigation of one or more topics and preparation of paper.
Addresses different global change processes (climate change, habitat fragmentation, ozone pollution etc.); their impacts on organisms; and interactions and feedbacks between various global change factors and biological processes. Readings are taken from the recent scientific literature. Students will write a review article on a topic of their choice.
Normal Letter Grade only. Cross-Listed with QSB 218.
Fundamentals of environmental microbiology: physiology, biochemistry, metabolism, growth energetics and kinetics, ecology, pathogenicity, and genetics, with application to both engineered and natural environmental systems. Specific applications to water, wastewater, and the environmental fate of pollutants. Graduate requirements include additional projects.
ES 222: Dynamics of Organic Matter in Soils and Sediments
[3 units]
A focus on dynamics of organic matter (OM) in soil and sediments. The course will explore the formation, storage, loss, and transformations of OM from physical, chemical, and biological perspectives. We will cover linkages of OM dynamics with atmospheric composition of greenhouse gases and their future climatic implications.
Ecosystem ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. Focus on energy, water and nutrient flows through the living (plants, animals, microbes) and nonliving (soils, atmosphere) components of ecosystems. We examine both natural and human-modified terrestrial ecosystems. Graduate requirements include preparation and peer review of a research proposal.
Introduction to the principles and methods of genomics as applied to the understanding of ecosystems. Topics include population genetics, adaptation to environmental change, and genomic analysis of environmental microbial communities; experimental and computational methods relevant to environmental genomics. Graduate requirements include additional exercises and preparation of a research paper.
An introduction to the plant diversity of California. It consists of lectures, discussions, and field trips. The field trips focus on plant identification in the foothills of the Central Sierra Nevada and help illustrate concepts presented in lecture such as endemism, plant/soil interactions, and vegetation types.
Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion included. Conjoined with BIO 133, ESS 133.
An advanced study of modeling population dynamics and the flow of energy and matter in ecosystems. Graduate requirements include additional exercises and preparation of a research paper.
Introduction to the relationships of fossil organisms to one another and to their physical environment, focusing on terrestrial paleoecology of the past 2.5 million years. This class will introduce pass environments, discuss common proxies for studying paleoecology, and examine ecological principles as applies to the past. Recommended prior to enrollment: one upper division Ecology or Earth System Science course.
Spatial and temporal patterns in climate and their association with land surface characteristics and processes. Methods for exploiting these for hypothesis testing, modeling, and forecasting. Applications include seasonal forecasting, ecological modeling, and analysis of processes such as flooding and wildfire.
Study of conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer, with applications to engineering problems. Graduate requirements include in-depth investigation of one or more topics and preparation of paper.
Steady and unsteady mass diffusion; mass convection, simultaneous heat and mass transfer; Fick’s law in a moving medium; similarity and integral methods in mass transfer; high mass transfer theory; research project in mass transport. Knowledge of Heat Transfer is essential for success in this course.
Normal Letter Grade only. Offered spring only. Cross-Listed with ME 236.
Study of the Navier-Stokes equations; Stokes’ problems; creeping flows; internal and external flows; similarity and integral methods in boundary layer flows; stability and transition to turbulence.
Prerequisite: ENGR 135 or ES 235. Normal Letter Grade only. Course may be repeated 1 time for credit. Cross-Listed with ME 251.
Physical and chemical principles for the capturing of air pollutants. Design of air pollution controls devices for particulate and gaseous pollutants emitted from stationary and mobile sources. State and Federal Regulations for point, mobile and area sources. Economics aspects of air pollution control to meet ambient air quality standards. In case studies, particular issues are addressed as they relate to the San Joaquin Valley.
Basic concepts of and issues in water resources management, water resources planning, institutional and policy processes. Quantitative analytical methods in water resources planning and management; introduction to systems analysis, multi-objective planning, and risk assessment. Design project. Graduate requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis.
ES 244: Phylogenetics: Speciation and Macroevolution
[4 units]
Provides the theory behind reconstruction of evolutionary relationships and introduces the comparative methods and tools of phylogenetics. Topics include use of morphological, molecular, and fossil data in distance, parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian frameworks for investigating geographic patterns and rates of speciation, phenotypic evolution, diversification, extinction, and biogeography.
Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion included. Cross-Listed with QSB 244.
Explores a diversity of current topics in Biogeography, providing an overview of the field’s history, development, and a prospectus for its near future. We will consider relevant methods, advances in related fields, and application of biogeographic information in a changing world.
Normal Letter Grade only. Course may be repeated 3 times for credit. Cross-Listed with QSB 245.
Major themes and current topics in community ecology, including patterns in the diversity, abundance, and composition of species in communities and the processes underlying these patterns such as environmental filtering, species interactions, evolutionary history, and neutral processes.
Prerequisite: BIO 148 recommended. Cross-Listed with QSB 246.
Utilizes directed readings and discussion of classical and current literature in ecology, including physiological, population, community, ecosystem, landscape, and global ecology studies.
Normal Letter Grade only. Cross-Listed with QSB 248.
ES 249: Topics in the History, Philosophy, and Practice of Science
[3 units]
Explores special topics in the history, philosophy, and practice of science, such as the nature of interdisciplinary interactions, the concept of “paradigm shift”, relationships between politics and science, and the influence of new technologies. Does not fulfill the “third course requirement” of QSB degrees except by petition to QSB EPC.
Normal Letter Grade only. Course may be repeated 3 times for credit. Cross-Listed with QSB 249.
Fundamental and advanced concepts of electromagnetic remote sensing, information extraction and applications in environmental monitoring. Advanced topics include principles of image extraction, image correction, image enhancement, classification methods, and new development of sensor techniques. Reading materials and final research projects are required for graduate students.
Survey of theoretical ecology, involving a tour through population dynamics, stochastic processes, and ecological networks. Both analytical and numerical (computational) approaches will be used to build and examine dynamic models, as well as to assess the role of theoretical vs. empirical approaches to understand the ecological processes.
Current systems for energy supply and use. Renewable energy resources, transport, storage, and transformation technologies. Technological opportunities for improving end-use energy efficiency. Recovery, sequestration, and disposal of greenhouse gases from fossil-fuel combustion. Graduate requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis.
Concepts and applications of solar thermal processes; applications of solar collectors for water heating; active and passive building heating and cooling; fundamentals and design of wind energy systems; economics of solar energy. Graduate-level requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis.
Introduce recent development of energy policy and present fundamental optimization and simulation tools for modeling firm and market behavior for the energy sector, with a focus on electric power.
Properties and behavior of organic and metal contaminants, in soils, groundwater, surface waters, and air. Emphasis on phase transfer and transport for organic compounds; complexation and surface processes for metals. Topics include modeling of environmentally important compounds, photochemical reactions, natural organic matter, sorption phenomena. Graduate-level requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis.
Students will learn about stable isotope systems including carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur and strontium. They will learn chemistry, physics, biology, and ecology of isotope compositions and fractionations. A lab component will teach sample preparation techniques. Students will measure samples and analyze data. Discussion period will discuss primary literature.
Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion, Laboratory included. Conjoined with BIO 174, ESS 174.
A review of French grammar with emphasis on building speaking and writing skills and on reading to build cultural understanding. Classes conducted in French.
Prerequisite: FRE 002 or equivalent exam. Normal Letter Grade only.
A review of French grammar with emphasis on building speaking and writing skills and on reading to build cultural understanding. Classes conducted in French.
Prerequisite: FRE 003 or equivalent exam. Normal Letter Grade only.
Provides oversight and structure for a student’s internship in a field related to French in community organizations, professional research projects, etc. connected to the study of French. Students are required to write an original research paper or relevant product that demonstrates how the internship advanced their knowledge of French.
Permission of instructor required. Pass/Fail only. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
Develops students’ abilities to communicate in spoken and written French at an advanced level. Emphasizes the importance of the interaction between writer, reader, purpose and message. Focuses on the four major modes of writing and oral practice.
Prerequisite: FRE 004 or equivalent exam. Normal Letter Grade only.
Provides oversight and structure for a student’s internship in a field related to French in community organizations, professional research projects, etc. connected to the study of French. Students are required to write an original research paper or relevant product that demonstrates how the internship advanced their knowledge of French.
Open only to standing(s): Junior, Senior. Permission of instructor required. Pass/Fail only. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.
Teaches the value of geography as a basis for organizing and discovering information; the nature and meaning of maps, and the concepts and tools for spatial analysis: the description, organization, linkage, manipulation and communication of geographical information.
In depth-analysis of environmental case studies. Focus on science critical to policy development and implementation, the policy-making process and policy outcomes. Special emphasis on interaction between scientific information and policy-making. Example topics include Western water resources, biodiversity conservation and global warming. Emphasis on written and oral communication and critical analysis.
Prerequisite: (WRI 010 or equivalent exam) and any lower-division ESS, ENVE, BIO, ECON, POLI, or PUBP course. Discussion included. Cross-Listed with ENGR 141, ESS 141.
Climate and biogeography of Western US relevant to Forestry, Fire, and Water Resources management introduced via the writings of 19th Century explorers and surveyors of the West and recent scientific literature. Analyze role of climate and biogeographic information in public resource management policy debates of 1870s-1910s versus present day. Geographic perspective on long term repercussions of early 20th Century resource management policy choices.
Prerequisite: (WRI 010 or equivalent exam) and any lower-division ESS, ENVE, BIO, HIST, or PUBP course. Discussion included.
Study of global arts with an integrated approach that examines visual arts, music, and a variety of other subjects offered by the Global Arts Studies Program.
Mechanics of musical structure and the proper language with which to describe it. Students will learn to hear and analyze music in terms of rhythm and meter, timbre, dynamics, form, texture, and pitch, with a special focus on melody and functional harmony.
Normal Letter Grade only. Laboratory included. Cross-Listed with ARTS 006.
An introduction to visual material in art and mass media from cultures throughout the world. Emphasizes the development of students’ own critical skills in analyzing and understanding visual culture. Topics include artworks from the antiquity to postmodernism, as well as issues in mass media, pop culture, and cyberspace.
GASP 004: Introduction to Arts and Cultural Studies
[4 units]
Introduction to a range of debates in cultural studies concerned with the impact race, gender, sexuality and class, for example, exert on cultural production, cultural identity and representation and/or aesthetics.
Familiarizes students with academic debates regarding the relationship between technology writ large and artistic production, distribution and consumption - as well as creation, critique and pleasure.
Introduction to the art music of western culture, including music from Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century eras, featuring study of selected masterworks in relation to the periods which they represent. Emphasis is placed upon developing awareness of musical style and structure through lectures and directed listening.
Studies the roles music can play in relation to social structures and institutions, individual and group relations, and identity formation as it relates to race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, nationality, and religion. Special attention will be paid to issues of genre and style.
Normal Letter Grade only. Cross-Listed with ARTS 017.
Introduces the histories, contexts, and structures of love songs from around the world. Explores the roles of songs in social and biological reproduction, communication with divinities, nation building, and the cultural politics of music and identity.
Normal Letter Grade only. Discussion included. Cross-Listed with ARTS 019.
Introduces students to making music with digital audio workstations, synthesizers, samplers, and other software tools. Students create compositions exploring approaches from popular genres such as hip hop and electronic dance music as well as noise, ambient, experimental, and avant-garde.
Normal Letter Grade only. Cross-Listed with ARTS 022.
Provides students with basic tools to analyze films. By examining how each technical aspect of filmmaking contributes to effective storytelling, students will become familiar with the language of film as well as how expressions and conventions change in different social, historical, and ideological contexts.