Environmental Studies (B.A. or B.S.)

Introductory Courses

* EVST 007a, The New England Forest  Marlyse Duguid

Exploration of the natural history of southern New England, with specific focus on areas in and around New Haven. Pertinent environmental issues, such as climate change, endangered species, and the role of glacial and human history in shaping vegetative patterns and processes, are approached from a multi-disciplinary framework and within the context of the surrounding landscape. Enrollment limited to freshmen. Preregistration required; see under Freshman Seminar Program.
Th 1pm-5pm

* EVST 020a / F&ES 020a, Sustainable Development in Haiti  Gordon Geballe

The principles and practice of sustainable development explored in the context of Haiti's rich history and culture, as well as its current environmental and economic impoverishment. Enrollment limited to first-year students. Preregistration required; see under First-Year Seminar Program.  WR
MW 9am-10:15am

* EVST 030b / ARCG 031b / CLCV 059b / HIST 020b / NELC 026b, Rivers and Civilization  Harvey Weiss

The appearance of the earliest cities along the Nile and Euphrates in the fourth millennium B.C. Settlements along the rivers, the origins of agriculture, the production and extraction of agricultural surpluses, and the generation of class structures and political hierarchies. How and why these processes occurred along the banks of these rivers; consequent societal collapses and their relation to abrupt climate changes. Enrollment limited to freshmen. Preregistration required; see under Freshman Seminar Program.  HU, SO
TTh 9am-10:15am

* EVST 040a, Collections of the Peabody Museum  David Skelly

Exploration of scientific questions through the study and analysis of objects within the Peabody Museum's collections. Formulating a research question and carrying out a project that addresses it are the core activities of the course. Enrollment limited to first-year students. Preregistration required; see under First-Year Seminar Program.  SC
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

* EVST 100b / APHY 100b / ENAS 100b / G&G 105b / PHYS 100b, Energy Technology and Society  Daniel Prober

The technology and use of energy. Impacts on the environment, climate, security, and economy. Application of scientific reasoning and quantitative analysis. Intended for non–science majors with strong backgrounds in math and science.  QR, SC
MW 1pm-2:15pm

EVST 144a / EDST 144a / ER&M 211a / SOCY 144a, Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration  Grace Kao

Exploration of sociological studies and theoretical and empirical analyses of race, ethnicity, and immigration, with focus on race relations and racial and ethnic differences in outcomes in contemporary U.S. society (post-1960s). Study of the patterns of educational and labor market outcomes, incarceration, and family formation of whites, blacks (African Americans), Hispanics, and Asian Americans in the United States, as well as immigration patterns and how they affect race and ethnic relations.  SO
MW 2:30pm-3:20pm

EVST 189b / HIST 246b, The History of Food  Paul Freedman

The history of food and culinary styles from prehistory to the present, with a particular focus on Europe and the United States. How societies gathered and prepared food. Changing taste preferences over time. The influence of consumers on trade, colonization, and cultural exchange. The impact of colonialism, technology, and globalization. The current food scene and its implications for health, the environment, and cultural shifts.  HU
TTh 10:30am-11:20am

EVST 226b / ARCG 226b / NELC 268b, Global Environmental History  Harvey Weiss

The dynamic relationship between environmental and social forces from the Pleistocene glaciations to the Anthropocene present. Pleistocene extinctions; transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture; origins of cities, states, and civilization; adaptations and collapses of Old and New World civilizations in the face of climate disasters; the destruction and reconstruction of the New World by the Old. Focus on issues of adaptation, resilience, and sustainability, including forces that caused long-term societal change.  SO
TTh 9am-10:15am

* EVST 345a / ANTH 382a / ER&M 395a / F&ES 384a, Environmental Anthropology  Michael Dove

The history and contemporary study of anthropology and the environment, with special attention to current debates regarding human environmental relations. Topics include: nature-culture dichotomy; ecology and social organization; methodological debates; politics of the environment; and knowing the environment.  SO
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

EVST 223a / E&EB 220a, General Ecology  David Vasseur and Ann Staver

The theory and practice of ecology, including the ecology of individuals, population dynamics and regulation, community structure, ecosystem function, and ecological interactions at broad spatial and temporal scales. Topics such as climate change, fisheries management, and infectious diseases are placed in an ecological context. Prerequisite: MATH 112 or equivalent.  SC
MWF 10:30am-11:20am

The following courses have been approved for developing areas of concentration. Other courses may be suitable for designing an area of concentration with permission of the director of undergraduate studies.

EVST 182a / ANTH 300a / E&EB 300a, Primate Behavior and Ecology  Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

Socioecology of primates compared with that of other mammals, emphasizing both general principles and unique primate characteristics. Topics include life-history strategies, feeding ecology, mating systems, and ecological influences on social organization.  SC, SO
TTh 9am-10:15am

EVST 211b / G&G 211b / HIST 416b / HSHM 211b, Global Catastrophe since 1750  William Rankin

A history of the geological, atmospheric, and environmental sciences, with a focus on predictions of global catastrophe. Topics range from headline catastrophes such as global warming, ozone depletion, and nuclear winter to historical debates about the age of the Earth, the nature of fossils, and the management of natural resources. Tensions between science and religion; the role of science in government; environmental economics; the politics of prediction, modeling, and incomplete evidence.  HU
MW 10:30am-11:20am

* EVST 212a / EP&E 390a / PLSC 212a, Democracy and Sustainability  Michael Fotos

Democracy, liberty, and the sustainable use of natural resources. Concepts include institutional analysis, democratic consent, property rights, market failure, and common pool resources. Topics of policy substance are related to human use of the environment and to U.S. and global political institutions.  WR, SO
Th 9:25am-11:15am

* EVST 215a / ENGL 459a / MB&B 459a, Writing about Science, Medicine, and the Environment  Carl Zimmer

Advanced non-fiction workshop in which students write about science, medicine, and the environment for a broad public audience. Students read exemplary work, ranging from newspaper articles to book excerpts, to learn how to translate complex subjects into compelling prose. Admission by permission of the instructor only. Applicants should email the instructor at with the following information: 1. One or two samples of nonacademic, nonfiction writing. (No fiction or scientific papers, please.) Indicate the course or publication, if any, for which you wrote each sample. 2. A note in which you briefly describe your background (including writing experience and courses) and explain why you’d like to take the course.  WR  RP
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

* EVST 224a / ENGL 241a, Writing About The Environment  Alan Burdick

Exploration of ways in which the environment and the natural world can be channeled for literary expression. Reading and discussion of essays, reportage, and book-length works, by scientists and non-scientists alike. Students learn how to create narrative tension while also conveying complex—sometimes highly technical—information; the role of the first person in this type of writing; and where the human environment ends and the non-human one begins.  WR
W 9:25am-11:15am

* EVST 231a, Temperate Woody Plant Taxonomy and Dendrology  Marlyse Duguid

Identification of the major temperate plant families, with a focus on North American forest species; integration of morphology, phenology, ecology, biogeography, and the natural history of tree species. Course work includes field identification of woody plants, and phylogenetic systematics as the structure for understanding the evolutionary history and relationships between species.  SC
T 1pm-5pm

* EVST 234La, Field Science: Environment and Sustainability  L. Kealoha Freidenburg

A field course that explores the effects of human influences on the environment. Analysis of pattern and process in forested ecosystems; introduction to the principles of agroecology, including visits to local farms; evaluation of sustainability within an urban environment. Weekly field trips and one weekend field trip.  SC
T 1pm-2:15pm, Th 1pm-5pm

* EVST 247b / EP&E 497b / PLSC 219b, Politics of the Environment  Peter Swenson

Historical and contemporary politics aimed at regulating human behavior to limit damage to the environment. Goals, strategies, successes, and failures of movements, organizations, corporations, scientists, and politicians in conflicts over environmental policy. Focus on politics in the U.S., including the role of public opinion; attention to international regulatory efforts, especially with regard to climate change.  SO
HTBA

* EVST 258a / AMST 258a, Wilderness in the North American Imagination  Carlos Nugent

The idea of wilderness in American history, art, literature, and public policy. Authors include Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, John McPhee, and Ramachandra Guha. A class dinner and field trip are held during the term.  HU
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

* EVST 261a / F&ES 261a / G&G 261a, Minerals and Human Health  Ruth Blake

Study of the interrelationships between Earth materials and processes and personal and public health. The transposition from the environment of the chemical elements essential for life. After one year of college-level chemistry or with permission of instructor; G&G 110 recommended.  SC
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

EVST 265b / G&G 255b, Environmental Geomicrobiology  Ruth Blake

Microbial diversity in natural geologic habitats and the role of microorganisms in major biogeochemical cycles. Introduction to prokaryote physiology and metabolic diversity; enrichment culture and molecular methods in geomicrobiology. Prerequisite: college-level chemistry.  SC
TTh 1pm-2:15pm

* EVST 285b / F&ES 285b, Political Ecology of Tropical Forest Conservation  Amity Doolittle

Study of the relationship between society and the environment focusing on tropical forest conservation. Global processes of environmental conservation, development, and conflicts over natural resource use and control; approaches to conserving trees and forest cover using strategies that support biodiversity and rural agricultural livelihoods; specific focus on tropical forest landscapes dominated by agriculture and cattle ranching practices using Panama and Colombia as a case studies. The course includes an optional field trip during Spring Break: March 17-March 23 in Panama at the ELTI’s focal training site.  SO
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* EVST 290b / F&ES 290b, Geographic Information Systems  Charles Tomlin

A practical introduction to the nature and use of geographic information systems (GIS) in environmental science and management. Applied techniques for the acquisition, creation, storage, management, visualization, animation, transformation, analysis, and synthesis of cartographic data in digital form.
T 9:25am-11:15am

EVST 292a / GLBL 217a / PLSC 149a, Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century: Environment, Energy, and the Economy  Daniel Esty

Sustainability as a guiding concept for addressing twenty-first century tensions between economic, environmental, and social progress. Using a cross-disciplinary set of materials from the “sustainability canon,” students explore the interlocking challenges of providing abundant energy, reducing pollution, addressing climate change, conserving natural resources, and mitigating the other impacts of economic development.  SO
MW 1pm-2:15pm

EVST 318a / AMST 236a / HIST 199a / HSHM 207a, American Energy History  Paul Sabin

The history of energy in the United States from early hydropower and coal to present-day hydraulic fracturing, deepwater oil, wind, and solar. Topics include energy transitions and technological change; energy and democracy; environmental justice and public health; corporate power and monopoly control; electricity and popular culture; labor struggles; the global quest for oil; changing national energy policies; the climate crisis.  HU
TTh 11:35am-12:25pm

* EVST 324a / ANTH 322a / SAST 306a, Environmental Justice in South Asia  Staff

Study of South Asia’s nation building and economic development in the aftermath of war and decolonization in the 20th century. How it generated unprecedented stress on natural environments; increased social disparity; and exposure of the poor and minorities to environmental risks and loss of homes, livelihoods, and cultural resources. Discussion of the rise of environmental justice movements and policies in the region as the world comes to grips with living in the Anthropocene.  SO
HTBA

* EVST 344b / F&ES 344b, Aquatic Chemistry  Gaboury Benoit

A detailed examination of the principles governing chemical reactions in water. Emphasis on developing the ability to predict the aqueous chemistry of natural, engineered, and perturbed systems based on a knowledge of their biogeochemical setting. Calculation of quantitative solutions to chemical equilibria. Focus on inorganic chemistry. Topics include elementary thermodynamics, acid-base equilibria, alkalinity, speciation, solubility, mineral stability, redox chemistry, and surface complexation reactions.  SC
TTh 1pm-2:15pm

* EVST 362b / ARCG 362b / G&G 362b, Observing Earth from Space  Ronald Smith

A practical introduction to satellite image analysis of Earth's surface. Topics include the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, satellite-borne radiometers, data transmission and storage, computer image analysis, the merging of satellite imagery with GIS and applications to weather and climate, oceanography, surficial geology, ecology and epidemiology, forestry, agriculture, archaeology, and watershed management. Prerequisites: college-level physics or chemistry, two courses in geology and natural science of the environment or equivalents, and computer literacy.  QR, SC
MW 9am-10:15am

* EVST 368b / HIST 491Jb / HSHM 479b / RLST 368b, The History of the Earth from Noah to Darwin  Ivano Dal Prete

Young earth creationism and flood geology have long been among the most divisive features of American culture and politics. Yet a basic postulate is shared across the spectrum: for better or worse, the old age of the Earth is regarded as the recent product of a secular science, consistently rejected by traditional Christianity. This seminar challenges this long-established narrative, by uncovering the surprising boldness, complexity, and societal diffusion of pre-modern debates on the history of the Earth, and of humankind itself. Students have opportunity to explore the nature, assumptions, and methods of Earth sciences before the advent of modern geology, to question ingrained assumptions about their relation to religion and society, and to place outstanding issues into historical perspective. How have the great monotheistic religions dealt with the possibility of an ancient Earth? Was a young creation always important in traditional Christianity? If not, what led to the emergence of young Earth creationism as a force to be reckoned with? What are the intellectual roots of American preadamism, which claims that the black and white races were created at different times and do not descend from the same ancestor? These and other questions are addressed not only through scholarly literature in the field, but also with the analysis of literary, visual, and material sources available on campus.  WR, HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* EVST 400b / E&EB 275b, Biological Oceanography  Mary Beth Decker

Exploration of a range of coastal and pelagic ecosystems. Relationships between biological systems and the physical processes that control the movements of water and productivity of marine systems. Anthropogenic impacts on oceans, such as the effects of fishing and climate change. Includes three Friday field trips. Enrollment limited to 15.  SC
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm