Earth & Space Sciences

This course focuses on couplings between biological, geological, and chemical processes; on the interactions between climate and the environment; and human impacts on these processes. It covers the development of the biosphere on Earth and the major biogeochemical interactions in air, land, and water; the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, and mercury; the major processes governing these cycles and how these cycles are linked; why and how the biogeochemical system is changing; and how climate and biogeochemical processes mutually interact. The course develops skills in calculation of chemical speciation by use of a speciation program, as well as the ability to perform simple mass balance calculations. 

This course examines how glaciers respond to climate changes. It provides a global perspective with emphasis on examples from polar regions. The course focuses on understanding the processes and impacts of the climate on glacier behavior.

This course examines the foundations of Earth Science. It covers understanding and mitigating climate change and natural hazards, including sea-level rise, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In addition, the course covers environmentally responsible management of natural resources such as groundwater and minerals. 

This course examines foundational practical skills for spatial analysis using relevant real-world datasets with a strong environmental and urban focus. Students will develop quantitative problem solving and spatial thinking skills applied to real-world problems such as sea-level rise and housing inequality. 

This course deals with advanced sedimentology from a temporal and spatial perspective. Development of sedimentary basins, and their sedimentary infill is treated with emphasis on depositional processes/environments and resultant stratigraphic architecture.

This course examines concepts as diverse as the origin of the Solar System through to the evolution of life. It will touch on the big geological processes that have shaped our planet, covering topics including plate tectonics, volcanology, earthquakes and climate change. 

This course entails completing an interdisciplinary group project on a topic of relevance to the scientific or wider community. 

This course examines current observational capabilities, present how satellite data can contribute to understanding the functions and interactions of Earth’s sub-systems (e.g., atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, and hydrosphere), and provide the application examples of environmental change at regional to global scales, such as forest disturbance, water quality, carbon emission, air/water/soil pollution, natural disasters, agricultural production. These are highly related to some crucial sustainability issues, so this course will, directly and indirectly, address multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 (Zero hunger), SDG6 (Clean water and sanitation), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities), SDG11 (Sustainable cities and community), SDG13 (Climate action), SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG15 (Life on land), in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set by the United Nations in 2015.

This course provides research training for exchange students. Students work on a research project under the guidance of assigned faculty members. Through a full-time commitment, students improve their research skills by participating in the different phases of research, including development of research plans, proposals, data analysis, and presentation of research results. A pass/no pass grade is assigned based a progress report, self-evaluation, midterm report, presentation, and final report.