Environmental Studies

This course explores the drivers of global change, both natural (e.g. Milankovitch cycles, tectonic drift) and anthropogenic (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, land-use change) and then examines how these drivers influence (and are influenced by) terrestrial and marine biological systems. A variety of topics, ranging from organismal and physiological responses to global change, biodiversity, global biogeochemical cycles, ecological function and ecosystem services are covered. While the majority of the class is focused on contemporary global change, this is contextualized relative to palaeohistorical environmental change. The course provides an integrated knowledge of contemporary environmental issues related to global change (e.g. carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation, land-use change) and its implications for biodiversity, ecosystem services and human wellbeing).  DP requirements: Completion of at least 70% of deliverables (tests, practicals, project report), including at least one class test and the project report; attendance of practicals; minimum of 40% for the class record. Assessment: A 3-hour examination written in June, with a sub-minimum of 40%, will count for 50% of the course. Coursework marks will be allocated as follows: Practical classes (assessed weekly) count 15%; research project counts 20%; class tests count 15%. Course entry requirements: BIO1000F/H, BIO1004F/S; approved 2000-level semester Science course. 

Focusing on "finance" as an essential element for societal systems transformation to achieve a sustainable society, this class explains the current role of finance in the sustainable development and environmental fields and their theoretical background. It focuses on the two types of environmental finance: 1) Finance related to international cooperation in which developed countries and others financially support developing countries to promote environmental measures in developing countries, and 2) The growing trend toward greening the financial system and the economy from the perspective of stabilizing the financial system. Beyond international environmental conventions, there is now an increasing number of initiatives by financial institutions and companies to address sustainability. 

This class introduces the expansion of environmental finance and its challenges today; introducing trends related to the United Nations; current discussions on sustainable finance and responses to climate and nature-related risks by financial institutions and companies, and the relationship with international environmental conventions. This class also discusses the expansion of environmental finance and its related governance.

This course introduces students to the principles of environmental pollution. Students explore the major types of pollution in air, water, and on land. Students think about the impacts and issues posed by environmental pollution. Finally students reflect on the strategies used to prevent and control environmental pollution.

This course provides a foundational understanding of dynamic oceanography, including both global and regional ocean circulation, ocean–atmosphere interactions, as well as the basic equations used to describe fluid motion. A field-based component, involving embarkation on research vessels, familiarizes students with real working conditions in the marine environment and introduces them to observational techniques and data collection at sea.

At the age of global ecological crisis, this course looks at the environment in its historical dimension in order to understand not how we got here, but rather, where exactly we stand. By examining this history over a long 20th century and in various geographical areas, from North America to Asia, this course examines the environment for what it has become today: the most political issue in the contemporary world.

This course provides both fundamental and advanced knowledge in chemical oceanography, specifically to describe the chemistry of seawater and to present the processes that control its composition. The course offers a quantitative approach to material transfer processes at environmental interfaces, as well as their interactions with the oceanic biosphere, and details the (bio)geochemical processes responsible for modifying these transfers across time and space. The lectures cover topics such as the chemical composition of seawater, inputs of dissolved and particulate material to the ocean, elemental cycles, gases in seawater and ocean–atmosphere exchanges, redox conditions in the ocean, the use and relevance of stable and radioactive isotopes, particle transfer from the ocean surface to the sediments, and material exchanges between the oceanic crust and seawater. The course is complemented by a field excursion in a coastal environment involving sample collection, as well as tutorials and laboratory practical sessions during which the collected samples are analyzed.

This course is unique as it is co-organized by three faculties: Engineering, Medicine, and Science. This interdisciplinary collaboration highlights the importance of “biomimicry” and nature-inspired technologies that go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students in this course benefit from a comprehensive and diverse range of knowledge, merging insights from engineering, medicine, and science. By exploring how nature inspires technological advancements, students gain interdisciplinary skills and a broader perspective. The course is structured around three themes: industrial technology, biomedical technology, and environmental technology. Throughout this course, students learn to develop innovative ideas rooted in biomimicry to address real-world problems. Working in cross-faculty groups, students collaborate to design and build solutions that leverage the principles of biomimicry. This course equips students with the tools to contribute to sustainable and innovative technologies, preparing them for the challenges of the modern world.

This course explains science, technology, and social issues of general interest from the perspective of natural science. In addition, each class meeting explores the latest scientific and technological achievements published in general science magazines.

This course explores the ambiguous connections between population dynamics and climate change. After a lecture-based acquisition of basic knowledge in the field of demography, the course studies the link between climate change and population dynamics in an interactive way by discussing scientific articles. It discusses which demographic dynamics linked to fertility, mortality, and migration impact environmental changes. Hereby, the course considers questions such as how far climate change can be explained by population growth; whether demographic pressure helps adapting more quickly to climate change; and which regions are the most responsible for climate change, in economic and demographic terms. A particular focus is determining which populations are most vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation. Based on this fundamental knowledge, it discusses possible actions to dramatically reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and further deterioration of the environment as well as to protect the most exposed and vulnerable populations. It tackles climate-change related education, access to reproductive health care and family planning, gender equality in education and economic participation, investments in public health care services and technical improvements. This allow students to answer questions about what policies should be recommended to alleviate climate change, in the light of population growth and population aging, and which best-practice examples exist that help mitigating the effects of climate change for the most vulnerable.