Environmental Studies

This course brings in instructors who are best in their fields of research, and includes topics related to atmospheric science, environment science, physical and social geography in Taiwan. It provides a background in this wide range of disciplines, instilling a greater understanding of Taiwan. Besides the lectures, students also participate in various filed trip to NTU Herbarium and Zoological Museums, Evergreen Maritime Museum, and Guandu Nature Park. 

The course introduces the research approaches used in both human and physical environment areas.  Students are introduced to basic types of research and are equipped to use research in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs and projects. The course covers the initial stages of thinking theoretically about a research project, which covers both the human and physical environment approaches that are pertinent to environmental studies.  The course covers the basic knowledge of research as a scientific tool used to study social phenomena. Students are expected to have an understanding of basic principles of data collection, both quantitative & qualitative, and simple methods of data analysis as well as the importance of research design.

This advanced course covers the main ocean and atmosphere systems, with a particular emphasis on their biogeochemical functioning. This includes an introduction to the major marine biogeochemical cycles, seawater carbonate chemistry, phytoplankton-nutrient interactions and growth kinetics, surface ocean-lower atmosphere interactions, and an introduction to Earth system dynamics. The physical forcings and their biogeochemical and ecosystem responses are quantitatively illustrated for upwelling systems, oligotrophic systems, coastal systems around South Africa, and the Southern Ocean. Emphasis is placed on treating the systems in an integrative manner. Methods of data sampling and analysis, computation of biogeochemical pools, and rates and feedback are covered in the tutorials and practicals.

This course compares the political ecologies of Spain and California, two regions of the world with significantly different environmental histories, political systems, and socio-economic and political actors but strikingly similar Mediterranean type ecosystems. In particular, this course focuses on two crucial environmental issues for both these regions—water and land use—and how these have emerged as central items in the political agendas in both regions. The course explores the nature of the so-called “water wars” in California and Spain and how both regions have attempted to reconcile conflicting public and private interests over water use rights. It also looks at landscape planning and how urbanization has often ignored crucial ecological disturbance processes, such as landscape fires, with unforeseen and often catastrophic consequences. The class excursions include a visit to the public company that provides water to the Madrid region, the Canal de Isabel II, to learn about water policy in Madrid, and to the chestnut forest ecosystems of two different autonomous regional community governments in Avila and Madrid to witness the diverging impacts of different governance policies on the same natural system. A meeting with representatives of the Ministry of the Environment to learn about landscape planning is also scheduled.

This course examines the physical processes and linkages operating within the biosphere (biogeography) and lithosphere (geomorphology), with a focus on the role that temporal and spatial scales impact environmental processes.

This course introduces the looming energy challenges faced by the world economic system, as access and control of energy resources are a key stake in the world's geopolitics while climate change issues, resource scarcity, and their foreseen impacts drive the existing energy model to a potential crisis. The first part of the course examines the links between energy systems and social and economic models of our societies. It then explores the current energy transition dynamic and assesses its perspectives and impacts by studying different scales. The last part of the course addresses the ongoing changes in energy geopolitics and their links with climate issues.

This course aims to provide understanding of the latest development in biological treatment processes. The course covers the following:
1. Introduction
2. Fundamentals of Microbiology
3. Biological Reaction and Reaction Kinetics
4. Reactor Design (1) Kinetic Model Development(2) Evaluation of Biokinetic Constants
5. Aerobic Suspend-Growth Process (1) Activated Sludge Process (2) Oxidation Ditch (3) Sequencing Batch Reactor
7. Aerobic Attached-Growth Treatment Methods
8. Anaerobic Treatment(1) Introduction(2) Anaerobic Sludge Digestion(3) Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment
9. Nitrogen and Phosphorous Removal Method 

This course focuses on the geography and impact of the Mediterranean sea on its surrounding countries. It examines the environmental and geopolitical impacts of the Mediterranean.