Environmental Science, Policy and Management
College of Natural Resources
Department Office: 130 Mulford Hall, (510) 643-7430
Chair: Ronald Amundson, PhD
Department Website: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Overview
The mission of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) is to bring a diverse research, teaching, and extension capacity to bear on environmental problems from local to global scales. The biological, physical, and social scientists of the department are organized into three divisions on the basis of similar disciplinary or topical research interests, but all work within the unifying framework of the analysis of environmental problems and the development of management strategies to address them. Environmental problems demand increased understanding of social, physical, and biological systems as well as the transfer of basic research findings through modeling, implementation, teaching, and extension. ESPM facilitates the cross-disciplinary collaboration necessary to address vital, contemporary questions.
The department includes three divisions: Ecosystem Sciences, Organisms and Environment, and Society and Environment. The faculty have expertise in diverse areas of critical importance to environmental issues. Excellence in research and teaching in many disciplines, all brought together to focus on environmental problems, offers students the opportunity to become leaders in research, conservation, restoration, and management of the environment, biodiversity, and natural resources.
Facilities
The Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management is spread among Giannini Hall, Mulford Hall, Hilgard Hall, the Valley Life Sciences Building, and Wellman Hall. In addition to laboratories and classrooms, the facilities include outstanding libraries and collections: the Bioscience and Natural Resource Library has some of the world's largest collections of books and periodicals on forestry, entomology, and natural resources, and extensive periodical collections in plant pathology and soils. ESPM also houses specialized laboratories for remote sensing and photogrammetry, tree physiology, pesticide chemistry, plant pathology, natural products chemistry and physiology, and ecology and wildlife biology, as well as well-equipped chemical and microbiological laboratories. There are also extensive herbaria, wildlife specimen collections, an entomological museum, insectary buildings, growth chambers, bioclimatic chambers, and greenhouses at the nearby Oxford Research Unit and at the Division of Biological Control on the Gill Tract near Albany.
Computer facilities include microcomputer laboratories and terminal rooms. ESPM manages field facilities at the 3,000-acre Blodgett Forest near Georgetown, Whitaker's Forest adjacent to Sequoia National Park, the Howard Forest near Willits, Russell Reservation near Lafayette, and the Baker Forest adjacent to the department's Summer Camp property. Berkeley's location also provides easy access to numerous public and private resource management and conservation agencies including the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US National Park Service, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the California Department of Fish and Game.
Undergraduate Programs
Courses offered by the Department of ESPM serve students in the College of Natural Resources and across the campus in such diverse but related studies as forestry, conservation and resource studies, botany, biochemistry, geology, geography, and social science. A number of our courses are of sufficient general interest to attract students who wish to expand their intellectual horizons by learning something about environmental studies. Consult our website for updates here.
Transfer Applicants
Transfer candidates should complete all lower division requirements for their intended major before entering Berkeley and may be denied admission if they have not done so. The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) is highly applicable to the Conservation and Resource Studies major and the Society and Environment major, and is of limited application to other ESPM programs. In cases where the transfer institution does not have a course equivalent to a specific prerequisite for the major, applicants must take the coursework the first semester of enrollment at UC Berkeley.
Summer Field Program
In the beautiful mountains of the Plumas National Forest, the UC Summer Field Camp provides students a unique opportunity to study the biota, soils, and geology of the Feather River Country. Tall ponderosa and sugar pines tower over the area, with white fir, Douglas fir, incense cedar, and black oak intermixed in the dense forests. Several streams pass through the camp. Housing is provided in cabins and bunkhouses, with a central kitchen and dining facility and a large campfire area in front. Residents enjoy easy hiking to waterfalls, lakes, and mountain meadows.
The courses of the summer field program cover wildland ecology as well as forest, range, and wildlife management; forest resource inventory; forest products; harvesting practices; and many other subjects. During the eight-week program students acquire a broad working knowledge of the concepts and techniques that wildland resource managers use in their work. Your experiences studying forestry and wildland resources in a field setting will enrich your further academic studies at Berkeley.
The courses are an integral part of the core curriculum in the forestry and natural resources major, but students of any major on the Berkeley campus are welcome to apply. Students may complete most requirements of the minor in forestry by attending camp. Information and an application may be found here. The courses that comprise the camp are ESPM 105A-105D, including Sierra Nevada Ecology, Forest Measurements, Sivilculture and Utilization, and Forest Management and Assessment, for a total of 11 units.
Major in Conservation and Resource Studies
The Conservation and Resource Studies major is an interdisciplinary program designed for those who are interested in environmental issues and areas of interaction among natural resources, population, energy, technology, societal institutions, and cultural values. Students draw on the course offerings of the entire campus and appropriate community resources in the development of individual programs of study. The major's orientation is toward flexibility and an individualized educational approach to understanding the structure and dynamic functions of complex environmental systems within our society and biosphere. It encourages interaction among students, faculty, and community.
Course requirements for the major include one ESPM environmental science course, one ESPM social science course, and ESPM 90, 100, and 194A. In the freshman and sophomore years, students will be expected to take two courses in reading and composition and one course in calculus or statistics. In addition, students must take one course in general biology with lab, one social science, one course each in physical sciences and the humanities; and two courses preparatory to the individual areas of interest. For transfer students, IGETC will satisfy all lower division requirements except ESPM 90, and one course in general biology with lab, equivalent to UC Berkeley's Biology 1B (recommended), Biology 1A/1AL or Biology 11/11L. In the junior and senior years, students will concentrate on their areas of interest. A more detailed statement of major requirements is available at the ESPM website and from the department office.
Major in Forestry and Natural Resources
The major in Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) is the result of a merger of the former majors in forestry and in resource management. Specializations in natural science and human dimensions are offered in the study of the ecology and management of forest, woodland, and grassland ecosystems. Emphases in wildlife biology, water policy, fire science, ecosystem restoration, environmental justice, remote sensing and geographical information systems, and rural sociology are available. This major prepares students for graduate school and careers in environmental consulting, public agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations, and private companies, and for professional careers in forestry, wildlife, and range management. Participation in an eight-week summer field program in the northern Sierra Nevada is required.
Accreditation and Licensing: Established in 1914, forestry at Berkeley was the first forestry degree in California to be accredited by the Society of American Foresters. Completion of the Bachelor of Science degree in forestry provides four years of credit toward meeting the required seven years of qualifying education or professional experience for licensing as a professional forester in California. Students may obtain an additional year of credit toward licensing by completing the master of forestry degree. By careful selection of electives, students who complete the Bachelor of Science in forestry degree can meet the U.S. Civil Service and state requirements for the forester position.
Major in Molecular Environmental Biology
The Molecular Environmental Biology (MEB) major is designed to expose students to the organization and function of biological organisms at the molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecological levels. The breadth of this vertically integrated program is valuable in the added perspective it provides for students interested in how organisms function in their environment. Molecular approaches are expected to play an increasing role in environmental problem-solving in the near future, and educated citizens and researchers alike will need to have a grasp of basic molecular through ecological principles in order for these approaches to be effective in problem solving. This major is appropriate for pre-health (pre-med, pre-vet, pre-pharm, etc.) students, as well as students interested in general biology. Students in this major have a choice among six areas of emphasis:
- Animal Health and Behavior
- Biodiversity
- Ecology
- Environment and Human Health
- Anthropod Science
- Microbiology
Major in Society and Environment
Social and environmental problems are deeply intertwined. The Society and Environment major introduces students to the main approaches and theory for environmental social sciences, including how social science tools can be applied to environmental problems, and how social science theories contribute to understanding environmental problems. At the upper division level there are three major areas of concentration. Students are exposed to all three areas and choose to focus in one: US Environmental Policy and Management, Global Environmental Politics, or Justice and Sustainability.
Major in Environmental Sciences
The Environmental Sciences (ES) major is designed for students interested in studying environmental problems from a scientific perspective. The ES major prepares students to deal with issues arising from the impact of humaninteraction on natural systems. To address these problems, all ES students acquire strong backgrounds in math, biological sciences, and physical sciences. Students may choose to specialize further in a biological or physical science field such as ecology, conservation biology, toxicology, geology, hydrology, meteorology, engineering, or a social science field such as planning, policy analysis, economics, environmental justice, education. Each ES student completes a year-long senior research project with the support of a mentor in a biological, physical, or interdisciplinary research area.
Minors
Minor in Conservation and Resource Studies (CRS)
Conservation and Resource Studies is an interdisciplinary program designed for those who are interested in environmental issues and areas of interaction among natural resources, population, energy, technology, societal institutions, and cultural values. Students draw on the course offerings of the entire campus and appropriate community resources in the development of individual programs of study.
The CRS minor is oriented toward flexibility and an individualized educational approach to understanding the structure and dynamic functions of complex environmental systems within our society and biosphere. It encourages interaction among students, faculty, and community.
Minor in Forestry and Natural Resources
A minor in Forestry and Natural Resources is for students who are interested in learning about the conservation and restoration ofthe earth's natural resources through hands-on study of the ecology, stewardship, and management afforest, woodland, and grassland ecosystems. Many students elect to complete the minor by participating in the eight-week sun1mer field program, Forestry Field Camp, in the northern Sierra Nevada and taking one additional course on the UC Berkeley campus.
Students in many diverse majors such as integrative biology, business administration, and civil engineering may find this minor complimentary to their professional career goals.
Graduate Programs
The degree programs address environmental problems of major social and political impact, which are based in the biological and physical sciences. Two general types of education are needed to produce people qualified to address these hybrid problems: broadly based interdisciplinary education, and disciplinary education in relevant fields supplemented with exposure to cross-disciplinary communication and problem solving. The ESPM program offers both types of education.
Interest in environmental problems has resulted in a dramatic recent increase in undergraduate and graduate programs dealing with various aspects of environmental science. Our program integrates the biological, social, and physical sciences to provide advanced education in basic and applied environmental sciences, develops critical analytical abilities, and fosters the capacity to conduct research into the structure and function of ecosystems at molecular through ecosystem scales and their interlinked human social systems.
The goal of the program is to provide both a strong disciplinary education and broadly based experience in cross-disciplinary communication and problem solving. In order to achieve this, the program leading to the MS and PhD in environmental science, policy, and management will require that a student complete three core courses, and coursework in the following four broad areas: disciplinary emphasis, area of specialization, research methods, and breadth requirement. The graduate adviser and a guiding committee, chosen by the student and approved by the graduate adviser, will be responsible for designing a program that fulfills the degree requirements and meets the student's needs. This program structure provides the student with flexibility for interdisciplinary interaction within the graduate program, while ensuring at least a minimum level of disciplinary competence and understanding.
Three Fields of Emphasis
Students will be required to demonstrate competence in one of the three fields of emphasis defined below. Specific coursework within each field will be chosen by the guiding committee in conjunction with the student and approved by the graduate adviser. The three fields provide flexibility within a clear program structure.
Disciplinary Emphasis
The disciplinary emphasis is the broadest academic area encompassing the student's interests. Currently the three disciplinary emphases within the department are ecosystem sciences, organisms and environment, and society and environment. A student pursuing a strongly interdisciplinary program may study more than one of these disciplines in depth.
- Ecosystem Sciences: The Ecosystem Sciences Division increases knowledge of the biological, chemical, and physical processes that determine terrestrial ecosystem dynamics in order to provide a scientific basis for management and to analyze the adverse stresses that society places on terrestrial ecosystems. Central to this is collaboration between biological and physical scientists, leading to an integrated understanding of ecosystem composition, structure, and function, as well as to the extension of basic research findings through modeling, implementation, and educational activities. The principal research and teaching efforts are directed toward forests, grasslands, and agricultural lands, including their interactions with contiguous aquatic, wetland, and marine ecosystems and the atmosphere. Investigation is carried out over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, with emphasis on extending understanding of processes derived from research at smaller scales to landscape, regional, and global scales. The role of human activities, including ecosystem management scenarios, is an integral component.
- Organisms and Environment: The mission of the Division of Organisms and Environment is to use fundamental research on insect systems to address critical environmental issues and to solve vital environmental problems. Research interests in this division are wide ranging, from the molecular to whole ecosystems, providing a strong integration of biological processes and a diversity of intellectual challenges for graduate students. Systematics and biodiversity, behavior and neurobiology, and ecology and biological control are notable strengths in Organisms and Environment. Other research emphases include environmental toxicology, medical entomology, and insect-microbe interactions.
- Society and Environment: Faculty and students of the Division of Society and Environment study how social distributions of power and resources affect environmental dynamics and their social consequences. Research and teaching focus on how cultural, social, political, and economic institutions affect the treatment of natural resources and interactions with environmental phenomena; and on the practical processes, methods, and implications of forming, choosing, and applying policy and management regimes in different institutional frameworks and environmental settings. This knowledge is applied to concrete problems in human-ecosystem relations from local to global scales in a wide variety of cultural and historical contexts. Theories and methods are chosen from the full range of science and interpretive analysis to satisfy the standards of both significant scholarship and effective practical contribution for the problem of interest.
Area of Specialization
The area of specialization is a narrower field within the context of the disciplinary emphasis. Some examples of these areas are microbial community ecology, ecosystem function, insect population and community ecology, biological control of arthropods, insect conservation biology, American environmental history and policy, international forest management, biogeochemistry, Mediterranean grassland ecosystems, remote sensing, and forest management.
Research Methods
Candidates for the PhD must demonstrate competence in research techniques appropriate for the disciplinary emphasis and area of specialization. Preparation in this field must include experimental design, sampling design, estimation, and hypothesis testing.
Breadth Requirement
Each student's program must include coursework addressing human and ecosystem processes and the relationship between them. All students must complete the required core courses, ESPM 201A-201C-201S. In addition, while in residence, doctoral students in the natural sciences must complete one additional course in the application of social sciences to environmental problems, and those in the social sciences must complete one additional course in the biological or physical sciences. The level of this course will be determined by the guiding committee, based on the student's background and experience. The course must be a minimum of 2 graduate units or 3 upper division undergraduate units, and must be taken for a letter grade unless it is offered on an S/U basis only.
Required Core Courses
All master's and doctoral students in ESPM are required to take a core course sequence. The first required course, ESPM 201A, Research Approaches in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (3 units), will be taken in the first fall semester by all new master's and doctoral students. ESPM 201C, the seminar entitled Environmental Forum (1 unit), is required for all doctoral students and must either have been taken before, or be in progress, when the doctoral oral qualifying examination is held. Master's students are not required to take 201C. ESPM 201S, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Colloquim (1 unit), is required for all doctoral students and must be taken once before the oral qualifying examination. ESPM 201S may be repeated for credit.
Students are also required to complete a minimum of 6 units in their area of specialization. In addition, students in natural sciences must complete one additional course in the application of social sciences to environmental problems, and students in social sciences must complete one additional course in the biological or physical sciences. The Guiding Committee and the head graduate adviser will approve the selection of appropriate courses to meet these course requirements.
Admission to the Graduate Program
Applicants for admission to the graduate program must hold a bachelor's degree from a university or college with curricula and standards equivalent to those of the University of California. The completed undergraduate program should normally be in a field relevant to the disciplinary emphasis chosen. Applicants without this background may be admitted with the understanding that their coursework must compensate for deficiencies in their preparation. We suggest that prospective applicants consult with faculty or the Graduate Student Services Office for advice on what courses may be recommended.
It is critical that all applicants identify on their application faculty whose research and work overlap with their strengths and interests. Without this information, the admission committee will not be able to evaluate your application properly. You may wish to contact faculty during the application process, but it is not required. Faculty sponsorship of entering graduate students will be determined once all applications have been reviewed and final admission offers have been made. The ESPM admission committee, not individual faculty, makes the final decisions on who will be offered admission to the program. Applications are accepted for the fall semester only.
Research Facilities
Departmental facilities of high quality are available to support graduate student research and education. Facilities include state-of-the-art instrumentation and laboratories, insectary buildings, controlled environment chambers, extensive greenhouse space, and field plots at the Oxford Tract (on campus). Field facilities available to departmental faculty and students include the 3500 acre Blodgett Forest; Whitaker's Forest with giant sequoia stands adjacent to King's Canyon National Park; Russell Reservation, located 13 miles east of the campus. Students may conduct research with an agricultural orientation at any of several University of California field stations which are located throughout the state.
Supplementing the University library are extensive holdings covering the physical, biological, and sociological dimensions of forestry and wildland resource management. The department also houses an outstanding entomological museum that supports both teaching and research programs in insect systematics and ecology.
Master of Forestry (MF)
The Master of Forestry (MF) degree is the advanced professional forestry degree granted by the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. The student who has completed an undergraduate curriculum in forestry is usually broadly trained in the principles of forestry but has not yet developed proficiency in the application of these principles to diverse problems involved in professional practice. The Master of Forestry program is designed to advance the student's understanding of the essentials of professional forest management at the graduate level within the context of resource and environmental planning of sustainable systems.
The MF program consists of three components: coursework, an internship, and a professional paper. The coursework consists of 24 semester units of upper division and graduate courses of which at least 12 units must be at the graduate level. This program of study must be approved by the graduate adviser and guiding professor as constituting appropriate advanced specialized training in professional forest resource management. The internship, normally with a public or private forest land management organization, provides direct experience in the application of theory to professional land management. The purpose of the professional paper is to demonstrate, within a distinct framework, a student's ability to assemble and analyze data and to recommend a resolution of an applied forest problem. The paper may be based on the internship or on another supervised professional work experience, or may be a report based on independent analysis. The paper must be accepted and approved by the guiding professor and graduate adviser.
Upon completion of the program of coursework, and approval of the professional paper, the student will take a comprehensive oral examination covering the field of forest management and present the results of their professional paper. Although major emphasis will be placed on the professional project, students should be prepared to demonstrate mastery of the general field of forestry.
Interdepartmental Graduate Group in Range Management (MS)
For information about the MS degree in range management, see the Range Management section of this bulletin. Additional information about the graduate programs offered by the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management may be obtained from the Graduate Student Services, 133 Mulford Hall, (510) 642-6410; fax: (510) 643-2759; e-mail: espmgrad@nature.berkeley.edu ; or from the department's website .
ESPM 2 The Biosphere 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
An introduction to the unifying principles and fundamental concepts underlying our scientific understanding of the biosphere. Topics covered include the physical life support system on earth; nutrient cycles and factors regulating the chemical composition of water, air, and soil; the architecture and physiology of life; population biology and community ecology; human dependence on the biosphere; and the magnitude and consequences of human interventions in the biosphere.
ESPM 6 Environmental Biology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: One course in introductory college biology is recommended. Intended for nonscience majors.
Basic biological and ecological principles discussed in relation to environmental disruptions. Human interactions with the environment; their meaning for animals and plants. Discussion of basic ecological processes as a basis for understanding environmental problems and formulating strategies for their solution.
Instructor: Chapela
ESPM 9 Environmental Science Case Study Seminar 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
Utilizing a field intensive seminar format, the course will introduce lower division students to the process of addressing real environmental problems. Through a progression of case studies, students will explore a spectrum of research design and implementation approaches. By the end of the semester, they will be able to frame a researchable question, design a protocol for gathering relevant information, analyze the information, and derive an objective conclusion. Throughout the semester, students will present case study results in oral and written form.
Instructors: Fairfax, Spencer
ESPM C10/L & S C30V Environmental Issues 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Letters and Science
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1.5 hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Relationship between human society and the natural environment; case studies of ecosystem maintenance and disruption. Issues of economic development, population, energy, resources, technology, and alternative systems.
Students will receive no credit for C10 after taking 10. Instructor: Welter
ESPM C11/L & S C30U Americans and the Global Forest 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Letters and Science
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
This course challenges students to think about how individual and American consumer decisions affect forest ecosystems around the world. A survey course that highlights the consequences of different ways of thinking about the forest as a global ecosystem and as a source of goods like trees, water, wildlife, food, jobs, and services. The scientific tools and concepts that have guided management of the forest for the last 100 years, and the laws, rules, and informal institutions that have shaped use of the forests, are analyzed.
ESPM C12/ENGLISH C77 Introduction to Environmental Studies 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; English; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1.5 hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
This integrative course, taught by a humanities professor and a science professor, surveys current global environmental issues; introduces the basic intellectual tools of environmental science; investigates ways the human relationship to nature has been imagined in literary and philosophical traditions; and examines how tools of scientific and literary analysis; scientific method, and imaginative thinking can clarify what is at stake in environmental issues and ecological citizenship.
Students will not receive credit for C12 after taking UGIS C12 or EnglWill count toward ESPM Social Science core requirement for the Conservish C77. ation and Resource studies major.
ESPM 15 Introduction to Environmental Sciences 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Introduction to the science underlying biological and physical environmental problems, including water and air quality, global change, energy, ecosystem services, introduced and endangered species, water supply, solid waste, human population, and interaction of technical, social, and political approaches to environmental management.
Formerly known as Environmental Sciences 10. Instructors: Firestone, Goldstein, Potts
ESPM 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Hours and format: 1 hour of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Freshman Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics may vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to fifteen freshman.
Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 39E Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 1 - 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Hours and format: 1 hour of seminar per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 40 Insects and Human Society 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
An introduction to the diversity and natural history of insects in natural and human environments. The course examines the wonder of insects, their interactions with the living world, and their contributions to and impacts on human society.
Instructor: Will
ESPM 42 Natural History of Insects 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
An outline of the main facts and principles of biology as illustrated by insects, with special emphasis on their relations to plants and animals, including humans.
Instructors: Gillespie, Roderick
ESPM 44 Biological Control 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Regulation of populations of organisms, especially insects, through interactions with parasites, predators, pathogens, competitors. Discussion of examples from agricultural, forest, urban, and recreational environments.
Instructor: Mills
ESPM 50AC Introduction to Culture and Natural Resource Management 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 6 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Discussion per week for 8 weeks. 7.5 hours of Lecture and 2.5 hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.
An introduction to how culture affects the way we use and manage fire, wildland and urban forests, rangelands, parks and preserves, and croplands in America. The basic concepts and tools for evaluating the role of culture in resource use and management are introduced and used to examine the experience of American cultural groups in the development and management of western natural resources.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Formerly known as 50.
ESPM 60 Environmental Policy, Administration, and Law 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Introduction to U.S. environmental policy process focuses on history and evolution of political institutions, importance of property, federal and state roles in decision making, and challenges of environmental policy. Emphasis is on use of science in decision making, choices between regulations and incentives, and role of bureaucracy in resource policy. Case studies on natural resource management, risk management, environmental regulation, and environmental justice.
ESPM 72 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Three years of high school math.
Introduction to computer systems, data processing software for natural resources studies. Components of geographic information systems; concepts of surveying, mapping, and remote sensing as data sources; various methods of data processing and analysis including classification, map overlay, buffer analysis, topographic modeling, spatial interpolation, and map design with a GIS. Intensive hands-on practices with relevant computer software packages.
Instructor: Gong
ESPM 78A Teaching and Learning Environmental Science 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture, 1 hour of discussion, and 3 hours of field laboratory per week.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Introduces theories of cognitive development and the practices of curriculum design and lesson presentation for environmental education. Ecology and natural resource management provide the context of curriculum development. Students create lesson plans integrating core concepts and their knowledge of local environmental issues. Lessons are presented to Bay Area K-12 students in field and classroom settings.
Instructor: Spencer
ESPM 90 Introduction to Conservation and Resource Studies Major 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of seminar per week for 8 weeks.
Introduction to the major, emphasizing each student's educational goals. Overview of ecological problems and contrasting approaches to solutions through institutional and community-based efforts. Required of all CRS sophomore majors and all entering off-campus transfer students to CRS major. Restricted to CRS majors. One field trip is normally required.
ESPM 98 Directed Group Study in ESPM 1 - 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 1 hour of lecture/discussion per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Lower division standing; consent of instructor, adviser, and department chair.
Study of special topics that are not covered in depth in regular courses in the department.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 98BC Berkeley Connect 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture per week.
Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 99 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: Individual meetings.
Prerequisites: Lower division standing (3.4 GPA or better), consent of instructor, adviser, and department chair. Usually restricted to ESPM majors.
Supervised independent study or research on topics relevant to department that are not covered in depth by other courses. Open to students in good standing who, in consultation with a faculty sponsor, present a proposal with clearly formulated objectives and means of implementation. Intended for exceptional students.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 100 Environmental Problem Solving 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of discussion/demonstration per week.
Prerequisites: One course in ecology; one course in mathematics or statistics; one course in a social science or economics.
Analysis of contrasting approaches to understanding and solving environmental and resource management problems. Case studies and hands-on problem solving that integrate concepts, principles, and practices from physical, biological, social, and economic disciplines. Their use in environmental policies and resource and management plans.
Instructor: Frankie
ESPM 100ES Introduction to the Methods of Environmental Science 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture, 1 hour of Discussion, and 1.5 hours of Fieldwork per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Completion of upper division statistics requirement. Open only to declared Environmental Sciences majors.
Introduction to basic methods used in environmental research by biological, physical, and social scientists; designed to teach skills necessary to conduct independent thesis research in the required senior seminar, 196A-196B/196L. Topics include development of research questions, sampling methods, experimental design, statistical analysis, scientific writing and graphics, and introductions to special techniques for characterizing environmental conditions and features. This course is the prerequisite to 196A.
Formerly known as Environmental Sciences 100. Instructor: Battles
ESPM 102A Terrestrial Resource Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 4 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A-1B or equivalent.
Provides a foundation in terrestrial ecology. Organized around five topics: environmental biophysics, ecosystem carbon balance, ecophysiology, population ecology, community ecology. Examines how each contributes to understanding of distribution and abundance of organisms in biosphere. Laboratory exercises, a mandatory weekend field trip, and a group research project provide opportunities to explore questions in depth. Emphasis on building quantitative understanding of ecological phenomena.
Instructor: McBride
ESPM 102B Natural Resource Sampling 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Statistics 2 or 20.
This course is designed to introduce students to the major sampling systems used in natural resources and ecology. It also introduces students to important sampling and measurement concepts in grassland, forest, wildlife, insect, soil, and water resources. May be taken without laboratory course 102BL.
Instructor: Biging
ESPM 102BL Laboratory in Natural Resource Sampling 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of discussion/laboratory per week.
Prerequisites: Statistics 2 or 20.
This laboratory course is designed to introduce students to the major sampling systems used in natural resources and ecology. Field data is collected with various important sampling designs and analyzed. Mean values and confidence intervals are constructed from the data collected in this course. This course must be taken in conjunction with lecture course 102B.
Instructor: Biging
ESPM 102C Resource Management 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Precalculus. 156, 184, and 70 are recommended.
Presents concept and practical approaches to public and private natural resource management decision making. The focus is on goals, criteria, data, models, and technology for quantifying and communicating the consequences of planning options. A range of contemporary air, soil, wetland, rangeland, forest, social, economic, and ecosystem management problems is addressed.
ESPM 102D Resource and Environmental Policy 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Environmental Economics and Policy 1 or one lower division course in a social science, or consent of instructor.
The course develops capacities to analyze and affect the cause, dynamics, and consequences of resources and environmental policy formation and execution. It develops concepts of public policy and how cultural, legal, political, economic, and administrative processes form, execute, and modify it. It examines the causes and outcomes of politics among groups defined by race, ethnicity, class, and scientific/religious identities and analyzes resource and environmental policies that create or reduce enduring inequalities among racial/ethnic groups. It examines the social and environmental consequences of resource policies as well as alternative policies and processes.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Instructor: Romm
ESPM C103/INTEGBI C156 Principles of Conservation Biology 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1.5 hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A-1B or equivalent.
A survey of the principles and practices of conservation biology. Factors that affect the creation, destruction, and distribution of biological diversity at the level of the gene, species, and ecosystem are examined. Tools and management options derived from ecology and evolutionary biology that can recover or prevent the loss of biological diversity are explored.
Instructor: Beissinger
ESPM C104/ENVECON C115 Modeling and Management of Biological Resources 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Environmental Economics and Policy
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture, 1 hour of discussion, and ad-hoc laboratories.
Models of population growth, chaos, life tables, and Leslie matrix theory. Harvesting and exploitation theory. Methods for analyzing population interactions, predation, competition. Fisheries, forest stands, and insect pest management. Genetic aspects of population management. Mathematical theory based on simple difference and ordinary differential equations. Use of simulation packages on microcomputers (previous experience with computers not required).
Instructor: Getz
ESPM 105A Sierra Nevada Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 10 hours of lecture, 30 hours of field work, and 10 hours of project work for 2 weeks.
Prerequisites: Eight hours biology.
Introduction to silvicultural theory, forest operations, and utilization and manufacture of forest products. Evaluation of silviculture for managing forest stands for multiple objectives including regeneration, stand density control, forest growth, genetic improvement, and prescribed burning. Introduction to harvest and access systems, wood structure and quality, and manufacture of forest product. Field trips and lectures to local areas illustrating different approaches to forest problems.
Instructor: McBride
ESPM 105B Forest Measurements 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 12 hours of lecture, 18 hours of field work, and 10 hours of proje12 hours of lecture, 18 hours of field work, and 10 hours of project work for 1 week. ct work for 1 week.
Prerequisites: 105A.
This course teaches students how to use common forestry tools, maps, and various sampling methods to collect information about the forest environment. Thirty percent of the time is spent in the classroom learning about the techniques and working up field data. The remaining time is spent in the field applying these techniques in real world settings. Skills taught will include tree and plot measurement procedures, map reading, and simple field orienteering principles.
ESPM 105C Silviculture and Utilization 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 15 hours of lecture and 30 hours of field work per week for 2 weeks.
Prerequisites: 105A, 105B.
Introduction to silvicultural theory, forest operations, and utilization and manufacture of forest products. Evaluation of silviculture for managing forest stands for multiple objectives including regeneration, stand density control, forest growth, genetic improvement, and prescribed burning. Introduction to harvest and access systems, wood structure and quality, and manufacture of forest product. Field trips and lectures to local areas illustrating different approaches to forest problems.
Instructor: O'Hara
ESPM C105/INTEGBI C105 Natural History Museums and Biodiversity Science 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week.
(1) survey of museum resources, including strategies for accession, conservation, collecting and acquiring material, administration, and policies; (2) strategies for making collections digitally available (digitization, databasing, georeferencing, mapping); (3) tools and approaches for examining historical specimens (genomics, isotopes, ecology, morphology, etc); and (4) data integration and inference. The final third of the course will involve individual projects within a given museum.
Instructors: Gillespie, Mishler, Will, Marshall, McGuire
ESPM 105D Forest Management and Assessment 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Thirty 4 hours of classroom instruction and 52 hours of field work/Thirty 4 hours of classroom instruction and 52 hours of field work/laboratory analysis for 2 weeks. laboratory analysis for 2 weeks.
Prerequisites: 105A, 105B, and 105C.
Develop skills in evaluating forests and developing management strategies to meet ownership objectives. Develop integrated forest management plan for 160 acre parcel. During first week, inventory and assess ecological condition of the assigned parcel. During second week, develop comprehensive integrated forest resource plan, integrating water, wood, wildlife, range, fisheries, and recreation. Oral reports in both an office and field setting required and written management plan.
ESPM 106 American Wildlife: Identification and Conservation 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 hour of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week, plus 4 Saturday field trips.
Identification and life histories of wildlife in North America, with emphasis on species with important ecological and recreational value. The conservation of rare and endangered species is highlighted.
Instructor: Barrett
ESPM C107/INTEGBI 158LF Biology and Geomorphology of Tropical Islands 13 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 9 hours of lecture for 6 weeks; field projects for 6 weeks; 3 hours of lecture for 3 weeks.
Natural history and evolutionary biology of island terrestrial and freshwater organisms, and of marine organisms in the coral reef and lagoon systems will be studied, and the geomorphology of volcanic islands, coral reefs, and reef islands will be discussed. Features of island biogeography will be illustrated with topics linked to subsequent field studies on the island of Moorea (French Polynesia).
ESPM 108A Trees: Taxonomy, Growth, and Structures 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Study of trees and associated woody species including their taxonomy and distribution, modes of shoot growth and diameter growth, and stem structure. Modes of stem structure and growth will be considered in relation to habitat and life cycles, and to suitability for timber value. Instruction in oral communication. Oral presentation required.
Instructor: Dodd
ESPM 108B Forest Genetics 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A-1B or equivalents.
Course covers basic mechanisms of inheritance for understanding principles of population genetics and analysis of quantitative traits. It examines methods of measuring and describing quantitative genetic variation in trees. Examples of theoretical aspects of genetics are used to understand patterns of genetic variation in natural populations of forest trees, applications to conservation biology, and their implications for developing strategies for commercial programs of forest tree improvement.
Instructor: Dodd
ESPM 110 Primate Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
This course examines the comparative ecology of sympatric primate species in forests of Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. In addition to primate ecology, students will master comparative information on the three main tropical forest regions of the world and examine the impact of selective logging on primate densities and diversities in each area.
Instructor: Milton
ESPM 111 Ecosystem Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week. 15 to 20 hours of problem solving exercises per term.
Prerequisites: Biology 1B.
This course will develop principles of ecosystems ecology, emphasizing terrestrial ecosystems, and will consider how these principles apply to ecosystem recovery and to regional and global fluxes of carbon and nutrients.
Formerly known as C111, Integrative Biology C155. Instructors: Baldocchi, Silver
ESPM 112 Microbial Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A and Biology 1B; Molecular and Cell Biology 102 is recommended.
Introduction to the ecology of microorganisms. Topics include the ecology and evolution of microbes and their relationship with each other and the environment. The role and function of microbes in several ecosystems is also discussed.
ESPM 113 Insect Ecology 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1B or consent of instructor.
Ecology of insects: interactions with the physical environment; structure and functioning of insect populations and communities; behavioral ecology of predator-prey interactions; plant-insect interactions; social insects; pollination biology; applied insect ecology.
Instructor: Welter
ESPM 114 Wildlife Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Upper division or graduate standing.
Introduction to wildlife ecology and its relationship to management programs. Includes population, community, and ecosystem levels of organization, followed by selected case studies.
Instructor: Brashares
ESPM 115B Biology of Aquatic Insects 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall. Offered odd-numbered years.
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Introductory course in a biological science.
Identification and ecology of aquatic insects, including their role as indicators of environmental quality.
Instructor: Resh
ESPM 115C Fish Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week; 1 Saturday field trip.
Prerequisites: Introductory course in biological science; upper division or graduate standing.
Introduction to fish ecology, with particular emphasis on the identification and ecology of California's inland fishes. This course will expose students to the diversity of fishes found in California, emphasizing the physical (e.g., temperature, flow), biotic (e.g., predation, competition), and human-related (e.g., dams, fisheries) factors that affect the distribution, diversity, and abundance of these fishes.
Instructor: Carlson
ESPM C115C/INTEGBI C176L Fish Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week; 1 Saturday field trip.
Prerequisites: Introductory course in biological science; upper division or graduate standing.
Introduction to fish ecology, with particular emphasis on the identification and ecology of California's inland fishes. This course will expose students to the diversity of fishes found in California, emphasizing the physical (e.g., temperature, flow), biotic (e.g., predation, competition), and human-related (e.g., dams, fisheries) factors that affect the distribution, diversity, and abundance of these fishes.
Instructor: Carlson
ESPM 116B Range Ecology, Improvements, and Management 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: One course in ecology.
The ecological basis for range management activities, considered in the context of western range ecosystem types. Specific range improvement and range management practices are discussed in the context of ecosystem processes.
Instructors: Allen-Diaz, Bartolome
ESPM 116C Tropical Forest Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: One course in ecology and one course in chemistry or consent of instructor.
Introduction to the ecology of terrestrial tropical ecosystems, with particular emphasis on neotropical forests. Explores unique aspects of tropical ecosystems, especially nutrient cycles, net primary productivity, biological diversity, forest structure and dynamics, disturbance ecology, and the natural history of key forest organisms. Basic ecology is integrated with discussion of human disturbances, restoration of tropical ecosystems, and the global importance of tropical forests.
Instructor: Silver
ESPM 117 Urban Garden Ecosystems 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
An ecosystem approach to the study of urban gardens with an organic perspective. Topics include fundamentals of horticulture, soil properties and fertility, pest and disease management, and food perservation. Laboratories include methods in garden design, plant propagation, compost technique, soil preparation, irrigation systems, pest management, individual or group projects, demonstrations, and discussions. Enrollment may be limited.
Instructor: Altieri
ESPM 118 Agricultural Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Examines in a holistic framework fundamental biological, technical, socio-economic, and political processes that govern agroecosystem productivity and stability. Management techniques and farming systems' designs that sustain longterm production are emphasized. One Saturday field trip and one optional field trip.
Instructor: Altieri
ESPM 119 Chemical Ecology 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Introductory courses in organic chemistry and biology or consent of instructor.
Plant toxins and their effects on animals, hormonal interactions between plants and animals, feeding preferences, animal pheromones, and defense substances, biochemical interactions between higher plants, and phytoalexins and phytotoxins.
Instructor: Kubo
ESPM 120 Soil Characteristics 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Chemistry 1A, 3A.
Introduction to physical, engineering, chemical, and biological properties of soil; methods of soil description, identification, geographic distribution and uses; the role of soil in supplying water and nutrients to plants; and soil organisms. Soil management for agriculture, forestry, and urban uses will also be discussed. Includes a Saturday field trip.
Instructor: Ammundson
ESPM 121 Development and Classification of Soils 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring. Offered even numbered years.
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Earth and Planetary Sciences 100A-100B, and Chemistry 1A, 3A recommended.
Development, morphology, and classification of soils as related to geology, environmental factors, and time. Soils as functioning parts of ecosystems; use of soils in archeological and paleoclimatic studies; anthropogenic effects on soil ecosystems.
Instructor: Amundson
ESPM 122 Field Study of Soil Development 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring. Offered even numbered years.
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Zero hours of Fieldwork per week for 15 weeks.
Five day-long Saturday field trips to locations in central California. The field study of soil development and morphology. Methods of soil morphological descriptions; study of factors controlling soil development; relationship of soil morphology to land use; quaternary geology of central California; use of soils in dating landscapes.
Instructor: Amundson
ESPM C126/INTEGBI C144 Animal Behavior 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A, 1B, or Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 140. Molecular and Cell Biology 140 and C160 recommended.
An introduction to comparative animal behavior and behavioral physiology in an evolutionary context, including but not limited to analysis of behavior, genetics and development, learning, aggression, reproduction, adaptiveness, and physiological substrates.
Students will receive no credit for 144 after taking C144, 145, 146LF, or Psychology C115B. Instructors: Lacey, Caldwell, Bentley, Elias
ESPM C128/CIV ENG C116 Chemistry of Soils 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Civil Engineering 111 or equivalent.
Chemical mechanisms of reactions controlling the fate and mobility of nutrients and pollutants in soils. Role of soil minerals and humus in geochemical pathways of nutrient biovailability and pollutant detoxification. Chemical modeling of nutrient and pollutant soil chemistry. Applications to soil acidity and salinity.
Instructor: Sposito
ESPM C129/EPS C129 Biometeorology 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Earth and Planetary Science; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course describes how the physical environment (light, wind, temperature, humidity) of plants and soil affects the physiological status of plants and how plants affect their physical environment. Using experimental data and theory, it examines physical, biological, and chemical processes affecting transfer of momentum, energy, and material (water, CO2, atmospheric trace gases) between vegetation and the atmosphere. Plant biometeorology instrumentation and measurements are also discussed.
Instructor: Baldocchi
ESPM 131 Soil Microbial Ecology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A-1B.
Description: Introduction to the organisms that live in the soil and their activities in the soil ecosystem. Lectures will cover the physical and chemical properties of soils and the soil as a habitat for microorganisms, the diversity and ecology of soil microorganisms, and their activity in the context of biogeochemical cycling, plant-microbe interactions, global environmental change and bioremediation. Goals: To gain fundamental knowledge of the occurrence and activities of soil microorganisms and their influence on soil productivity and environmental quality as well as potential applications of soil microbiology. This course is targeted at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students who require a comprehensive treatment of the field of soil microbiology. Topics will include: Soil as a habitat for microorganisms, Occurrence and distribution of soil organisms, Methods for studying soil microorganisms, Carbon cycling and soil organic matter, Biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and metals, Xenobiotic degradation and bioremediation.
Instructor: Pallud
ESPM 132 Spider Biology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A-1B.
Covers topics ranging from mythological ideas about spiders and their importance in traditional cultures and folklore, to diversity patterns, ecology, behavior, and general biology of spiders. In the laboratory section, students learn to identify local spiders and to prepare a collection.
Instructor: Gillespie
ESPM 134 Fire, Insects, and Diseases in Forest Ecosystems 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture per week and 4 1- to 2-day field trips.
Prerequisites: One course in biology.
Study of the influence of fire, insects, and diseases on species diversity, succession, and the survival of North American forests including the evolution of these interactions due to modern human policies of preservation and management and exploitation.
Instructor: Bruns
ESPM C138/MCELLBI C114/PLANTBI C114 Introduction to Comparative Virology 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Molecular and Cell Biology; Plant and Microbial Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Introductory chemistry (Chemistry 1A or 3A-3B or equivalent) and introductory biology (Biology 1A, 1AL, and 1B or equivalent) and general biochemistry (Molecular and Cell Biology C100A or equivalent--preferably completed but may be taken concurrently).
This course will provide a comparative overview of virus life cycles and strategies viruses use to infect and replicate in hosts. We will discuss virus structure and classification and the molecular basis of viral reproduction, evolution, assembly, and virus-host interactions. Common features used during virus replication and host cellular responses to infection will be covered. Topics also included are common and emerging virus diseases, their control, and factors affecting their spread.
Instructors: Glaunsinger, Jackson
ESPM 140 General Entomology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 6 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Introductory course in a biological science.
Biology of insects, including classification of orders and common families, morphology, physiology, behavior, and ecology.
Instructor: Roderick
ESPM 141 Development of Taxonomic Identification Keys and Natural Language Descriptions 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Prior knowledge of focus group for project.
Tools for identification of organisms to species or higher-level taxonomic groups are critically needed. This course will allow students to learn both the theoretical basis of and practical skills for building traditional dichotomous keys and various types of interactive keys. Emphasis will be on learning to build a web-based interactive key and developing natural language descriptions through students' individual projects. Students can train on the Microptics Digital XLT imaging system and learn to use Lucid and Lucid Phoenix software. Other Internet identification tools will also be surveyed and discussed. Each student will produce an online key as a project.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Will
ESPM 142 Insect Behavior 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Biology 1A and 1B.
Insects display an incredibly rich array of behaviors, including extravagant displays, rituals, deception, sociality, and slavery. In some cases, these behaviors are innate, but in other cases individual insects can actively learn and modify their future behaviors based on real-life experiences. This course will focus on the development, structure, and function of insect behaviors, using examples from classic and recent publications. We will examine the evolution of insect behavior, how these behaviors play a role in the ecology of the organisms that express them, and explore various modes of communication that allow insects to judge their environment and respond appropriately.
Instructor: Tsutsui
ESPM 144 Insect Physiology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: General biology, zoology, or entomology.
A survey of the unique physiological mechanisms of insects, including the analysis of physiological systems at the cellular-molecular level. The roles of the nervous and endocrine systems in coordinating physiological processes are emphasized.
Instructor: Tanouye
ESPM 146L Medical and Veterinary Entomology Laboratory 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring. Offered odd-numbered years.
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Laboratory identification of the major arthropod vectors of disease agents to humans and other animals, and study of the structural adaptations associated with free-living and parasitic stages and with blood feeding.
Instructor: Lane
ESPM 147 Field Entomology 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 hour of laboratory/lecture per week with a 3-day weekend field trip on selected dates.
Prerequisites: 42, 140, or consent of instructor. 42, 140, or consent of instructor.
This course introduces methods and techniques for collection and preparation of specimens and associated biological data, field observation, and recording and interpretation of arthropod behavior, relationships to habitats, and plant-arthropod interactions.
Course may be repeated for a maximum of 4.0 units which may be taken in the same term.Course may be repeated for a maximum of 4 units.
ESPM C148/NUSCTX C114 Pesticide Chemistry and Toxicology 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Introductory courses in organic chemistry and biology, or consent of instructor.
Chemical composition of pesticides and related compounds, their mode of action, resistance mechanisms, and methods of evaluating their safety and activity.
Instructor: Casida
ESPM C149/INTEGBI C149 Molecular Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring. Offered alternate years.
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C163, 161, or Molecular and Cell Biology C142 (may be taken concurrently), or consent of instructor.
This course focuses on the use of molecular genetic information in ecology. Applications and techniques covered range from analysis of parentage and relatedness (DNA fingerprinting and multilocus genetic analysis) through gene flow, biogeographic history and community composition (comparative DNA sequencing) to analysis of diet and trophic interactions (biological isotopes). Grades are based on one final exam, problem sheets, and a critique of a recent research paper.
Students will receive no credit for C149 if they took 149 prior to spring 2003. Formerly known as 149.
ESPM 150 Special Topics in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 2 - 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 hour of lecture per week per unit.
Special topics in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. Topics may vary from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 151 Society, Environment, and Culture 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1.5 hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing.
Issues, concepts, and processes pertaining to the diverse approaches to understanding the relationship between human society, culture, and the environment. Core ideas in and approaches to science, nature, culture, feminism, indigeneity, and postcolonialism as they pertain to the environment and society. Critical analysis and discussion of fundamental and contemporary issues and texts in the field.
ESPM 152 Global Change Biology 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in biological science; upper division or graduate standing.
The course will focus on understanding how anthropogenic changes to the global environment (e.g., climate change, habitat destruction, global trade) impact organisms. We will evaluate responses to global change in a wide diversity of organisms (from microbes to mammals) and ecosystems (from arctic to temperate to tropical). We will also explore conservation and mitigation strategies in the face of global change. Discussions will draw on recent primary research and case studies.
Instructor: Rosenblum
ESPM 155 Sociology and Political Ecology of Agro-Food Systems 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Sociology and political ecology of agro-food systems; explores the nexus of agriculture, society, the environment; social and environmental impact analysis; alternative social movement initiatives-fair trade, food justice/food sovereignty, organic farming, urban agriculture.
Instructor: De Master
ESPM 156 Animal Communication 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture per week.
Prerequisites: Biology 1B. Animal Behavior (ESPM C126/IB C144) recommended.
Communication is central to the lives of most, if not all animals. How and why animals communicate is thus central to understanding the ecology, behavior, neurobiology, and evolution of animal systems. This course will focus on understanding the basic principles driving the communication system of a species, drawing together topics ranging from the physical properties of the environment, physiology of sensory systems, animal behavior and ecology, using examples from classic and recent publications.
Instructor: Elias
ESPM C159/NUSCTX C159 Human Diet 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Since we eat every day, wouldn't it be useful to learn more about human dietary practices? A broad overview of the complex interrelationship between humans and their foods. Topics include the human dietary niche, biological variation related to diet, diet and disease, domestication of staple crops, food processing techniques and development of regional cuisines, modern diets and their problems, food taboos, human attitudes toward foods, and dietary politics.
Instructor: Milton
ESPM 160AC/HISTORY 120AC American Environmental and Cultural History 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; History
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1.5 hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
History of the American environment and the ways in which different cultural groups have perceived, used, managed, and conserved it from colonial times to the present. Cultures include American Indians and European and African Americans. Natural resources development includes gathering-hunting-fishing; farming, mining, ranching, forestry, and urbanization. Changes in attitudes and behaviors toward nature and past and present conservation and environmental movements are also examined.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Formerly known as 160AC. Instructor: Merchant
ESPM 161 Environmental Philosophy and Ethics 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall. Offered even-numbered years.
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 1.5 hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
A critical analysis of human environments as physical, social-economic, and technocultural ecosystems with emphasis on the role of ideologies, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. An examination of contemporary environmental literature and the philosophies embodied therein.
Instructor: Merchant
ESPM 162 Bioethics and Society 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Exploration of the ethical dilemmas arising from recent advances in the biological sciences: genetic engineering, sociobiology, health care delivery, behavior modification, patients' rights, social or private control of research.
Instructor: Winickoff
ESPM 163AC/SOCIOL 137AC Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Equity, and the Environment 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Sociology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of discussion, and 1 hour of service learning.
Overview of the field of environmental justice, analyzing the implications of race, class, labor, and equity on environmental degradation and regulation. Environmental justice movements and struggles within poor and people of color communities in the U.S., including: African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native American Indians. Frameworks and methods for analyzing race, class, and labor. Cases of environmental injustice, community and government responses, and future strategies for achieving environmental and labor justice.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Formerly known as Sociology 128AC. Instructor: O'Rourke
ESPM 165 International Rural Development Policy 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Comparative analysis of policy systems governing natural resource development in the rural Third World. Emphasis on organization and function of agricultural and mineral development, with particular consideration of rural hunger, resource availability, technology, and patterns of international aid.
Instructor: Carr
ESPM 166 Natural Resource Policy and Indigenous Peoples 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 165 (formerly CRS 163) or consent of instructor; upper division standing.
Critical analysis of the historical transformation of indigenous peoples and their environments in North America and the Third World. The origins and specific patterns of socio-economic problems in these areas, existing and alternative future development policies and their effects.
ESPM C167/PB HLTH C160 Environmental Health and Development 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Public Health
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
The health effects of environmental alterations caused by development programs and other human activities in both developing and developed areas. Case studies will contextualize methodological information and incorporate a global perspective on environmentally mediated diseases in diverse populations. Topics include water management; population change; toxics; energy development; air pollution; climate change; chemical use, etc.
Instructor: Morello-Frosch
ESPM 168 Political Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Analysis of environmental problems in an international context with a focus on political and economic processes, resource access, and representations of nature. Discussion of the ways in which film, literature, and the news media reflect and influence environmental politics. Approaches to policy analysis arising from recent social theory.
Instructor: Peluso
ESPM 169 International Environmental Politics 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 7.5 hours of Lecture and 2.5 hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.
The dynamics of international politics are examined over the last 25 years. Attention is paid to different perspectives in global environmental politics, the actors involved, how well international agreements address the problems they are supposed to solve, and the main debates in the field, including trade-environmental conflicts, security, and environmental justice issues. Issues covered vary, but may include climate change, biodiversity, population, and toxics.
Instructor: O'Neill
ESPM C170/EPS C183 Carbon Cycle Dynamics 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Earth and Planetary Science; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
The focus is the (unsolved) puzzle of the contemporary carbon cycle. Why is the concentration of atmospheric CO2 changing at the rate observed? What are the terrestrial and oceanic processes that add and remove carbon from the atmosphere? What are the carbon management strategies under discussion? How can emission protocols be verified? Students are encouraged to gain hands-on experience with the available data, and learn modeling skills to evaluate hypotheses of carbon sources and sinks.
Instructor: Fung
ESPM 172 Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Geometry, algebra, and trigonometry.
This course introduces the concepts and principles of photogrammetry and remote sensing, specifically aerial photography, as important data collection and analysis tools for natural resources management in spatial sciences such as ecology, geography, geology, civil engineering, and environmental design. Photo measures of scale, area, and object height, flight planning, an introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum, photo interpretation and mapping, digital remote sensing, and data management in geographic information systems will be discussed.
Instructor: Gong
ESPM 173 Introduction to Ecological Data Analysis 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Introduces concepts and methods for practical analysis of data from ecology and related disciplines. Topics include data summaries, distributions, and probability; comparison of data groups using t-tests and analysis of variance; comparison of multi-factor groups using analysis of variance; evaluation of continuous relationships between variables using regression and correlation; and a glimpse at more advanced topics. In computer laboratories, students put concepts into practice and interpret results.
Instructor: de Valpine
ESPM 174 Design and Analysis of Ecological Research 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of computer laboratory per week.
Prerequisites: One year calculus; one semester statistics or consent of instructor.
Surveys major designs and analyses for biological field and laborabory studies. Topics include data distributions; regression; analysis of variance; fixed and random effects; blocking, split plots, and repeated measures; maximum likelihood; Generalized Linear Models; basic computer programming. Relies on math to interpret and manipulate equations supported by computer simulations. Examples include population, ecosystem, behavioral, and evolutionary ecology.
Instructor: de Valpine
ESPM 175A Senior Research Seminar in Environmental Sciences 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of seminar per week.
Prerequisites: Senior standing in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management major and completion of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 100.
Students design and conduct a senior thesis project, which requires identifying a testable question or problem, designing and executing a research protocol, analyzing data, deriving conclusions, and presenting the research in a scientific paper and an oral presentation. Lectures and assignments exphasize research design, data analysis, scientific writing, and scientific communication.
Formerly known as Environmental Science 196A.
ESPM 175B Senior Research Seminar in Environmental Sciences 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of seminar per week.
Prerequisites: Senior standing in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management major and completion of Environmental Science, Policy and Management 100 and Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 175A.
Students design and conduct a senior thesis project, which requires identifying a testable question or problem, designing and executing a research protocol, analyzing data, deriving conclusions, and presenting the research in a scientific paper and an oral presentation. Lectures and assignments exphasize research design, data analysis, scientific writing, and scientific communication.
Formerly known as Environmental Science 196B.
ESPM 175L Senior Research Laboratory in Environmental Sciences 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Must be taken concurrently with Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 175A-175B.
Independent laboratory or field research in support of the required senior seminar project.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Formerly known as Environmental Science 196L.
ESPM 178B Environmental Science Education Practicum 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture, 1 hour of Discussion, and 3 hours of Fieldwork per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Framed around the topic of sustainability, the course engages students from different science majors to apply the content knowledge from their discipline to build curriculum pieces for presentation in high school classrooms. Students develop pedagogical content knowledge and relate teaching theory to practice. Additional topics covered include classroom management and leadership, lesson planning, presentation skills, and readings in science education.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM C180/CIV ENG C106/EPS C180 Air Pollution 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Earth and Planetary Science; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Chemistry 1A-1B, Physics 8A or consent of instructor.
This course is an introduction to air pollution and the chemistry of earth's atmosphere. We will focus on the fundamental natural processes controlling trace gas and aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere, and how anthropogenic activity has affected those processes at the local, regional, and global scales. Specific topics include stratospheric ozone depletion, increasing concentrations of green house gasses, smog, and changes in the oxidation capacity of the troposphere.
Instructor: Goldstein
ESPM 181A Wildland Fire Science 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Fundamentals of wildland fire including fire behavior modeling, fire history methods, prescribed fire techniques, fire ecology, fire management, fire in the urban-wildland intermix, wildland fire, and ecosystem sustainability. Laboratories on inventory methods, fire history, modeling of fire behavior and risk, and prescribed burning.
Formerly known as 181. Instructor: Stephens
ESPM 182 Forest Operations Management 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1.5 hours of Lecture and 4 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 101A, 101B, 101C and 101D.
Examination of "on the ground" activities necessary to manage forests. Planning, design, and implementation of activities such as road building, forest harvesting, erosion control, and fire suppression are the central focus of the course. Aspects of timber harvest planning, archaeological surveys related to forest management, road closure, stream bank stabilization, and legislative control of forest operations will also be explored.
Instructor: York
ESPM 183 Forest Planning and Management 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 70, 102B or 171, 102C and 185.
Planning and management of forestlands to meet multiple objectives of land owners and the society. Processing and organization of land data and forest ecosystem dynamics for quantitative analysis with GIS. Fundamentals of land-use planning, valuation, multiple goal decision analysis, and forest management scheduling. Quantitative, analytical, and communication skills are emphasized. Oral presentation required.
ESPM C183/ENVECON C183 Forest Ecosystem Management 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Environmental Economics and Policy
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Introduces students to concepts and quantitative tools needed for the sustainable management of multi-use forest ecosystems. Topics covered include: estimation of ecological, economic, and social values: construction of dynamic forest models, methods for optimal decision-making, and development of forest management plans. Application to current issues in temperate and tropical forest management are discussed. Quantitative, analytical, and communication skills are emphasized. Oral presentation required.
Instructor: Potts
ESPM 184 Agroforestry Systems 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Lecture and 3 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing.
Agroforestry principles and systems in use worldwide are examined, with emphasis on contemporary temperate agroforestry system design and management. Economic, biologic, social, and political conditions for successful agroforestry systems are analyzed. Some laboratory sessions will be field trips that will extend beyond the scheduled lab time.
Instructor: Altieri
ESPM 185 Applied Forest Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 4 hours of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 102A or course in community ecology.
Concepts and applications of silviculture for the establishment, growth, composition, and quality of forest trees and stands. Silviculture is presented as a tool to meet multiple resource and ecosystem management objectives related to wildlife habitat, watershed resources, forest health, or timber production. Two weekend field trips will be scheduled in lieu of several laboratories.
Instructor: O'Hara
ESPM 186 Management and Conservation of Rangeland Ecosystems 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Begins with the evolution and domestication of grazing animals, continues through ranching and rangeland stewardship practices, and explores new institutional arrangements for conservation and restoration. Woodlands, grasslands, and shrublands provide biodiversity, wildlife habitat, watershed, recreation, open space, and forage. Human practices and ecosystem dynamics meet in rangeland management. Methods for changing, predicting, or assessing the results.
Instructors: Bartolome, Huntsinger
ESPM 187 Restoration Ecology 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of laboratory per week, and 1 mandatory Saturday field trip.
Prerequisites: One course in ecology; upper division or graduate standing.
This course covers ecological theories that inform the practice of ecological restoration, with particular focus on local (Bay Area) restoration and linkages with social, political, and economic factors. Laboratories focus on assessment techniques and cumulate with formulation of a restoration management plan. Laboratories will be based at the Richmond Field Station, served by campus shuttle.
Instructor: Suding
ESPM 188 Case Histories in Wildlife Management 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 114.
Seminar format with presentation and discussion by each student, with long term paper requirement. Examination in depth of current issues in wildlife management.
Instructor: Barrett
ESPM 190 Seminar in Environmental Issues 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing and consent of instructor.
Interdisciplinary study of issues for advanced students. Designed to develop skills in critical analysis of specific issues. Different topics will be available each semester reflecting faculty and student interest. Major research project required.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM C191/AMERSTD C112F/HISTART C189/UGIS C136 The American Forest: Its Ecology, History, and Representation 4 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; American Studies; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; History of Art; Undergrad Interdisciplinary Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
The American forest will be examined in terms of its ecology, history, and representations in paintings, photographs, and literary essays. This examination seeks to understand the American forest in its scientific and economic parameters, as well as the historic, social, and ideological dimensions which have contributed to the evolution of our present attitudes toward the forest.
Instructors: Lovell, McBride
ESPM 192 Molecular Approaches to Environmental Problem Solving 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing in Molecular Environmental Biology major, or consent of instructor.
Seminar in which students consider how modern biotechnological approaches, including recombinant DNA methods, can be used to recognize and solve problems in the area of conservation, habitat and endangered species preservation, agriculture and environmental pollution. Students will also develop and present case studies of environmental problems solving using modern molecular methods.
Instructor: Lindow
ESPM C193A/EDUC C193A Environmental Education 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Education; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 5.5 hours of lecture/discussion and 6 hours of fieldwork per week.
Theory and practice of translating ecological knowledge, environmental issues, and values into educational forms for all age levels and all facets of society, including schools. Concentrated experience in participatory education.
Instructor: Hurst
ESPM 194 Senior Seminar in Conservation and Resource Studies 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Senior standing in CRS major.
Seminar in which students synthesize their knowledge, skills, and interests into a holistic perspective. A one-hour oral presentation in the area of interest and a senior thesis synthesizing the area of interest are required. Required final semester for all CRS majors.
ESPM 194A Senior Seminar in Conservation and Resource Studies 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Senior standing in CRS major.
Seminar in which students synthesize their knowledge, skills, and interests into a holistic perspective. A one-hour oral presentation in the area of interest and a senior thesis synthesizing the area of interest are required. Required final semester for all CRS majors.
ESPM 194B Capstone Course in Society and Environment 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1.5 hours of lecture per week for 8 weeks.
Prerequisites: Senior standing in ESPM Society and Environment major.
Senior capstone project in the student's primary area of concentration and presentation to the ESPM Society and Environment faculty and majors. Required of all graduating seniors in the ESPM and Society and Environment major. Students who have completed ESPM 195, H196, or 197 may substitute that course for ESPM 194B.
ESPM 195 Senior Thesis 3 - 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of laboratory/research work per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Senior standing in ESPM major; 3.0 GPA.
Subject must be approved by faculty sponsor during final semester of the junior year and course initiated in the first semester of the senior year. Credit option: Conservation Resource Studies majors who have successfully completed 195 may petition for exemption from 194.
ESPM H196 Honors Research 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Individual research or meeting with faculty sponsor(s). 12 hours of work per week. 18 hours per week for 10 weeks; 22. 5 hours per week for 8 weeks; 30 hours per week for 6 weeks.
Prerequisites: Open only to upper division Environmental Science, Policy, and Management majors, 3.2 minimum GPA. Eligibility restrictions related to GPA and unit accumulation.
Supervised independent honors research specific to aspects of environmental science, policy, and management, followed by a written report to department. Submission of no more than 300 words required for approval.
Course may be repeated for a maximum of 8 units.Course may be repeated for a maximum of 8 units.
ESPM 197 Field Study in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 1 - 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 3 hours of field study per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing. Campus and departmental restrictions apply.
Supervised experience in off-campus organizations relevant to specific aspects of environmental science, policy, and management. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 198 Directed Group Studies for Advanced Undergraduates 1 - 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 3 hours of work per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing; consent of instructor; campus and departmental restrictions apply.
Group study of special topics in environmental science, policy, and management that are not covered in depth in regular courses in the department.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 198BC Berkeley Connect 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture per week.
Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 4 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 3 hours of work per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing; campus and departmental restrictions apply.
Enrollment restrictions apply; see the Courses and Curricula section of this catalog. Supervised independent study and research specific to aspects of environmental science, policy, and management.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
ESPM 201A Research Approaches in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management 3 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of lecture/discussion and 1 hour of seminar per week.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in ESPM.
Research projects and approaches in environmental science, policy, and management. An introduction to the diverse ways environmental problems are researched, comparing the approaches and methods of various disciplines represented among faculty and students. This course is the first of the core course sequence required for all ESPM graduate students.
Formerly known as 200B. Instructor: Mills
ESPM 201C Environmental Forum 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Hours and format: 2 hours of seminar/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in ESPM.
Presentation and analysis of current topics in environmental science, policy, and management. This course is required for all ESPM doctoral students.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Formerly known as 200C.
ESPM 201S Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Colloquium 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Hours and format: 1.5 hours of seminar/discussion per week.
Seminars for the presentation and discussion of original work by faculty, visiting scholars, and graduate students. Core course for the ESPM graduate program.
ESPM C204/INTEGBI C204 Research Reviews in Animal Behavior: Behavior Review 1 Unit
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 hours of seminar per week.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing, basic course in animal behavior. Instructor approval required.
This course will provide a rigorous, critical review of current research in animal behavior. Emphases will include hypothesis testing and experimental design, as well as methods of data collection and analysis. Each week, a student in the course will present original research in the form of a seminar presentation, grant proposal, or manuscript. Through discussion with seminar participants, presenters will gain critical feedback regarding their research.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructors: Lacey, Caldwell, Bentley, Elias
ESPM C205/ENE,RES C205/INTEGBI C205 Quantitative Methods for Ecological and Environmental Modeling 3 Units
Department: Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Energy and Resources Group; Environ Sci, Policy, and Management; Integrative Biology
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
This course will review the background mathematical and statistical tools necessary for students interested in pursuing ecological and environmental modeling. Topics include linear algebra; difference equation, ordinary differential equation, and partial differential equation models; stochastic processes; parameter estimation; and a number of statistical techniques. This course will be recommended as a prerequisite for advanced modeling courses in Integrative Biology, Energy and Resources Group, and Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.
ESPM 206 Animal Communication 2 Units
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Hours and format: 2 hours of discussion per week.
The objective of the course is to explore major topics in animal communication. Topics each year will focus on a different sensory modality and range from visual, acoustic, and chemical senses. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the study of communication, over the course of the semester, we will draw on a variety of disciplines (including cell biology, ecology, evolution, genetics, neurophysiology, and physics) to understand the mechanisms, function, and evolution of communication.
Instructor: Elias
ESPM 209 Pathogen and Disease Ecology 1 Unit
Department: Environ Sci, Policy, and Management
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Hours and format: 1 hour of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Study and discussion of current topics in pathogen and disease ecology.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Almeida
ESPM 210 Spatial Data Analysis for Natural Resources 3 Units