Practical Models for Environmental Systems

Humans increasingly dominate environmental systems throughout the world. To understand human impacts on the environment, quantitative modeling tools are needed. This course introduces quantitative modeling approaches for different environmental systems, including global models for carbon cycling; local and regional models for water, soil, and vegetation; models for transport of pollutants in water and air; and models for the spread of infectious disease. Students will develop simple models for all these systems and apply the models to a set of practical problems.