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Apr 14, 2026
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ENVS 310 - Elements of the Anthropocene
Prerequisites: ENVS 103 or ENVS 104 ; and CHEM 192 or CHEM 186
Requirement Fulfillment: Fulfills an upper-level elective or social-environmental systems seminar requirement for ENVS majors and minors; and fulfills an applied elective for MBIO majors
Human activities are transforming the Earth system at an unprecedented scale, marking what many call the Anthropocene-the age of human impact. This course in biogeochemistry explores the movement and transformation of key elements-carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus-that have governed Earth’s history and the global changes characteristic of the Anthropocene. In addition to major nutrients, students will consider other elements (i.e., mercury, sulfur, and lead) whose cycles we have dramatically altered. Students will examine how these cycles and associated energy flows differ under varying environmental conditions among terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric systems. Using case studies, students will also analyze and how these elemental cycles are altered by human activities and the consequent impacts to ecosystems, resources, and human communities. Students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate and utilize conceptual and quantitative models to answer fundamental questions about how the world works and predict how it responds to perturbations.
3 credits
Fall
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