Courses

ESM 202: Biogeochemical Principles
This core course for the MESM degree provides the students with the background in chemistry needed to understand the scientific issues that are relevant to pollution and its management. Large-scale issues such as global climate change, ozone depletion and acid rain are covered from a biogeochemical perspective, understanding the role of biological and chemical processes in the fate and transport of the elements involved. The course also covers environmental issues at the local and regional scale, such as lake eutrophication, oxygen depletion in rivers, toxic elements, and nutrient cycling in soils. Back to Top

ESM 222: Fate & Transport of Pollutants
The course is designed to provide an understanding of the physical processes that govern the distribution of contaminants through the environment, as well as the chemical and biological process that are involved in the transformation/degradation of a contaminant. Knowledge of the processes involved in the fate and transport of pollutants is essential for designing pollution prevention, control, monitoring and remediation strategies. We will cover the distribution of pollutants in air, water, soil and biological tissue, with particular emphasis on toxic organic pollutants. Prerequisite: ESM 202. Back to Top

ESM 223: Soil and Water Quality Management

(currently taught by Dr. Norm Brown)
Water quality is vital for most human and ecologic al activities. Preserving or attaining certain water quality objectives is thus an important task for water resources managers, and to do so one needs to consider technical, economic and risk issues. The course is designed to provide the tools (1) to determine soil and water quality objectives, through either risk assessment or maximum pollutant loading; (2) understand the technical options available to a water resources manager for achieving the objectives, either through water treatment, soil remediation, land-use best management practices or other approaches; and (3) develop a management strategy. The course uses case studies and existing models to assist in the development of soil and water quality objectives, risk management and technology selection. Prerequisite: ESM 222. Recommended: ESM 219. Back to Top

ESM224 Sustainable Management of Watershed Quality
Water Quality in streams, rivers and lakes depends to a large extent on land-use and the corresponding watershed processes. The objective of the course is to provide students with a better understanding of the science and management issues related to managing a watershed in a sustainable manner. The course will cover indicators of water resources, elements of a watershed management plan, tools to understand the various components of the watershed and perform analysis of sustainability, and possible solutions to water quality problems within the watershed. The course requires significant student participation in presentations and a weekly session in the Student Computing Facility. Prerequisite: ESM 202, 203. Strongly recommended: ESM 222, 234 or 235, ESM 263. Recommended: ESM 223, ESM 225. Back to Top

ESM 595F Seminar on Advances in Pollution Prevention
The future of pollution science lies in developing preventive measures to avoid pollution. Pollution Prevention encompasses topics ranging from designing a better mouse trap (or a better underground storage tank), to more radical ideas that evaluate product and process design from a completely new approach, to minimize or even eliminate the possibility of releasing a pollutant. For example, programs that involve Design for the Environment, Life-Cycle Assessment, Green Chemistry, Energy Conservation, all take a fresh approach at the product and/or process. The course will be based on a set of interactive seminars, presented by the instructor and the students, as well as invited speakers, in which we discuss approaches to pollution prevention through various case studies, extracting principles that can be used to develop a Pollution Prevention philosophy. We will also discuss economic and regulatory issues that promote or hinder Pollution Prevention projects. Back to Top