Environmental Science (ENVS)

Introduction to the study of environmental science. The course will cover basic scientific understanding of Earth systems - water, air, land, and life on Earth (e.g., biodiversity, ecosystems) while also examining major environmental impacts and challenges, such as climate change and pollution.

University Core fulfilled: Explorations: Nature of Science, Technology, and Mathematics.

Study of basic surveying instruments and related computations for topographic surveys, horizontal and vertical curves, and the design of highways. The course will include computer aided design and geographic information systems (applications of AutoCAD to civil engineering design and fundamentals of GIS using ArcView).

Prerequisite: MATH 123.
University Core fulfilled: Flag: Information Literacy.

Various basic principles of oceanography, meteorology, and marine biology are explored as applied to the art of surfing. Topics include the genesis, propagation, and dynamics of waves; marine weather systems and surf prediction; marine organisms; and marine pollution issues of concern to surfers.

Prerequisite: MATH 101 or higher, or placement into MATH 106 or higher.
University Core fulfilled: Explorations: Nature of Science, Technology, and Mathematics.

The study of geologic processes in mineral formation, world-wide distribution, and commercial value to human societies.

Prerequisite: MATH 101 or higher, or placement into MATH 106 or higher.

The study of general phenomena of weather; including storms, atmospheric disturbances, and possible effects of pollution. This course involves weather forecasting using real-time meteorological data.

Prerequisite: MATH 101 or higher, or placement into MATH 106 or higher.

This course provides an introduction to the basic science behind key environmental systems (e.g., water resources, food systems) and introduces issues and challenges facing them. Students explore and report on strategies to address sustainability of these systems
.
Prerequisite: MATH 101 or higher, or placement into MATH 106 or higher.
University Core fulfilled: Explorations: Nature of Science, Technology, and Mathematics.

The basic concepts of physical and biological oceanography will be presented.

Prerequisites: BIOL 101, 102, 111, 112; CHEM 110, 111, 112, 113.

Introduction to elements of water treatment, water pollution control, solid and hazardous waste disposal, and air pollution control. The interrelationships of the movement of pollutants between the land, air, and water media are discussed.

Emphasis on the practical physical and biochemical aspects of bacterial metabolism and behavior in the environment as applied to environmental engineering and environmental science; kinetics and energetics of micobial growth as applied to wastewater treatment, biosolids stabilization, and biogas generation.

Prerequisite: CIVL 320 or ENVS 358.

Review of stoichiometry, oxidation-reduction reactions, thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics. Equilibrium chemistry concepts including acid-base, gas, and solid-liquid equilibria applied to aquatic systems with an emphasis on problem-solving methods to determine chemical speciation and pH effects in natural and treated aquatic systems.

Prerequisite: ENVS 3580.

Emphasis on the practical physical and biochemical aspects of bacterial metabolism and behavior in the environment as applied to environmental engineering and environmental science; kinetics and energetics of micobial growth as applied to wastewater treatment, biosolids stabilization, and biogas generation.

Prerequisite: CIVL 3200.

Students will learn the theory, application, and techniques of several key environmental laboratory tests and methods of instrumental analysis associated with environmental monitoring and wastewater treatment operations. Tests will be performed on samples collected from various field sites (e.g., Ballona Creek, Dockweiler Beach), local wastewater treatment facilities, or during a field trip to Ballona Wetlands. Students will develop strong technical and scientific writing skills throughout the course.

Prerequisite: CIVL 3200.

Introduction to physical, chemical, and biological processes governing the movement and fate of contaminants in the surface and coastal water environment. Practical quantitative problems solved based on contaminant mass transport, equilibrium partitioning, and chemical transformations in the environment. Regulatory implications and remediation approaches.

Prerequisite: CIVL 3200 or ENVS 3580.

The course introduces the fundamental concepts of remote sensing from space, remote sensing data, and image data processing. Topics include characteristics of electromagnetic spectrum and remote sensing devices, digital processing methods for interpreting, manipulating and analyzing remotely-sensed image data, and applications of satellite remote sensing to civil engineering and environmental fields.

Prerequisite: MATH 112 or MATH 122 or MATH 131.

Concepts, principles, and use of geographic information systems (GIS) to investigate spatial patterns associated with physical and social processes. Specific topics include dataset management, site suitability analysis, modeling, remote sensing, cartography and visualization, with a focus on civil and environmental engineering and environmental science applications.

Juniors and seniors only.

Evaluation of the significance of geologic origin, composition, and structure on the characteristics of soils and rocks. Influence geology and plate boundary impacts have on design and construction of engineering projects.

This course focuses on the concept of ecosystem services and how they are integrated into urban watersheds to make cities more sustainable and resilient to a changing climate. Key topics include the structure and dynamics of watersheds, the impacts of poor resource management and pollution to environmental quality within urban watersheds, and reestablishing ecosystem services through green infrastructure and similar strategies, and habitat restoration activities. Material is learned through class discussions, presentations by guest researchers and resource managers, several mandatory weekend field trips, and class projects.

Urban coastal regions provide a wealth of ecosystem services associated with their shallow marine, shoreline, estuarine, and wetland habitats, but are under constant stresses from human activities and a changing climate. Through this course, students will learn about: 1) the nature of coastal habitats; 2) the natural and anthropogenic interactions between oceanic, coastal, and watershed processes impacting these habitats; and 3) policies and strategies, both behavioral and structural, to mitigate stressors resulting in more resilient coastal cities.

An introduction to the principles of risk assessment, perception of risk and risk communication as it relates to chemicals, pathogens, and radiation in the environment and their effect on humans and animals considering dermal, ingestion, and inhalation pathways; chronic daily intake, potency factors, dose response, bioconcentration, and bioaccumulation are discussed along with regulatory fundamentals.

Overview of Earth's climate system and exploration of the science, impacts, and politics of global climate change. Specific topics include the greenhouse effect; climate drivers; atmospheric and oceanic circulations; observations and projections; climate modeling; politics; vulnerability; resiliency, adaption, and mitigation; impacts on water resources, extreme climate events, and agriculture.

Opportunities and challenges of climate change mitigation in different sectors such as energy, agriculture, health, transport, housing, urban planning, etc. Co-benefits to the environment and health of climate change mitigation policies at the local, urban, national, and global levels. Linkages with the Paris Climate Change Treaty and the National Determined Contributions.

Current and future climate impacts on planetary and human health, ecosystems, food systems, socioeconomic determinants, human security, etc. Vulnerability issues. Opportunities of climate adaptation and resilience. Disaster Risk Reduction and Risk Management. Climate adaptation strategies, policies, and planning at the community, city, national, and global levels. The Paris Climate Change Treaty and adaptation in the National Determined Contributions.

Introduction to the field of environmental health sciences. Examination of series of topics relevant to science of environmental health (e.g., population, agriculture/food, microbiology, energy, climate change, water, waste, air) by introducing scientific basis from ecological perspective and describing how topics relate to health. Risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. Application of scientific information to real world problems and ability to communicate effectively with different stakeholders. Emerging issues and solutions.

Sustainability Development goals and practices to protect the planet, human health, welfare, equality, biodiversity, oceans, peace, etc. as part of the new sustainable development 2030 agenda with a focus on health and equity targets. Sustainable production and consumption, sustainable cities, climate action, education, etc. Inter-sectoral, innovative, socio-economic, and environmentally sustainable and equitable solutions. Design an implementation strategy for a specific community on a specific item that is part of one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Emerging circular economy.

Advanced work experience in the field of environmental science in a research, industry, or municipal setting.

Review of stoichiometry, oxidation-reduction reactions, thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics. Equilibrium chemistry concepts including acid-base, gas, and solid-liquid equilibria applied to aquatic systems with an emphasis on problem-solving methods to determine chemical speciation and pH effects in natural and treated aquatic systems.

Review of stoichiometry, oxidation-reduction reactions, thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics. Equilibrium chemistry concepts including acid-base, gas, and solid-liquid equilibria applied to aquatic systems with an emphasis on problem-solving methods to determine chemical speciation and pH effects in natural and treated aquatic systems.

Emphasis on the practical physical and biochemical aspects of bacterial metabolism and behavior in the environment as applied to environmental engineering and environmental science; kinetics and energetics of microbial growth as applied to wastewater treatment, biosolids stabilization, and biogas generation.

Prerequisite: CIVL 601 or ENVS 605.

Students will learn the theory, application, and techniques of several key environmental laboratory tests and methods of instrumental analysis associated with environmental monitoring and wastewater treatment operations. Tests will be performed on samples collected from various field sites (e.g., Ballona Creek, Dockweiler Beach), local wastewater treatment facilities, or during a field trip to Ballona Wetlands. Students will develop strong technical and scientific writing skills through the course.

Prerequisite: CIVL 601 or ENVS 605.

Introduction to physical, chemical, and biological processes governing the movement and fate of contaminants in the surface and coastal water environment. Practical quantitative problems solved based on contaminant mass transport, equilibrium partitioning, and chemical transformations in the environment. Regulatory implications and remediation approaches.

Prerequisite: CIVL 601 or ENVS 605.

The course introduces the fundamental concepts of remote sensing from space, remote sensing data, and image data processing. Topics include characteristics of electromagnetic spectrum and remote sensing devices, digital processing methods for interpreting, manipulating and analyzing remotely-sensed image data, and applications of satellite remote sensing to civil engineering and environmental fields.

Concepts, principles, and use of geographic information systems (GIS) to investigate spatial patterns associated with physical and social processes. Specific topics include dataset management, site suitability analysis, modeling, remote sensing, cartography and visualization, with a focus on civil and environmental engineering and environmental science applications.

This course is designed to provide undergraduates and graduate students with research opportunities and better prepare undergraduates for advanced degrees. Students perform research in accordance with the scientific methodology in areas civil engineering, environmental engineering, and/or environmental science under the supervision of a research advisor who may or may not be the primary course instructor. The precise research topic is selected together by each student and/or advisor. Topics include the research process; hypothesis formulation and testing; modern scientific research; relevant research topics; analysis of scientific articles; data interpretation; critical assessment of public opinion versus scientific evidence; and article, report, and presentation preparation.

Permission of instructor required.

Evaluation of the significance of geologic origin, composition, and structure on the characteristics of soils and rocks. Influence geology and plate boundary impacts have on design and construction of engineering projects.

This course focuses on the concept of ecosystem services and how they are integrated into urban watersheds to make cities more sustainable and resilient to a changing climate. Key topics include the structure and dynamics of watersheds, the impacts of poor resource management and pollution to environmental quality within urban watersheds, and reestablishing ecosystem services through green infrastructure and similar strategies, and habitat restoration activities. Material is learned through class discussions, presentations by guest researchers and resource managers, several mandatory weekend field trips, and class projects.

Urban coastal regions provide a wealth of ecosystem services associated with their shallow marine, shoreline, estuarine, and wetland habitats, but are under constant stresses from human activities and a changing climate. Through this course, students will learn about: 1) the nature of coastal habitats; 2) the natural and anthropogenic interactions between oceanic, coastal, and watershed processes impacting these habitats; and 3) policies and strategies, both behavioral and structural, to mitigate stressors resulting in more resilient coastal cities.

An introduction to the principles of risk assessment, perception of risk and risk communication as it relates to chemicals, pathogens, and radiation in the environment and their effect on humans and animals considering dermal, ingestion, and inhalation pathways; chronic daily intake, potency factors, dose response, bioconcentration, and bioaccumulation are discussed along with regulatory fundamentals.

Overview of Earth's climate system and exploration of the science, impacts, and politics of global climate change. Specific topics include the greenhouse effect; climate drivers; atmospheric and oceanic circulations; observations and projections; climate modeling; politics; vulnerability; resiliency, adaption, and mitigation; impacts on water resources, extreme climate events, and agriculture.

Opportunities and challenges of climate change mitigation in different sectors such as energy, agriculture, health, transport, housing, urban planning, etc. Co-benefits to the environment and health of climate change mitigation policies at the local, urban, national, and global levels. Linkages with the Paris Climate Change Treaty and the National Determined Contributions.

Current and future climate impacts on planetary and human health, ecosystems, food systems, socioeconomic determinants, human security, etc. Vulnerability issues. Opportunities of climate adaptation and resilience. Disaster Risk Reduction and Risk Management. Climate adaptation strategies, policies, and planning at the community, city, national, and global levels. The Paris Climate Change Treaty and adaptation in the National Determined Contributions.

Introduction to the field of environmental health sciences. Examination of series of topics relevant to science of environmental health (e.g., population, agriculture/food, microbiology, energy, climate change, water, waste, air) by introducing scientific basis from ecological perspective and describing how topics relate to health. Risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. Application of scientific information to real world problems and ability to communicate effectively with different stakeholders. Emerging issues and solutions.

Sustainability Development goals and practices to protect the planet, human health, welfare, equality, biodiversity, oceans, peace, etc. as part of the new sustainable development 2030 agenda with a focus on health and equity targets. Sustainable production and consumption, sustainable cities, climate action, education, etc. Inter-sectoral, innovative, socio-economic, and environmentally sustainable and equitable solutions. Design an implementation strategy for a specific community on a specific item that is part of one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Emerging circular economy.

The oral examination provides an opportunity to assess the student's understanding of some of the fundamental principles of environmental engineering, water resources engineering, and/or environmental science. It provides an opportunity for the student to demonstrate her/his problem-solving abilities using knowledge learned through coursework and an indication of student accomplishment broader than what is obtained from conventional classroom assessment. The exam is generally offered on the Friday of final examinations week. Students can register for the class only if all of course requirements will be complete at the end of the semester in which they plan to take the exam.

Credit/No Credit only.

Students who opt for a thesis must defend their research to a thesis committee in the form of a written thesis and an oral presentation. It is the intent of the thesis committee to determine if the student 1) has mastered the subject matter of the thesis, 2) understands the work done by others, and 3) can critically assess that work and his/her own work. No later than two weeks prior to the thesis defense presentation, the student must provide their written thesis to their thesis committee for review. The presentation should take no longer than one house including questions and answers from the committee and audience. Immediately after the presentation, the committee will deem the thesis complete, complete with exceptions, or incomplete.

Credit/No Credit only.

Introduction to basic scientific principles for understanding a broad range of environmental and sustainability issues facing our society. The course will introduce environmental systems and the interconnectedness of Earth's ecosystems. Basic connections between the land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere, and the underlying science associated with anthropogenic impacts on these systems will be studied. Topics include: environmental systems, ecosystems, biodiversity, and global climate change. For each topic covered in the course, an additional scientific research article and/or case study will be examined that relates to that topic.

This introductory field and lab course will test hypotheses related to environmental systems using experimental design. Students will collect environmental samples (water, air, soil, plant, etc.) to assess and monitor a range of environmental systems (e.g., coastal ocean, wetlands, air, etc.). The samples will be analyzed using a variety of laboratory analytical methods. The laboratory results will be evaluated using introductory statistical methods and compared to environmental regulations to assess environmental health.

This course introduces first-year and transfer Environmental Science majors to useful resources and opportunities including course registration best practices, research and internship opportunities, and career planning. Students will become familiar with the Environmental Science Department through interactions with ENVS faculty as well as current and former ENVS students. This course builds our undergraduate Environmental Science community.

This course will introduce the basic methods of extracting and presenting information from environmental data with a focus on statistical analysis, interpretation of results, and mapping of results. This course covers both descriptive and inferential statistics and will introduce classical tools of hypothesis testing (e.g. z tests, t tests and ANOVA) along with regression, variability and error analysis. Mapping data will include basic field survey tools and an in-depth introduction to geographic information systems using ArcGIS Pro. Students will apply these tools to real-world environmental data sets both globally and in our local Southern California environment.

Independent undergraduate research mentored by a faculty member.

The study of ecological principles and their application in the context of environmental science, focusing on theoretical foundations and case studies. Students will explore the dynamics of ecosystems, community structure and function, population ecology and evolutionary processes alongside a deeper understanding of how human activities impact the environment.

Cannot be taken if already completed BIOL 318, 3180, or ENVS 318 or 3180.

Prerequisites: BIOL 1010 and BIOL 1020 and BIOL 1110 and BIOL 1120 and MATH 122 or MATH 131.

Physical application of ecological concepts including observation, field data collection, experimental design, and quantitative analysis. Students will be introduced to various natural habitats and field sampling techniques. Course content and activities may vary depending on the specific focus (e.g. aquatic, terrestrial, or general).

Cannot be taken if already completed BIOL 318, 3180, or ENVS 318 or 3180.

An exploration of the interactions between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment across population, community, and ecosystem levels.

An in-depth exploration of how the Earth works. We will dive into the chemical, biological and physical processes that govern our planet and the human impacts on those processes. Focus is placed on the complex interactions between and within the Earth systems – the solid Earth, atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere – through the cycling of chemical elements and energy. We will explore how alterations in our climate can directly impact these natural cycles through activities and discussions.

Students will study chemical processes in the environment; emphasis is on atmospheric chemistry and climate. Topics include stratospheric ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect, climate change, air pollution, and non-renewable sources of energy. Discussions will involve the organic chemistry principles necessary to understand these ideas.

Prerequisites: CHEM 1100 or CHEM 1120.

Students will study chemical processes in the environment; emphasis is on water, soil, and sediment systems. Topics include: water chemistry, fundamental organic chemistry concepts, water purification, sewage treatment, renewable sources of energy, pesticides and other contaminants, chemical toxicity, solid waste, soils and sediments.

Students will learn chemical analysis techniques to identify and quantify pollutants found in air, water, and soil systems.

This course introduces the principles and practices of environmental data science. Students explore how environmental data are collected, organized, documented, and shared. Emphasis is placed on foundational data workflows, such as metadata creation, tidy data practices, data management, and data visualization. Students develop practical skills for responsible and reproducible data use in environmental science and apply these skills to an environmental dataset, ideally drawn from a research project (e.g., capstone, internship, or undergraduate research).

This lab provides hands-on experience with computational tools and workflows for environmental data analysis. Students practice data wrangling, visualization, and reproducible research techniques using tools such as R and GitHub, and apply these skills to environmental datasets and their own data project.

Prerequisite: ENVS 3600 or concurrent enrollment, or permission by Instructor.

Independent undergraduate research mentored by a faculty member.

see BIOL 4600

During the first semester of this two-semester Capstone experience, students will focus on developing and implementing a research project. The project will focus on some aspect of environmental science where students hone their research and communication skills under the mentorship of LMU faculty members. Throughout this course, students will discuss the scientific method, generate research questions, and design an experiment. A scientific proposal will be written for a technical audience and presented to a general audience.

During the second semester of this two-semester Capstone experience, students will focus on completing their research projects initiated during the previous fall semester, culminating in a technical research paper and a presentation to a general audience. Projects explore some aspect of environmental science where students hone their research and communication skills under the mentorship of LMU faculty members. Throughout this course, students will write concise technical documents, present data in tabular and graphical forms, and use appropriate methods to identify and cite source material.

Students will gain work experience in a real-world setting focused on environmental science and immerse themselves in contemporary environmental issues. Students reflect on these experiences and assess their growth in becoming “people for others” while working to discern their career goals.

Guided teaching of the undergraduate laboratories.

Independent undergraduate research mentored by a faculty member.