Science - Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

Disaster Resilience: Learning from Natural Hazards

There are a wide variety of natural disasters that occur on Earth; Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Landslides, Tsunami, Hurricanes and Storms, Floods, Forest Fires, and Meteorite Impacts among others. As both our population and our reliance on infrastructure increases, our understanding of how natural disasters affect our lives, our economies and our environments is vital for our future. In this course you will learn how disasters form through the concentration and dispersal of energy, when and where they occur, and how you can protect yourself, your loved ones, and your communities. As this course occurs in Vancouver, we will have field trips which emphasize the natural environment and the potential hazards in this region.

Treasures of the Earth: Exploring Precious Minerals

Canada is also known for its spectacular precious metals and gems, many of them on display in our museum, The Pacific Museum of Earth. This course investigates the formation, exploration, mining and aspects of marketing of gemstones, precious metals, and critical minerals. We will identify and hold natural and synthetic gems, look at fine jewelry, and also how gems and metals form, are mined, and are valued. This course will be placed the fascinating geologic context of Canada and North America. In this class we emphasize active learning methods where students are explore the subject matter through field trips, labs, discussions and in-class activities.

Prerequisite: No prerequisites

From Sea to Sky: Understanding Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate systems

In this course you will assess and quantify the principal components of the Earth’s climatic systems, the global energy balance, how that balance affects the structure of the ocean and atmosphere, produces the winds and currents that control weather, air pollution and ultimately the biosphere. You will examine ocean productivity how that relates to important geochemical cycles, and how over geologic time, ocean and atmospheric processes regulate climate and climate change.

Seas of Life: Discovering Marine Biodiversity

Students in this course will explore the incredible diversity of marine ecosystems, identify the factors that regulate ocean habitats, and how marine ecosystems develop in response. Ecosystems’ properties, including diversity, resilience (or lack of resilience) to environmental change and its impact on neighboring ecosystems will be considered. The fascinating marine ecosystems and habitats in this course include hydrothermal vents, the intertidal zone, coral reefs, estuaries, deep sea, and polar ecosystems. A particular emphasis will be placed on the beautiful and diverse local marine ecosystems around Vancouver. You will examine the responses of ecosystems disturbances, and the introduction of invasive species, climate change and pollution. Our emphasis in this course is on active learning teaching methods where students explore the subject matter through field trips, labs, discussions and in-class activities.

Prerequisite: No prerequisites