Graduate Course Catalog for the Department of Environmental Sciences (formerly Earth, Ecological and Environmental Sciences or EEES)
Note: besides the courses listed below, graduate students, with the approval of their advisory committee, may also take courses at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and have these count toward their University of Toledo degree. The following restrictions apply. Students not on a graduate assistantship can take up to 49 percent of their credit hours at BGSU whereas students with a graduate assistantship can take no more than one-third of their credit hours at BGSU in any given semester. Click on Ecology or Geology for more information on the courses available at BGSU.
EEES - 5000 INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY [3 hours] Invertebrate fossil taxa of biologic and stratigraphic importance; morphology, paleoecology, biostratigraphy of each taxon reviewed. Field project required. [Fall, every year; Camp]. Prerequisite: none.
EEES - 5100 ADVANCED GLACIAL GEOLOGY [3 hours] To understand glaciers and glacial landscapes. Topics include mass balance, ice flow, hydrology, erosion, deposition, landforms, glacial lakes and development of the Ohio glacial landscape. Field trip is mandatory. [Spring, odd years; Fisher] Prerequisite: EEES 3100 or consent of instructor.
EEES - 5150/7150 ORGANIC EVOLUTION
[3 hours] The modern theory of evolution presented within a framework of
theoretical genetics and population biology. [Spring, every year; Dwyer] Prerequisite: EEES 2150 or BIOL 2150;
CHEM 1210 or 1230.
EEES - 5200 ADVANCED QUATERNARY GEOLOGY [3 hours] To provide understanding of such cyclical events as climate change, sea level fluctuations, vegetation change and ice sheet paleogeography during the Quaternary Period and to explore future changes for planet Earth. [Spring, even years; Fisher] Prerequisite: EEES 3200 or consent of instructor.
EEES
- 5220 ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY [3
hours] Chemical reactions of
environmental concern. Water and
soil chemistry related to contaminant fate and mobility.Petroleum formation, migration and accumulation in the subsurface.
Computer software used. [Fall, odd years; Spongberg].
EEES
- 5240 SOIL SCIENCE
[3 hours] Basic principles of soil formation, physics, chemistry and biology
with emphasis on their influence on fluid and chemical migration and
preservation of soil quality from geological, agricultural and environmental
perspectives. [Fall, even years; Spongberg].
EEES – 5300/7300 ADVANCED FIELD BOTANY [3 hours] Principles of systematics stressing identification of local taxa; field trips. [Summer; Tramer]
EEES
- 5330/7330 VERTEBRATE ECOLOGY & SYSTEMATICS
[4 hours] Ecology, systematics and conservation of the vertebrates, with special
emphasis on forms native to North America. Includes field activities
[Fall, every year; Tramer] Prerequisite:
none.
EEES
- 5410 HYDROGEOLOGY [3
hours] Fundamentals of groundwater flow and geological controls including
applications to water resource evaluation, utilization, chemical
characterization and contaminant transport and geologic processes. Primarily for
graduate students in environmental sciences, geology and engineering. [Fall,
every year; Martin-Hayden] Prerequisite: MATH 1750 or 1850.
EEES - 5450 HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT [3 hours] Environmental regulations concerning hazardous waste, characteristics of hazardous waste and disposal technologies, toxicology, characteristics of organic chemicals and heavy metals, biodegradation, soil science, groundwater contamination, risk assessment, and site investigation. [Fall, every year; Spongberg]. Prerequisite: none.
EEES – 5510/7510 ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY [3 hours] Topics include the diversity of microbial life and activities, the functioning of microbial ecosystems in energy and carbon flow, and in the remediation of polluted environments; the detection and control of pathogens. [Spring, every year; Dwyer]. Prerequisite: EEES 2150, CHEM 1210, or consent of instructor.
EEES – 5520 BIOREMEDIATION [3 hours] The environmental fate and transport of contaminants; their transformation and biodegradation by plants and microorganisms; bioremediation strategies including solid phase, slurry phase, and vapor-phase treatments, and natural attenuation. [Fall, even years; Dwyer]. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
EEES
– 5530 PHYTOREMEDIATION
[3 hours] Course describes the process of phytoremediation with
references to both physiological modes of uptake and transformation of
contaminants and to field applications. [Fall, odd years; Dwyer].
Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
EEES - 5540 ADVANCED MICROBIAL ECOLOGY [3 hours] Students will learn the underlying processes that drive microbial population structure and function in the environment and become familiar with classical and current methodology used in microbial community analysis. [Fall, every year; Dwyer]. Prerequisite: none.
EEES - 5550 ADVANCED METHODS OF MICROBIAL INVESTIGATION [3 hours] Student will learn the classical and current methodologies (biochemical and molecular) used in microbial community analysis while developing an understanding of experimental design sample handling and data analysis. [Spring, odd years; Sigler] Prerequisite: EEES 5540.
EEES - 5610 SOLID EARTH GEOPHYSICS [3 hours] Survey of theory, field applications, interpretation principles of solid earth and exploration geophysics. Two hours lecture, three hours methods laboratory. [Fall, every year; Stierman] Prerequisite: MATH 1850, 1860 and PHYS 2070, 2080 or equivalents.
EEES
- 5620 ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENGINEERING GEOPHYSICS
[3 hours] Electrical resistivity, electromagnetic conductivity, magnetometer and
seismic refraction are used to characterize materials concealed under the
earth's surface. [some years - taught on demand; Stierman] Prerequisite: PHYS
2070 or 2130 or equivalent.
EEES
- 5630 NUMERICAL METHODS IN GEOPHYSICS
[3 hours] Numerical filters and matrix operations used to process potential
filed data and wave forms, isolating anomalies and signals of interest;
derivative maps, upward and downward continuation; current interpretation
software. Term project. [some years - taught on demand; Stierman] Prerequisite:
EEES 5610.
EEES
- 5650 GEOLOGY FIELD COURSE
[6 hours] Intensive field studies in the Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming;
stratigraphic section measuring, geologic mapping and interpretation, and other
field methods in geology. [Summer, every year; Brown].
EEES - 5720 ECOLOGY AND LITERATURE OF FRESHWATER INVERTEBRATES [3 hours] Major freshwater invertebrate taxa are covered. The focus is the interaction of individual invertebrates with their biotic and abiotic environment with emphasis on community and ecosystem level interactions. [Fall, odd years; Mayer] Prerequisite: none.
EEES - 5730/7730 ADVANCED AQUATIC ECOLOGY [3 hours] Advanced cross-disciplinary concepts in the ecology of aquatic environments, emphasizing the biology of populations, communities and ecosystems. Includes a project on the application of principles and theory to help understand and solve management problems in aquatic systems. [Fall, odd years; Gottgens] Prerequisite: EEES 3050 or consent of instructor.
EEES - 5740/7740 ADVANCED AQUATIC ECOLOGY LABORATORY [1 hour] Laboratory exercises on the biology of aquatic populations, communities and ecosystems. [Fall, odd years; Gottgens] Corequisite: EEES 5730/7730.
EEES - 5750/7750 ADVANCED CONSERVATION BIOLOGY [3 hours] Advanced cross-disciplinary concepts in the application of principles and theory to the study and maintenance of biological diversity in temperate, subtropical, and tropical systems. Lectures, classroom discussion, readings and fieldtrips. [Spring, even years; Chen, Gottgens & Tramer] Prerequisite or Corequisite: EEES 3050.
EEES
– 5760/7760 ADVANCED LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY [3
hours] For graduate students from a
variety of disciplines. Emphasis is
on methods in landscape analysis, pattern-process relationships, and potential
management applications at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
[Spring, every year; Chen] Prerequisite:
EEES 3050.
EEES - 5770 ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER INVERTEBRATES ADVANCED LAB [1 hour] Students will visit freshwater habitats, collect and identify freshwater invertebrate taxa, and conduct an independent project. [Fall, odd years; Mayer] Corequisite: EEES 5720.
EEES
- 5790/7790 ECOLOGY FIELD TRIP
[2-4 hours] Field trip to a major
ecosystem of a region other than northwestern Ohio. Includes analysis of
structural and functional relationships within and between ecosystems with
opportunities for individual student projects. [some years - taught on demand;
Staff] Prerequisite: EEES 3050 or equivalent.
EEES - 5800 ADVANCED PLANT PHYSIOLOGICAL ECOLOGY [4 hours] Study of how form (morphology, anatomy) and function (physiology, metabolism biophysics) affect plant ecology. Laboratory emphasizes experimentation and introduction to techniques. Lecture includes reading and written critiques of scientific literature. [Fall, even years; Heckathorn] Prerequisite: none.
EEES - 6100 GLACIAL STRATIGRAPHY AND GEOPHYSICS [3 hours] To integrate glacial sedimentology and stratigraphy, with near-surface, geophysical methodologies. Field work to collect a variety of field data to analyze in the lab is mandatory. Data to be presented as posters. [Fall, every year; Fisher & Krantz] Prerequisite: EEES 3200 or consent of instructor.
EEES - 6200 EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE THROUGH INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING [3 hours] The course is geared towards in-service teachers. Teachers will explore four natural events affecting the earth as a system, using inquiry-based learning and lesson plan development. [Spring, every year; Spongberg]. Prerequisite: none.
EEES - 6400/8400 BIOSTATISTICS [4 hours] Application of statistical tools to sampling and measurement in biology. Hypothesis testing is stressed. [Fall, every year; Mayer] Prerequisite: none.
EEES - 6440 CONTAMINANT HYDROGEOLOGY [3 hours] Groundwater contaminant sources, impacts, transport, geochemistry, and remediation in relation to geological environments with attention to sampling, detection, characterization, modeling and aquifer protection. [Spring, odd years; Martin-Hayden] Prerequisite: EEES 5410.
EEES - 6450 ADVANCED APPLIED HYDROLOGY [3 hours] Applications of hydrogeological monitoring, analyses, and modeling using mathematics, statistics and computers. Subjects include: well field and pump test design, sampling strategies, data presentation and analysis, and modeling fundamentals. [Fall, even years; Martin-Hayden] Prerequisite: EEES 5410.
EEES - 6500 MULTIVARIATE GEOSTATISTICS [3 hours] Application of multivariate statistical methods to scientific data. Emphasis is on applied correlation, regression, cluster, principal components, discriminant and geostatistical analyses. [Spring, every year; Harrell] Prerequisite: EEES 6400 or equivalent.
EEES
- 6600/8600 FOUNDATIONS OF ECOLOGY
[4 hours] An overview of the development of ecological concepts for beginning
graduate students. Readings and discussion focus on classic papers and
historical essays. [Fall, every year; Staff]
EEES
- 6610/8610 CURRENT TOPICS IN ECOLOGY
[4 hours] Discussions dealing with current problems in the biology of
populations, communities and ecosystems. [some years - taught on demand; Staff]
EEES - 6650/8650 SYSTEMS ECOLOGY [4 hours] Theory and techniques of system analysis and mathematical modeling applied to ecological problems. [Spring, even years; Moorhead]. Prerequisites: EEES 3050, MATH 1760.
EEES
– 6660/8660: BIOPHYSICAL PROCESSES OF ECOSYSTEMS
[3 hours] For graduate students who
are interested in the biophysical environment, energy flows, and microclimate.
Emphasis is on hands-on experience and discussion of current literature.
[Fall, even years; Chen]
EEES - 6800/8800 DIGITAL FIELD MAPPING [3 hours] Technology and techniques for determining locations and elevations during field surveys; transferring field measurements to a digital database; total station, GPS and other tools used in ecological and geological research. [Spring, every year; Stierman] Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
EEES - 6810/8810 WRITING FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES [3 hours] This course will familiarize students with technical and persuasive aspects of scientific text preparation. Writing exercises will focus on basic manuscript formatting for journal submission and grant proposals. [Spring, even years; Sigler] Prerequisite: none.
EEES
- 6930/8930 SEMINAR [1
hour] Individual presentation and
discussion of papers in the environmental sciences. [Fall & Spring, every
year; Staff]
EEES
- 6960 MASTER'S THESIS RESEARCH [1-12
hours] Research on a particular problem leading to a written thesis which must
be presented and defended before a faculty committee. [Fall, Spring &
Summer, every year; Staff] Prerequisite:
consent of adviser.
EEES
- 6980/8980 SPECIAL TOPICS [1-4
hours] A graduate course covering some aspect of the environmental sciences not
covered in the formal graduate curriculum. Students may repeat the course
for credit as topics vary. [taught on demand; Staff] Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
EEES
- 6990/8990 INDEPENDENT STUDY IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
[1 - 4 hours] Student selects an appropriate approved subject for individualized
study and prepares a detailed report or gives equivalent evidence of mastery of
the selected subject. [taught on demand; Staff] Prerequisite: consent of
instructor.
EEES - 8960 DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH [1-15 hours] Research normally leading to the fulfillment of the Ph.D. dissertation requirement. [Fall, Spring & Summer, every year; Staff] Prerequisite: consent of adviser.