This seminar connects contemporary American literature, media and visual culture with environmental movements--focusing on the work of animators, filmmakers, photographers, novelists, poets, and other artists. Several organizing questions will guide our work together: How do creators respond to--and sometimes catalyze social movements around such issues as climate change, biodiversity loss, food and water justice and pollution? How do individual writers and artists apprehend today's environmental crises and imagine livable, just futures?

What is the relationship between 'catastrophe' and human beings, and how has 'catastrophe' influenced the way we live in the world now? This course investigates various types of catastrophes/disasters around the world by mobilizing a variety of theoretical frameworks and case studies in the social sciences. The course uses an anthropological perspective as its principal lens to comparatively observe often forgotten historical calamities throughout the world. The course is designed to explore the intersection between catastrophe and culture and how catastrophic events can be a window through which to critically analyze society and vice versa.

The course focuses on the social forces that shape design thinking. Its objective is to introduce architectural and urban design issues to build design and critical thinking skills from a multidisciplinary perspective. The studio is team-taught from faculty across disciplines to expose students to the multiple forces within which design operates.

From the ubiquitous water bottle to food packaging to Barbie, we live in a plastic world. While plastics provide benefits from safe food delivery to sterile healthcare products, only a small percentage is recycled. This course addresses the historical development of plastics and their impacts. We'll discuss the science of plastics and their lifecycle from sourcing through manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. Topics will include microplastics, plastics in the ocean, and the impacts of additives (e.g. BPA). Finally, we'll examine solutions including recycling and bio-based plastics from scientific, behavioral, and economic perspectives.

The course introduces the basic chemical and physical processes of relevance in environmental engineering. Mass and energy balance and transport concepts are introduced and the chemical principles governing reaction kinetics and phase partitioning are presented. We then turn our focus to the applications in environmental engineering problems related to water and air pollution and the global carbon cycle.

Goal: introduce undergraduate engineering students to: (a) infrastructure and food system innovations that can advance the triple outcomes of decarbonization, climate resilience and social equity (b) city scale decarbonization pathways and linkage to larger scale national zero carbon pathways (c) fundamentals of inequality and equity (d) hazard risk resilience framework (e) data analysis and systems models for tracking urban zero carbon emissions including material flow analysis sand life-cycle assessment, measuring inequality to inform equity and introductory analysis of resilience pathways.

This course covers pollutant chemicals in the environment with a focus on water and soil. The focus is on hazardous and toxic chemicals such as benzene, trichloroethane, pesticides and PCBs. In this course, environmental chemistry serves as a vehicle for study of chemical thermodynamics. Students gain an understanding of Gibbs free energy, chemical potential, and fugacity, and the universal applicability of thermodynamics to describe equilibrium and kinetic processes such as phase partitioning.

The course provides the theoretical bases for a quantitative description of complex interactions between hydrologic cycle, vegetation and soil biogeochemistry. The first part of the course focuses on modeling the water, carbon and energy dynamics within the soil-plant-atmosphere system at timescales ranging from minute to daily; the second part incorporates rainfall unpredictability and provides a probabilistic description of the soilplant system valid at seasonal to interannual timescales. These concepts are important for a proper management of water resources and terrestrial ecosystems.

The course explores the latest advancements in decarbonizing water treatment and revolutionizing the approach to this critical sector. Focused on addressing challenges posed by climate change, the course provides an overview of cutting-edge techniques and policies to reduce carbon emissions and enhance water treatment processes' sustainability. Students gain practical experience building an interactive database to organize and analyze research findings, and have the opportunity to present their research at a real conference. Industry leader guest lecturers will share valuable insights and real-world examples of decarbonization in action.

Students will learn to identify, understand, and (perhaps) reconcile conflicts between human activities such as farming, forestry, industry, and infrastructure development, and the conservation of species and natural ecosystems. We will also explore the role of biodiversity in providing critical ecosystem services to people. We will examine these topics in an interdisciplinary way, with a primary focus on ecology, but also including consideration of the economic and social factors underlying threats to biodiversity.

An introduction to the ecology and evolution of the woods, grasslands and rivers in and around Princeton. The course will meet on Friday mornings and afternoons and after preliminary lecture undertake field trips to local sites of ecological interest: the Institute Woods, Mountain Lakes, Stony Ford, Terhune Orchards, D&R Greenway, Autumn Hill and Bowman's Hill. Students will learn about the ecology and evolution of local plant and animal communities and develop independent research projects that examine specific aspects of their ecology.

How do wild organisms interact with each other, their physical environments, and human societies? Lectures will examine a series of fundamental topics in ecology--herbivory, predation, competition, mutualism, species invasions, extinction, climate change, and conservation, among others--through the lens of case studies drawn from all over the world. Readings will provide background information necessary to contextualize these case studies and clarify the linkages between them. Laboratories and fieldwork will explore the process of translating observations and data into an understanding of how the natural world works.

Ecological systems at local to global scales. Students will examine fundamental methods of analyzing ecosystems,and apply these methods to questions about climate change and the global food system. Lectures cover theoretical elements and examples from the primary literature. Coursework emphasizes critical reading of scientific literature, written expression of scientific arguments, collaboration in group projects, and in-person presentation of findings to an audience.

The course presents global anthropogenic impacts on the environment and their relationship to sustainable design. It focuses on understanding principles of applied sciences, and how IoT and Digital Fabrication facilitates rapid and deployable sensors and systems to make and analyze designs. Part 1) Global Change and Environmental Impacts: studying influences on basic natural systems and cycles and how we can evaluate them to rethink building design. Part 2) Designing Sustainable Systems: address learned synergies between making buildings more efficient and less prone to disease transmission through alternative heating cooling and ventilation.

The course will focus on emerging science and technologies that enable the transition from our traditional linear economy (take, make, waste) to a new circular economy (reduce, reuse, recycle). It will discuss the fundamental theories and applied technologies that are capable of converting traditional waste materials or environmental pollutants such as wastewater, food waste, plastics, e-waste, and CO2, etc. into valued-added products including energy, fuels, chemicals, and food products.

This course explores the visual dimensions of environmental thought, tracing the ways that images have shaped ideas about nature, risk, justice, and possibility. Moving from 19th-century paintings of the American wilderness to contemporary AI-generated disaster imagery, we will examine the ways that visual culture has been central to imperial expansion, extinction narratives, environmental justice movements, and debates about our planetary crisis. Case studies such as nuclear warning markers, satellite photography, and installation art will address pressing questions about the relationship between visual experience and environmental politics.

ENV 210 offers an introduction to the scientific and technological dimensions of the nexus of global environmental problems: climate change, the carbon cycle, biodiversity loss, and the provision of food and water. The course will provide the scientific foundations to understand each of these complex environmental problems, first in isolation and then in its interaction with the others. Students will be able to understand major scientific reports on the interacting environmental challenges and assess their possible future trajectories, their potential solutions, and their implications for a growing human population on a finite planet.

ENV 210 offers an introduction to the scientific and technological dimensions of the nexus of global environmental problems: climate change, the carbon cycle, biodiversity loss, and the provision of food and water. The course will provide the scientific foundations to understand each of these complex environmental problems, first in isolation and then in its interaction with the others. Students will be able to understand major scientific reports on the interacting environmental challenges and assess their possible future trajectories, their potential solutions, and their implications for a growing human population on a finite planet.

This course examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through case studies and analyses, hands-on activities, and project-based learning, students will analyze AI applications in health, education, climate resilience, and governance. The course emphasizes ethics and interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering skills in design thinking, prototyping, and impact evaluation. Students will work with real-world data, develop AI-driven solutions, and reflect on the societal implications of technology.

This immersive, multimedia course invites us to come to our senses in creative ways, exploring climate crises like melting ice, rising oceans, deforestation and displacements. We will come alive to hidden worlds, kayaking the Millstone and trips to Manhattan, engaging animal and environmental studies. Through film, images and writing, we explore the vital ways environmental issues intersect with gender, race and sexualities. Themes include: wilderness; national parks; violent settler colonialism; masculinities; militarization; Indigenous knowledges; animal intelligence and emotions; slow violence; the commons; and strategies for change.

Americans have built and preserved an astounding variety of environments. The course examines the evolving complex of incentives and regulations that drove the choices of where and how places developed. It focuses on how land-use and environmental planning encourage or discourage growth and can mitigate or intensify environmental, social, and economic effects. We examine the latest tools for building and protecting the American landscape. Special topics include transportation, food and agriculture, environmental justice, and climate change. Analysis will be from historical, policy-oriented, and predictive perspectives.

The class will discuss the physics of ocean surface waves and its impacts on human life. We will cover the principle of ocean waves propagation across the oceans, with analogies to optics and acoustics. Using historical observations and modern modeling tools, we will discuss wave forecasting with practical examples including planning of D-Day during the second world war, or local surf forecasting. The influence of ocean waves on human life will be discussed, from their role on beach morphology, mitigation of storm surge, or tsunamis. Finally, we will discuss the ubiquitous representation of waves in arts/movies.

In a world where society and nature are deeply intertwined, identifying causal relationships between humans and their environment is key to solving sustainability challenges. This course first introduces the fundamentals of "causal thinking," including causal diagrams. Drawing on case studies of social-environmental systems, students then learn the intuition, critical assumptions, and relative merits of alternative statistical methods for causal inference. Emphasis is on a conceptual understanding of the different tools. The course culminates in a project proposal that discusses a potential empirical analysis of a chosen sustainability issue.

Climate change has historically been studied as a global collective action problem. However, it can also be understood as the aggregate result of actions by countries, cities, businesses and individuals, that increase or decrease emissions and resilience to climate impacts. This course explores what this shift in perspective implies for national and local politics and policy around climate change. Learning outcomes include: Alternative framings of the climate crisis and implications for climate politics; perspectives of developing countries on climate change; and debates around climate governance, adaptation, industrial policy, and finance.

This course focuses on the relationship between climate and weather events: each weather event is unique and not predictable more than a few days in advance, large-scale factors constrain the statistics of weather events, those statistics are climate. Various climatic aspects will be explored, such as the geographic constraints, energy and water cycling, and oceanic and atmospheric circulation, solar heating, the El Niño phenomenon, ice ages, and greenhouse gases. These climate features will be used to interpret the statistics of a number of weather events, including heat waves, tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons) and floods.

Students will learn about climate change, climate projections and mitigation strategies. Student will analyze climate data and future scenario models, evaluate potential climate change and impacts on the Earth system (warming, rainfall), explore mitigation strategies, costs, barriers and benefits (changes in lifestyle, negative emissions, solar radiation management etc.). The course will introduce students to climate data analysis using Jupyter Notebooks.

The idea of a "just transition" has proliferated among climate policy makers, activists, and others from local to international scales to unite actors with labor, social justice, and renewable energy priorities. This course traces the historical origins and contested uses of just transition frameworks, exploring debates and common ground among labor, policy, environmental justice, ecosocialist, and decolonial perspectives. Emphasis is on the U.S. context with points of connection to global systems and movements.

Theater Making in the Age of Climate Change will investigate how the performing arts sector in France and Europe transitions towards a more sustainable future, and how contemporary playwrights tackle this urgent topic. The performing arts are now becoming more sensitized to their carbon footprint and are making efforts to change their practices. We will discover new works as French and European stages are producing an increasing number of plays on climate change. During fall break, we will travel to France to gain first-hand experience of these timely initiatives and engage with organizations' officials and arts institutions' directors.

Which human activities are changing our climate, and does climate change constitute a major problem? We will investigate these questions through an introduction to climate processes and an exploration of climate from the distant past to today. We will also consider the impact of past and ongoing climate changes on the global environment and on humanity. Finally, we will draw on climate science to identify and evaluate possible courses of action. Intended to be accessible to students not concentrating in science or engineering, while providing a comprehensive overview appropriate for all students.

Which human activities are changing our climate, and does climate change constitute a major problem? We will investigate these questions through an introduction to climate processes and an exploration of climate from the distant past to today. We will also consider the impact of past and ongoing climate changes on the global environment and on humanity. Finally, we will draw on climate science to identify and evaluate possible courses of action. Intended to be accessible to students not concentrating in science or engineering, while providing a comprehensive overview appropriate for all students.

This course discusses the processes that control Earth's climate - and as such the habitability of Earth - with a focus on the atmosphere and the global hydrological cycle. The course balances overview lectures (also covering topics that have high media coverage like the 'Ozone hole' and 'Global warming', and the impact of volcanoes on climate) with selected in-depth analyses. The lectures are complemented with homework based on real data, demonstrating basic data analysis techniques employed in climate sciences.

Earth records its own history in rocks, chronicling catastrophes like meteorite impacts, gradual processes with outsized consequences such as erosion, and pivotal turning points like global glaciation and mass extinction. Imagine Earth's 4.5 billion year history as millions of overlapping crime scenes with much of the evidence wiped away. In this class, you are the forensic detective, learning the observational and analytical techniques needed to decode the interacting forces that created the planet we know today and learning to recognize what we still do not understand.

An intensive introduction to isotopic analyses in the Earth sciences. Students will learn the fundamentals of isotope abundance and isotope ratio mass spectrometry through lectures and laboratory rotations with hands-on training in a wide range of analytical techniques. The course is oriented towards upper-level undergraduate students interested in pursuing laboratory research in geological, biological, and environmental sciences as part of their JP or ST as well as graduate students in the natural and applied sciences.

Studies of war and society rarely address environmental factors and agency. The relationship between war and environment is often either reduced to a simple environmental determinism or it is depicted as a war against nature and ecosystems, playing down societal dynamics. The seminar explores the different approaches to the war-environment-society nexus and highlights how and why the three spheres should be studied in conjunction. The objective is to assess how and why environmental and societal factors and forces caused and shaped the conflicts and how in turn mass violence shaped societies and how they used and perceived their environments.

This course will introduce students to the climate crisis and how journalists tell its stories. The topic subsumes traditional beats-politics, science, business-energy, and its urgency stress-tests the boundaries between activism and journalism. Students will reverse-engineer classic environmental texts, translate scientific reports, and, in their own work, link climate to individual lives. Through readings, discussion, guest speakers, newsroom visits, and writing assignments, students will learn to report on climate and write about it at a professional level.

The course introduces fundamentals of optics, lasers, and Fourier transforms through lectures and hands-on activities. The topics include ray and wave optics, imaging and image processing, optical Fourier transforms, principles of lasers, and applications in nuclear fusion for renewable energy, environmental sensing, space exploration, ultrafast metrology, chemistry, and physics.

Course introduces use of economics in understanding both the sources of and the remedies to environmental and resource allocation problems. It emphasizes the reoccurrence of economic phenomena like public goods, externalities, market failure and imperfect information. Students learn about the design and evaluation of environmental policy instruments, the political economy of environmental policy, and the valuation of environmental and natural resource services. These concepts are illustrated in a variety of applications from domestic pollution of air, water and land to international issues such as global warming and sustainable development.

People have converted almost half of the world's native habitats to agriculture and harvested more than 75% of the remaining forests. This has conversion has contributed more than a quarter of the carbon people have added to the air and has been the primary cause of biodiversity loss. This course will explore potential solutions for meeting rising food, wood and energy demands while protecting habitats and their carbon.

This course will teach STEM & non-STEM majors how to write about research in STEM fields with clarity and a bit of flair. Goal will be to learn to convey technical topics to non-experts in a compelling, enjoyable way while staying true to the underlying facts, context and concepts. We'll do this through readings, class discussion, encounters with professional writers and journalists of all sorts, across several different media. Most important of all, students will practice what they learn in frequent writing assignments that will be critiqued extensively by an experienced science journalist.