An introduction to central concepts in environmental science through the study of specific environmental issues. Focal issues, landscapes, and ecosystems illuminate the function and interrelationship of physical, chemical, biological, and socio-cultural systems at scales ranging from microscopic to global. The laboratory links field studies of environmental systems to the scientific concepts, tools, habits of the mind, and approaches to data handling and analysis that environmental scientists use.

The environmental crisis is profoundly political. This course familiarizes students with some of the major social scientific contributions to understanding how and why environmental problems arise, how they are defined, and how different groups are affected by and respond to them. The course first outlines the contemporary world system in which environmental debates take place and then identifies drivers of environmental change. Students then apply these ideas to a variety of ongoing environmental controversies, including climate change, agriculture, urbanization, biodiversity conservation, pollution, and environmental justice.

What stories and narratives shape the way we define and relate to place? Who gets to name and narrate place? How do stories about what it means to live sustainably in place serve the interests of some at the expense of others? Why does storytelling matter when thinking about the environmental challenges of the current century? We will consider such questions in this introduction to environmental humanities course. Students will gain skills in interpreting and talking about diverse media formats—including film, advertising, poetry, comics, and literary fiction. These formats elaborate stories about sustainability, place, climate injustice and the impacts of global commodity networks. Students will be introduced to the ideas of several influential environmental humanities thinkers and consider the creative decisions and narratives employed by artists and storytellers from various contemporary cultures that consider what it means to live in right relation to place.

This course is designed as a second science course for students interested in marine science and environmental studies. We will survey coastal marine ecosystems, explore how they are structured, how they function, and how human impacts alter structure and function. This course will draw from principles of biology, ecology, restoration science, and policy to holistically explore the relationship between humans and coastal ecosystems including how climate change and development alter coastal ecosystems. Prerequisite(s): BIO113, 195, EACS103, 109, 113, ENVR 203, or FYS 476.

The study of human ecology focuses on understanding how ecosystems affect, and are affected by, human behavior and social systems. These include our food systems, land use practices, technologies, and more. Students will learn about basic ecological principles and apply these principles to the ways humans have engaged with their natural spaces across human history. We will learn about how ancient civilizations developed innovative ways of stewarding their local ecosystems or in some harsh cases caused irreparable damage. We will conclude by examining modern climate change and the impact that recent human land use practices have had on different ecosystems on a global scale. We will also investigate the sustainability of Indigenous societies and nation states around the world, how they preserve biodiversity, and pathways forward for us all. Prerequisite(s): BIO 113, 134, 195, 207, EACS 109, ENVR 203, 207, 221, or FYS 476.

This course explores the relationship between the North American environment and the development and expansion of the United States. Because Americans' efforts (both intentional and not) to define and shape the environment were rooted in their own struggles for power, environmental history offers an important perspective on the nation's social history. Specific topics include Europeans', Africans', and Native Americans' competing efforts to shape the colonial environment; the impact and changing understanding of disease; the relationship between industrial environments and political power; and the development of environmental movements.

What do we owe to nonhuman animals? How ought we treat plants and other nonsentient organisms? Are ecosystems appropriate objects of moral concern? This course focuses on moral issues that arise as a result of human interaction with the environment. Students discuss mainstream Western philosophers as well as challenges from the point of view of indigenous cultures, Buddhism, and ecofeminism.

This course explores the shifting and varying relationships between peoples of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation and the natural world. We will examine the often contradictory ways people understand and express those relationships, presenting nature alternately as prison, as escape, as an asset, as a threat, as salvation, as home, or as distant—often frozen—other world. Using sources from a broad range of genres and disciplines, we will look at how and why people express these attitudes and how these attitudes bear on historical and contemporary behaviors and politics. Conducted in English.

Geographical information systems (GIS) are computer-based systems for geographical data presentation and analysis. They allow rapid development of high-quality maps, and enable sophisticated examination of spatial patterns and interrelationships. In this course students learn the principles of GIS through extensive computer use of ArcGIS Pro (ESRI). Geological and environmental projects introduce students to cartography, common sources of geographic data, methods for collecting novel spatial data, and data quality. Finally, students learn to extend the capabilities of GIS software to tackle more advanced spatial analysis tasks by completing an independent project. Lectures supplement the laboratory component of the course. Not open to students who have received credit for ENVR220. Prerequisite: one 100-level course in earth and climate sciences or one 200-level course in environmental studies.

This course explores the social, political, and economic production of “natural” disasters, and the linkages between disasters and various types of displacement (e.g., temporary/permanent, internal/international, and forced/voluntary). We take a case-study approach to understand disasters and displacement and work across a diversity of geographic and cultural contexts. Lastly, we engage both domestic and international law and policy as it relates to disaster preparedness and recovery, displacement, and resettlement. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204.

Geographical information systems (GIS) are computer-based systems for analyzing spatially located data. They allow rapid development of high-quality maps and enable sophisticated examination of spatial patterns and interrelationships. In this course students learn the principles of GIS through extensive use of the software ArcGIS (ESRI). Modules from across the curriculum introduce students to spatial data by exploring common data sources, data collection methods, data quality, and data presentation methods. Finally, students extend their capabilities in advanced spatial analysis tasks by undertaking an independent project. Not open to students who have received credit for ENVR217/EACS217.

This course introduces the principles of ecology as applied to agricultural systems. Students explore the interaction of plants and animals raised or harvested for food and the ecosystems of which they are a part in both conventional and low-input systems. Readings are focused on the ecological foundation of how agricultural ecosystems function and may include related socioeconomic and cultural forces and context such as federal farm policy, labor, cultures of food, and environmental justice. Basic facility with spreadsheets is assumed. Weekend field trips may be required. Prerequisite(s): BIO 124, 195, 206, ENVR 203, 207, 240, or 310.

The pursuit of wildlife conservation has produced significant policy changes, funding flows, international conventions, and countless projects. But how and why does conservation happen? And what are the consequences for diverse human and nonhuman communities? This course seeks to answer these questions through topics including the historical origins of the conservation idea; the national parks movement in the United States and the British Empire; the raced, classed, and gendered dimensions of conservation; protectionist, integrated, co-managed, and market-based approaches; human-wildlife conflicts; the illegal wildlife trade; de-extinction; rewilding; and conservation ethics. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204.

Hydrogeology is the study of the movement and interaction of surface water and groundwater within rocks and sediments. This course uses hydrogeology as a disciplinary framework for learning about surface water and groundwater processes, contamination, supply, use, and management. Students engage in practical applications of hydrogeology via discussions, guest lectures, research projects, problem sets, and hands-on experience. Students learn field and laboratory methods for determining and analyzing surface water and groundwater flow, contamination, and aquifer properties by working on data from sites of interest in central Maine and elsewhere. Class visits by professional hydrogeologists and environmental consultants provide connections and information on career opportunities in the field. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 203 or one 100-level earth and climate sciences course.

The history of Latin American and Caribbean political development is also a history of how the region grappled with struggles for economic development and autonomy in relation to the more powerful Western states. This course surveys the progression of the dependency-development debate by contextualizing it within the Cold War context and beyond. The intellectual debate centers on elaborating a prognosis and solutions to the problem of dependency and underdevelopment. The course will cover (1) the roots of underdevelopment and its interconnectedness to the topics of reform/revolution, socialism/fascism/capitalism, and democracy/authoritarianism; (2) historical events that enabled and/or inhibited different socio-political experiments; and (3) contemporary issues that touch on this debate, including neo-extractivism, China’s growing influence, and regional ecological degradation. Recommended background: Prior coursework focusing on Latin America, development and/or political/social theory.

Year after year of unprecedented flooding, fires, and heatwaves: the climate crisis of the future is now. Governments, NGOs, scientists, entrepreneurs, communities, and individuals across the world are now confronted with the climate crises in variable and uneven ways. The drivers of climate change and how humanity responds to climate impacts each engender matters of climate (in)justice. This course explores the ways in which the uneven distribution of climate harms and benefits are deeply linked to structural inequalities along axes of race, class, gender, and nationality. Through engagement with case studies and social movements, topics such as sacrifice zones, environmental racism, climate gentrification, green grabbing, disaster capitalism, climate apartheid, and climate displacement are explored. Finally, students consider possibilities and proposals for realizing more just climate futures. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204.

In this course students will investigate how global change is affecting terrestrial ecosystems. Plants are the dominant organisms in these systems. They will consider plant physiology and how biological processes such as photosynthesis or leaf water transpiration factor into species’ response to changes in climate. Students will discuss global anthropogenic climate change, and how changes in temperature and water availability, rising carbon dioxide and gaseous pollutants, and alterations in soil chemistry and nutrient availability will affect plant communities at the ecosystem scale. Prerequisite(s): BIO 113, 134, 195, 207, EACS 109, ENVR 203, 207, 221, or FYS 476.

This course will introduce students to the study and discussion of environmental racism and environmental justice in the United States that centers the histories and experiences of communities of color. Environmental racism is defined by Dr. Robert Bullard (“the Father of Environmental Justice'') as “any policy, practice or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (where intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race.” This course expands and illuminates this definition through examinations of watershed moments—from the Transatlantic Slave Trade to struggles in New England today—in which communities of color in the United States bear the deadly brunt of toxic fumes, poisoned groundwater, nuclear waste, perilous disaster work, land theft, and the slow violence of biological extermination. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 or 205.

This course explores the structure and function of lakes and rivers and their relationship to the surrounding terrestrial systems. Students consider physical, chemical, and biological processes that influence the movement and quality of water, emphasizing controls on the distribution, movement, and chemistry of water both to and within freshwater ecosystems. Field and laboratory studies combine ecological, geological, and chemical approaches to questions of water quality and quantity as well as an introduction to working with large data sets. Students are assumed to be proficient in the use of spreadsheets. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: BIO 195; ENVR 203; BI/EA 112; EACS 103, 104, 107, 109, or FYS 476.

This course casts a critical eye on the international development complex and its varied consequences for environments and communities worldwide. Students first consider the colonial origins of the development idea, its institutional growth in the twentieth century, and various theoretical approaches to development. Drawing heavily on case studies and voices from across the global South, the course then explores major environment-development quandaries such as extractive industries, large infrastructure projects, public health, famine and food security, climate change adaptation, disaster relief, and foreign aid, all the while measuring them against development’s shifting aspirations: poverty alleviation, social justice, and sustainability. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 or any course in Latin American and Latinx Studies.

The work of conserving the ecological systems on which we and other species rely draws on many disciplines, including biology, policy, ethics, and other disciplines to conserve biological diversity. This course focuses on the biological aspects of conservation work while also considering their context within a complex, interdisciplinary endeavor. Students examine conservation at multiple scales, including the conservation of species, biological communities, and ecosystems. Classroom activities help students develop scientific reasoning skills and apply them to conservation problems. Readings and discussions encourage students to consider social, ethical, and other perspectives on conservation work. Prerequisite(s): BIO195, ENVR 203, 240, 309, or 310.

In this field-based course, students engage in the scientific study of the natural history and identification of trees and important shrubs native to New England, and some commonly planted non-native trees. Topics include the anatomy, function, taxonomy, biology, and uses of trees. Lecture topics support weekly outdoor laboratories, which may include trips to such field sites as the Saco Heath, Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary, and Wolfe's Neck State Park. Study of the woody flora of New England serves as a foundation for further work in biology, environmental studies, conservation, or related fields. Prerequisite(s): BIO195, 206, or ENVR 203.

This course is designed to introduce experimental design and hypothesis testing in the context of environmental science. We will focus on building quantitative skills (in R) and improving our conceptual understanding of data visualizations and research design. The course assumes no prior R or statistical knowledge and will help build transferable quantitative skills for future careers. Recommended Background: Two or more courses in natural science. Facility with spreadsheets is assumed. Not open to students who have taken BIO 244. Prerequisite(s): BIO195, ENVR 203, 240, 309, or 310.

This seminar examines how people relate to their environments and how those relationships have changed. It also examines how understanding of “the environment” has consequences for how people influence it, how it influences them, and even how people influence each other. Understanding these varied relationships within the human and more-than-human world highlights how canoe routes, beach towns, textile mills, apple orchards, and all other New England environments are products of human dynamics, including those of race, gender, and class. Drawing on scholarly work as well as primary sources (including paintings, newspapers, diaries, and maps), students gain an appreciation for this complex history. They then engage in the process of writing their own analysis of some part of the region’s past.

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms. This course is an examination of species, cultivation techniques, environmental conditions, and management considerations central to aquaculture. We will explore these topics at both a global level and a regional level, giving significant attention to aquaculture research and development efforts in Maine. Students will learn about and apply the fundamental biological, chemical, and ecological concepts at play in the most common culture systems. We will also discuss issues that have affected the growth and development of aquaculture in the last century. Prerequisite(s): complete two of the following: ENVR 203, 204, 205, or 309.

Many stories associated with the environment reflect the experiences of populations that no longer grow their food or manage their waste – experiences that favor the idealization of “Nature” as a space of recreation or conceal the communities that make the modern economy possible. What priorities, hopes and anxieties emerge when we center communities that work the land? Devaluing the knowledge of small-scale farmers, indigenous peoples and minoritized communities has supported the spread of colonial capitalism. We ask how this stigma is contested by the stories of these groups today as they struggle to restore ancestral practices of land use, resist industrial agrobusiness or secure food sovereignty in the face of climate change. Through the study of art, literature and scholarship produced by these communities and their allies, we ask how the stories and ways of storytelling of those who work the land reorient definitions of “environment” and climate action and “resilience” agendas. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 205

An exploration of marine invertebrate responses to global change (warming, acidification, etc…), the mechanisms underlying such responses, and how these responses impact ecosystems across spatial scales. Laboratory is a semester-long Course Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in which groups of students will design and implement experiments in research aquaria. Recommended background: experience working with data is expected. Prerequisite(s): BIO 195 or ENVR 203, and one of the following: BIO 202, 204, 206, ENVR 207, 221, 240, 282, or 310.

Depending on one's point of view, soils are geological units, ecosystems, the foundation of plant life, a place for microbes to live, building material, or just dirt. This course takes a scientific perspective and explores the genesis of soils, their distribution and characteristics, their interaction with plants, and their role in global cycles. Field studies emphasize description of soils, inferences about soil formation, and placement within a landscape context. Labs investigate the chemistry of soils and their role in forests and agricultural systems. Prerequisite(s): BIO 206, 241, 271, CHEM 212, 215, EACS 210, 223, 240, 241, ENVR 207, 221, 240, 271, or 309.

This course investigates the deep historical roots of China's contemporary environmental dilemmas. From the Three Gorges Dam to persistent smog, a full understanding of the environment in China must reckon with millennia-old relationships between human and natural systems. In this course students explore the advent of grain agriculture, religious understandings of nature, the impact of bureaucratic states, and the environmental dimensions of imperial expansion as well as the nature of kinship and demographic change. The course concludes by turning to the socialist "conquest" of nature in the 1950s and 1960s and China's post-1980s fate.

Consumerism is a pervasive hallmark of modernity, often seen as the key to freedom, upward mobility, self-actualization, and happiness. Yet critics argue that it comes at the cost of an accelerating environmental crisis, mental health problems, social anomie, and violent inequalities. Drawing on diverse theoretical approaches, this seminar first explores the ecological, political, cultural, and psychological aspects of consumerism in the United States. The course then critically examines a range of alternative movements and paradigms that seek a life beyond consumerism, such as anti-corporate activism; ethical and political consumption; voluntary simplicity; neo-Luddism; freeganism; circular economies; degrowth; commoning; and relocalization. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204.

This course explores audio and/or visual modes of environmental expression including film, documentary photography, music, fine art, architecture, the graphic novel, and manga. Working across cultural traditions and emphasizing works by marginalized authors, artists, and directors, students investigate how various forms of ecomedia have been employed to express environmental sentiments, explore environmental issues, and give voice to those impacted by environmental crises. Equal attention is paid to canonical works of environmental art as well as pop cultural and/or nontraditional works that have often been overlooked. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 205 or one 200-level course in English or rhetoric, film, and screen studies.

Once regarded as impenetrable barriers dividing Europe, the Alps and Carpathian Mountains were transformed into international meeting places with the arrival of mass tourism in the late nineteenth century. At the same time, these mountain ranges began to be claimed in the constructions of national and ethnic identities that reshaped Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. The course examines the role ascribed to the Alps and Carpathians at a pivotal time in European history, when the demise of empires and rising nationalism, but also new ideas about class, gender, ethnicity, and race, fundamentally restructured dynamics of power on the continent. Recommended background: a 200-level course focused on the study of literature and/or film in any department.

As biodiversity loss occurs rapidly around the globe, wildlife conservation is one of humanity’s most complex and critical challenges. Wildlife population declines primarily stem from an inherent conflict between two competing forces – the finite capacity of ecosystems and an increasing demand placed on those systems by humans. Since wildlife conservation is often said to be “10% working with wildlife and 90% working with people,” students will explore how human actions, attitudes, and perceptions affect wildlife conservation and management. This course investigates how citizens, governments, and organizations protect wildlife in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures while also considering a variety of stakeholder needs and opinions. Using case studies and data from the field, students will examine terrestrial ecosystems and associated human dimensions, analyze qualitative data, and learn advanced skills needed to be successful conservation biologists and managers. Recommended background: BIO246 or ENVR223. Prerequisite(s): BIO206, ENVR203, or 204.

This course centers Indigenous relations with land, water, climate, and more-than-human others. Drawing upon Indigenous studies and post/de/anticolonial literature, this course explores diverse ways in which Indigenous Peoples around the world understand, experience, and are responding to contemporary ecological challenges of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. A wide range of topics are explored including the construction of knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, eco-imperialism, ecocide, sovereignty and self-determination, and decolonization. This is a writing-intensive course culminating in the development of a creative anticolonial case study project. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 or 205.

This course takes a critical political ecology approach to understanding the current global climate crisis. We will engage the historical, economic, cultural, and political dimensions of climate change, as well as adaptation and mitigation responses to it. This course does not attempt to present a comprehensive review of the political ecology literature on climate change. Rather, it is designed as an exploration of political ecology’s insights and arguments as they pertain to climate change impacts, governance, and politics. The course is divided into four units: (I) defining the political ecology of climate change field, (II) doing political ecology research, (III) exploration of climate cases, and (IV) political ecology applied: climate case studies. Throughout the class, students engage in collaborative, community-engaged research centered around a local or regional climate issue of their choice. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester.

Considering recent debates regarding travel bans, the tenets of citizenship, and global migration, representations of landscape warrant renewed attention. How does land become landscape? How does place become property? This course seeks to answer such questions by decentering a white, patriarchal, Eurocentric vision that has canonized histories of landscape and situated survey practices as modern strategies of expansionism. By understanding colonial visual strategies: the emptying of land, erasure of people, picturesque composition, together with modern optical technologies: telescopes, microscopes, cameras, and even firearms, students will dismantle landscape as a scenic facade engineered to assert dominance and legitimize imperial politics. They will explore how landscape is fundamental to identity formation, placemaking, and settlement, connecting contemporary eco-critical methods to scientific missions of the 19th century through a capstone digital humanities project.

Students work collaboratively to complete an interdisciplinary semester-long research project. Projects include work with previously identified community partners and may vary from year to year. The course allows students to develop skills in navigating the issues and best practices arising from doing complex collaborative work in a community-engaged setting. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 and 205; and one of the following: ENVR 203, 240, 309, or 310.

Students learn a variety of modalities for communicating about environmental topics with public audiences. They consider environmentally themed text as models for writing (e.g., advocacy, scholarship, scientific writing, personal and lyrical essays, natural history) and explore new media forms (e.g., podcasts, video essays, and other creative formats). Students' environmental writing develops through peer review and culminates in a substantial work for a public audience. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 204 and 205; and one of the following: ENVR 203, 240, 309, or 310.

This course involves research for and writing of the senior thesis, under the direction of a faculty advisor. Guidelines for the thesis are published on the program website and are available from the program chair. Students register for ENVR 457 in the fall semester.

This course involves research for and writing of the senior thesis, under the direction of a faculty advisor. Guidelines for the thesis are published on the program website and are available from the program chair. Students register for ES 458 in the winter semester.

Popular representations of digital technologies often present them as somehow independent of material constraints-as inherently clean, "green," and ethereal as a cloud. Those images belie the realities of the information economy's myriad environmental impacts, from resource depletion to water pollution to massive energy consumption. This course, an introduction to the history and politics of infrastructure, directs attention to relationships between human and nonhuman nature, using everyday personal computing as a point of departure. Throughout, students engage with activists, regulators, and maintainers working toward justice and sustainability in the digital age.

The course provides a context for studying and analyzing images of the landscape by viewing and discussing historic and contemporary landscape photographs. Questions considered include the role of the sublime in current landscape photography, beauty as a strategy for persuasion, perceptions of "natural" versus "artificial," and contemporary approaches in trying to affect environmental change. Students explore the depiction of the landscape by producing their own body of photographic work. Recommended background: AVC 219.

In a world marked by environmental shifts, political unrest and global challenges, this course invites students to explore their role as global citizens by connecting with place through local community science initiatives, investigating coastal ecosystems, and creating actionable proposals for local conservation efforts. The course introduces the theory and practice of community science as well as field methods including basic experimental design, data collection, analysis and effective communication. We will investigate different ecosystems in Phippsburg and at Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, meet community partners and develop meaningful relationships with the land. This course includes overnight stays at Shortridge Coastal Center. Recommended background: prior coursework in basic statistics.

The fight for more equitable and ecologically sustainable food systems is at the heart of numerous environmental, climate and land justice struggles. While groups fighting for food sovereignty mobilize around the rights of communities to access land and water and define their own food systems, food justice addresses the systemic lack of access to safe, sustainable, and culturally-appropriate nourishment faced by communities marginalized by racialized development and colonial legacies. In this course, we will gain a basic knowledge of major ideas and struggles defining these movements, both nationally and internationally, through the discussion of film, case studies, field trips to local food and land justice centers, and conversations with local food and land justice advocates. Local Food is a CEL (Community Engaged Learning) course, where students will volunteer with local food advocates for several weeks. This course aims to empower students to engage with local food movements and consider what broader concepts of justice and sovereignty look like for communities in Southern Maine. Students will develop a creative or public-facing project about a related topic of interest as their final project in this course.

Who tells the stories of trees, how do they tell them, and why? How are the lives and voices of forests captured and constructed? Students in this course address these questions by examining a range of novels, histories, and scientific studies focused on trees and forests, and by constructing their own narratives -- fictional and/or historical -- about their lives with trees, including those on the Bates campus and in the surrounding community. They consider how trees and forests have been identified by writers as models for human beings and human communities. Students hear from those who work with trees, including foresters and arborists, and consider the ways in which the lives of trees and those of human beings are intertwined. Readings include Richard Powers, The Overstory; John Fowles, The Tree; Lauren Oakes, In Search of the Canary Tree; and Peter Wohlleben, The Secret Lives of Trees. Prerequisite(s): ENVR 205 or one 100-level English course.

Environmental anthropologists, geographers and political ecologists have long been preoccupied with understanding the ways in which seemingly “natural” landscapes are actually the result of complex social histories. Landscape ethnography is the approach we take in this class to understand the entangled human and ecological histories of place, and challenge dichotomies of nature and culture. Informed by multispecies, interspecies and more-than-human perspectives across the social sciences and humanities, this class enables students an explorative and creative space to produce a landscape ethnography.

Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term.