Subject	Course Number	Long Course Title	Description
ENST	115	Energy Technology, Society, and the Environment	Explores energy production, storage, and usage as they are currently practiced. Certain emerging technologies will also be addressed. Environmental and socio-economic impact will be discussed in the context of limitations imposed by the laws of physics.
ENST	150	Environmental Science	Presents principles of biology, chemistry, and geology that relate to such environmental issues as resource limitation, pollution, and environmental degradation. Designed to foster understanding of scientific measures of environmental quality. One laboratory per week.
ENST	160	The Ice Ages	This course focuses on the dynamic environment of the ice age periods in Earth history. Emphasis on the historical discovery of the ice ages, their possible causes, and their global effects on ecosystems on land and in the sea. One-day field trip to local glacial deposits.
ENST	190	Tutorial in Environmental Studies	Advanced study and analysis of a particular topic or case related to environmental issues, viewed from the perspective of more than one academic discipline.
ENST	195	Internship in Environmental Studies	An opportunity for environmental studies students to gain practical experience in the commercial, government, or nonprofit sectors. The internship is supplemented by readings and discussions with a supervising faculty member. At the conclusion of the internship, the student must submit a summative report that considers the internship experience in the context of the student’s other academic work.
ENST	199	Independent Study in Environmental Studies	Advanced independent research, under the guidance of a faculty mentor or mentors, on a particular topic related to the environment. The student is required to produce a formal paper or equivalent (e.g., poster session, Web page, presentation at a professional meeting) as a tangible record of the work carried out.
ENST	202	Geology and Health	A course investigating the links between geology and health, considering topics such as asbestos, natural and anthropogenic water contamination, and cycling of trace elements as both contaminants and necessary nutrients. Designed to illuminate the link between the seemingly disparate fields of geology and the health of life on earth.
ENST	205	Readings in Nature	A course in reading and writing about the natural world. Readings will be of complete texts and may include such works as Wendell Berry’s The Memory of Old Jack, Barry Lopez’s Crossing Open Ground, and Gretel Erlich’s The Solace of Open Spaces. Discussion and analysis of texts will be combined with written reflections upon natural, urban-natural, or urban landscapes and individuals.
ENST	206	East Asian Classics in Translation	This introductory course explores encounters with nature in East Asian texts through close reading of primary texts in English translation — Taoist philosophy, lyric poetry, personal memoirs, and fiction — from the traditional periods of China and Japan, ending with a contemporary Japanese novel from the mid-1990s. Particular attention is paid to literary form, voice, aesthetic concerns, and issues relating to humans’ relationship with nature.
ENST	210	Animal Behavior	A lecture and field-study course examining the principles and problems of animal behavior. Subjects include orientation, feeding, locomotion, communication, escape in time and space, biological rhythms, mate choice, and aspects of social behavior, examined from evolutionary, ontogenetic, physiological, ecological, and ethological perspectives. Lecture and laboratory. May be taken separately or as part of the Marine Biology Term.
ENST	211	Biodiversity	The influence of climate on global habitats is considered. Selected terrestrial life zones, including neotropic, paleotropic, montane, desert, cold temperate, and warm temperate, are analyzed and stresses produced by climate and habitat evaluated. Adaptive responses at the morphological and physiological levels are investigated and scientific principles are applied to contemporary ethical issues, including restoration and conservation ecology. Lecture only.
ENST	212	Physiological Ecology	Biological stresses induced by environmental variables are described. Physiological and molecular responses associated with temperature extremes, drought, and nutrient and energy competition are discussed and investigated, using both field and laboratory experience. Lecture and laboratory.
ENST	213	Evolutionary Biology	A study of biological evolution, including natural selection, adaptation, the evolution of sex, speciation, extinction, and constraints on evolutionary change. Readings include classic and current literature. Two lectures and one discussion per week.
ENST	214	The Vegetation of Wisconsin	The principles of plant-environment interrelationships are developed through extensive field study of Wisconsin vegetation. Emphasis is placed on the manner in which physical and biological factors influence competition, adaptation, and structure in major local habitats. Lecture and laboratory.
ENST	220	General Ecology	An introduction to the interactions between organisms and the environment. Lectures and discussions will explore the role of physical, chemical, and biotic processes, including human activities, in determining the structure and function of populations, communities, and ecosystems. Topics will include resource availability, competition, predation, symbiosis, and natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as disease, biological invasions, pollution, and climate change. Lecture only.
ENST	230	History of the Earth and Life	A study of the physical, chemical, and organic evolution of the Earth since its origin 4.5 billion years ago, with emphasis on times of change and crisis. The course also examines the evolution of ideas about Earth’s history, illustrating how science and culture are inherently entangled.
ENST	235	Weather, Climate, and Climate Change	A study of basic meteorologic principles and climate patterns. These phenomena will be discussed in relation to evidence of past climate change and implications of global warming on future climate.
ENST	237	Environmental Remote Sensing and GIS Applications	Fundamentals of electromagnetic radiation and the interaction of radiation with matter are introduced as the basis of remote sensing. Interpretation and manipulation of remotely sensed images are used to demonstrate the wealth of information remote sensing provides. Applications and case studies from geology, environmental science, ecology, agronomy, and urban planning will be explored. High school physics recommended.
ENST	240	Chemistry of the Earth: Low-Temperature Environments	A detailed introduction to properties of geologically and environmentally important minerals. Emphasis is placed on mineral properties, tools of mineral identification, mineral associations, and chemical reactivity of minerals in earth surface and near-surface environments. One lab per week.
ENST	245	Conservation Biology	This course explores the scientific concepts related to the conservation and restoration of the Earth’s biological diversity. Topics include patterns of species and ecosystem diversity, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, causes of extinction, assessing extinction risk, behavioral indicators, in-situ and ex-situ management strategies for endangered species, and ecosystem restoration. Lecture only.
ENST	247	The Elements of Life	A seminar that introduces the biological chemistry of some 20 elements, mostly “inorganic,” that living systems incorporate and require, touching upon the topics of uptake, selectivity, compartmentalization, control, energetics, catalysis, structure, and toxicity. Students will draw from the text to elucidate in class the biological roles of individual elements. No laboratory.
ENST	250	Analytical Chemistry	A course in the fundamental principles of quantitative analysis, stressing both chemical and instrumental techniques. Emphasis on application of analytical chemistry to practical problems, including environmental issues, food science, biochemical systems, and industrial processes. Opportunities for individually designed projects. Lectures and two laboratories per week.
ENST	260	Research Methods in Archaeology	Presents the research process in archaeology and offers an overview of essential data-collection and analysis techniques, including site survey and excavation, settlement pattern analysis, lithic analysis, and ceramic analysis. Students work with material from the Lawrence University collections and take part in field research.
ENST	270	Global Environmental Politics	This course provides an examination of the environment as an issue in world politics. Emphasis will be placed on the role of both state and non-state actors (i.e., the UN, NGOs) in global environmental regimes that are designed to deal with global warming, ozone depletion, and other environmental issues. Particular attention will be paid to the positions taken by both developed and developing countries. As part of the course, students will participate in a simulation of an international negotiation on an environmental issue.
ENST	280	Environmental Economics	An analysis of the problems associated with market and governmental allocation of natural and environmental resources. The course explores the use of externalities, cost-benefit analysis, and various governmental policy tools to analyze actual effects (efficiency and equity implications) of environmental policies on our economy. The course includes extensive analyses of ongoing environmental issues through a group project.
ENST	285	Natural Resource Economics	This course explores the economics of both exhaustible and renewable natural resource extraction. Topics include oil and mineral extraction, fisheries, forest and water management, and biodiversity. The course includes extensive study of current issues associated with the use of natural resources through a group project
ENST	300	Symposium on Environmental Topics	The heart of this course is an annual symposium organized around a well-defined topic with both scientific and policy components — e.g., nuclear waste disposal, global warming. Each year, two or three nationally recognized experts on the selected topic are brought to campus. In the weeks before a visit by one of the major speakers, students, together with environmental studies faculty, read and discuss papers suggested by the speaker. The speakers meet with students in the seminar following their public lecture, providing students with an opportunity to interact directly with scientists and policy makers at the forefront of environmental issues. Topic for Winter 2009 -- Water Wars: Local and Global This course will focus on the increasing scarcity of clean, fresh, water and the need for more efficient and equitable means of allocating it, and specifically on cases in the United States and China. We will be studying the Great Lakes and a number of rivers in the U.S. Those systems will be compared to and contrasted with systems in China, with particular focus on the impact of the 3 Gorges Dam and water issues in the southwestern Guizhou province. We will study the scientific challenges in maintaining and restoring freshwater resources, as well as policy considerations relating to environmental protection and water allocation, especially in light of pressures for economic development. There will also be particular focus on the potential for private and social entrepreneurship efforts to improve fresh water management.
ENST	310	Aquatic Ecology	The principles of the ecology of fresh waters, developed through discussions, laboratory, and field investigations of the functional relationships and productivity of biotic communities as they are affected by the dynamics of physical, chemical, and biotic parameters. Lecture and laboratory.
ENST	320	Seminar in Selected Topic in Environmental Studies	A course designed to offer students an opportunity to study important issues in environmental studies not covered in other regularly offered courses. Activities may include the reading and analysis of material from primary literature, consideration of interdisciplinary connection, and field and laboratory activites. Topic for Spring 2009: Sustainable Agriculture This course addresses the state of modern agriculture in the United States and the world. Through readings and discussions we will identify social, economic, and environmental problems with current systems of agriculture, and explore viable solutions to these problems. In addition the course will include hands-on instruction in soil science, horticulture, and market gardening using our own 1/4-acre garden as a learning laboratory. Topic for Spring 2009: Science at the Interface--The Biocomplexity of Lake Winnebago In this course, we will engage in the process of tackling environmental issues from a multidisciplinary approach. Specifically, we will span from the algal cell to the watershed ecosystem in Lake Winnebago as we explore the interactions between different fields, including biology, chemistry, geology, physics, sociology, government, and economics.
ENST	330	Advanced Geochemistry	Overview of the chemistry of geological processes in aqueous environments. Includes review of thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, phase equilibria, mineral solubility, redox reactions, and stable isotopes with geologic examples. One lab per week.
ENST	335	Physics of the Earth: Surface Environments	This course studies the movement of water, solute, and sediment through the landscape and the resulting properties and distribution of surficial earth materials and landforms. Topics include weathering; soil development; runoff; mass movement; river, glacial, and coastal processes; and deposition in sedimentary environments. One lab per week.
ENST	345	Terrestrial Field Ecology	A hands-on course intended to demonstrate basic ecological principles using local terrestrial ecosystems. Field research projects will introduce students to methods in hypothesis development, experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, and scientific writing and presentation. Research topics will include estimating population size, community structure, plant-animal interactions, and foraging behavior. Lecture and laboratory.
ENST	350	Islands and Isolation	This course examines islands and the situation of isolation across the fields of geology, evolutionary biology, and human geography. Topics include island formation, dynamics of isolated natural and human populations, and the historical importance of islands in the study of natural history. The course includes laboratories and field trips.
ENST	355	History of the American Environment	North Americans have transformed the environment while being shaped by nature in turn. This course surveys the changing relationships between Americans and their physical environment in historical context from the 17th century to the present. Topics include the “Columbian exchange,” agriculture, urbanization, conservation, and the emergence of contemporary environmentalism.
ENST	360	Environmental Ethics	An examination of some ethical assumptions that might figure in discussions of environmental policy by economists, legal experts, philosophers, and policy scientists.
ENST	365	Ecological Anthropology	A study of relationships between human communities and their natural environments (i.e., humans studied as members of ecosystems). Topics include the interactions between environment, human biology, and social organization and anthropological perspectives on global environmental problems.
ENST	380	Ecological Modeling	An introduction to the process of developing mathematical descriptions of the interactions between components of a population, community, or ecosystem, and the use of computer simulation as a tool for understanding ecology and natural resource management. Topics include population growth, predator-prey and competitor interactions, and mass balance in ecosystems.
ENST	390	Tutorial in Environmental Studies	Advanced study and analysis of a particular topic or case related to environmental issues, viewed from the perspective of more than one academic discipline.
ENST	395	Internship in Environmental Studies	An opportunity for environmental studies students to gain practical experience in the commercial, government, or nonprofit sectors. The internship is supplemented by readings and discussions with a supervising faculty member. At the conclusion of the internship, the student must submit a summative report that considers the internship experience in the context of the student’s other academic work.
ENST	399	Independent Study in Environmental Studies	Advanced independent research, under the guidance of a faculty mentor or mentors, on a particular topic related to the environment. The student is required to produce a formal paper or equivalent (e.g., poster session, Web page, presentation at a professional meeting) as a tangible record of the work carried out.
ENST	410	Ecological Energetics	Field and laboratory experimental investigations of the transfer and transformation of energy or energy-containing materials between and within organisms and populations of aquatic ecosystems. Part of the Marine Biology Term. Lecture and laboratory.
ENST	425	Prehistoric Human-Environment Interactions	This course focuses on the interrelationships between prehistoric humans and their environment on a variety of temporal and geographic scales. Topics include the detection and analysis of prehistoric environmental degradation, the possible impacts of natural and anthropogenically induced environmental change on prehistoric humans, and the modern significance of such interrelationships.
ENST	426	Biogeography	Students will learn about past and present geographic distribution of plants, animals, and other organisms throughout the history of the earth and how these patterns can be reconstructed. An in-depth understanding of the basic controls on species distributions is vital to predicting future impacts of global climate change on ecological systems and is a key aspect of effective conservation efforts.
ENST	427	Paleolimnology	Students will learn about the study of lake systems through time. This includes lake formation, changes in watershed vegetation, water chemistry, hydrology, and disturbance regimes. The course will consist of a mixture of lectures, field trips, and labs. Students should be prepared to go on field trips to local lakes where we will recover sediment cores for analysis during the term. One lab per week.
ENST	430	Watershed Hydrology	An introduction to the basic components of the hydrologic cycle, focusing on surface water and groundwater systems. Measurement and analysis of hydrologic data are emphasized. Application to contemporary issues such as flooding, watershed development, and groundwater contamination will be discussed.
ENST	449	Nature and the Environment in German Literature (in English)	This course examines the literary, philosophical, and sociological history of ecological issues in Germany. Students investigate the formulation of the specifically German concept of nature and study the roles of Romanticism and of the early 20th-century youth movement in shaping contemporary environmental debates. Taught in English. German majors and minors may participate in a two-unit tutorial in which discussions and some course readings will be in German.
ENST	450	Nature and the Environment in German Literature	This course examines the literary, philosophical, and sociological history of ecological issues in Germany. Students investigate the formulation of the specifically German concept of nature and study the roles of Romanticism and of the early 20th-century youth movement in shaping contemporary environmental debates. Taught in German.
ENST	460	The Environment, Community, and Education	A study of education, the creation and maintenance of community, and the development of ecological intelligence. Emphasis on how schools respond to their surroundings, the extent to which modern forms of education “fit” students to live in local communities, and the idea of community as a sense of place. Emphasis will also be placed on cultural assumptions about the environment implicit within the curriculum, the effect of schooling on students’ understanding of and relationship to the environment, and the role of education in promoting ecological and social sustainability.
ENST	470	Environmental Politics	An examination of the politics of environmental policy in the United States, including the organization and demands of the environmental movement and its opponents, the ways in which major actors and institutions in the U.S. system treat environmental issues, and such specific topics as environmental justice and the application of cost-benefit reasoning to environmental policy making.
ENST	480	Advanced Environmental Economics	Course content incorporates the substantive topics raised in Economics 280 but with more analytical breadth and depth. Students use microeconomic tools to understand the existing academic literature and to address the efficient use of natural and environmental resources.
ENST	505	Coral Reef Environments	Examines the ecology of coral reef environments. Lecture, laboratory, and field components. Part of the Marine Biology Term. Lecture and laboratory.
ENST	560	Practicum in Environmental Studies	Practical experience working in either environmental policy development or environmental science fieldwork in a community. For example, students might work with businesses, trade organizations, state or local government, or non-profit advocacy groups. Students spend a minimum of ten hours per week at assigned settings and attend weekly supervision meetings with instructor. Practica can be done during the academic year (at local placements or on campus) or during the summer (at off-campus placements).
ENST	570	Senior Seminar in Government: Parks in Peril: People, Politics, and Public Lands	This course will examine how industry, interest groups, and government debate what is the best strategy for handling parks in the United States at the national, state, and local levels. The class will include a broad analysis of current trends in park management and implications for biodiversity and conservation for future generations.
ENST	590	Tutorial in Environmental Studies	Advanced study and analysis of a particular topic or case related to environmental issues, viewed from the perspective of more than one academic discipline.
ENST	595	Internship in Environmental Studies	An opportunity for environmental studies students to gain practical experience in the commercial, government, or nonprofit sectors. The internship is supplemented by readings and discussions with a supervising faculty member. At the conclusion of the internship, the student must submit a summative report that considers the internship experience in the context of the student’s other academic work.
ENST	599	Independent Study in Environmental Studies	Advanced independent research, under the guidance of a faculty mentor or mentors, on a particular topic related to the environment. The student is required to produce a formal paper or equivalent (e.g., poster session, Web page, presentation at a professional meeting) as a tangible record of the work carried out.
ENST	650	Environmental Studies Senior Seminar	A seminar on issues and methods of environmental studies and a focal point of the environmental studies major. Topics include scientific measures of environmental quality, natural resource management, pollution, prices, and public policy and ethical considerations. Students employ data and models to address a chosen environmental problem. Faculty members from contributing disciplines participate.
ENST	690	Tutorial in Environmental Studies	Advanced study and analysis of a particular topic or case related to environmental issues, viewed from the perspective of more than one academic discipline.
ENST	695	Internship in Environmental Studies	An opportunity for environmental studies students to gain practical experience in the commercial, government, or nonprofit sectors. The internship is supplemented by readings and discussions with a supervising faculty member. At the conclusion of the internship, the student must submit a summative report that considers the internship experience in the context of the student’s other academic work.
ENST	699	Independent Study in Environmental Studies	Advanced independent research, under the guidance of a faculty mentor or mentors, on a particular topic related to the environment. The student is required to produce a formal paper or equivalent (e.g., poster session, Web page, presentation at a professional meeting) as a tangible record of the work carried out.