Geography and Environmental Systems (GES)
Department of Geography and Environmental Systems
EUGENE P. (SANDY) PARKER, Program ChairANDREW J. MILLER, Graduate Program Director
Associate Professors
ELLIS, ERLE, Ph.D., Cornell University; Biogeochemistry, landscape ecology, managed ecosystems
HALVERSON, JEFFREY B., Ph.D., Univeristy of Virginia; Tropical meteorology, hurricanes, severe storms
MILLER, ANDREW J., Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Hydrology, geomorphology, water resources
PARKER, EUGENE P., Ph.D., University of Colorado; Environmental conservation, cultural ecology
Assistant Professors
NEFF, ROBERT, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; Human dimensions of global change, urban geography, environmental and social justice
LEWIS, LAURA R., Ph.D., University of California, Davis; Biogeography, agroecology, crop evolution
SWAN, CHRISTOPHER M., Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Stream ecology
TANG, JUNMEI, Ph.D., Univeristy of Texas, San Marcos; Geographic information systems, remote sensing, urban landscape ecology, resource management, environmental modeling
Degrees Offered
M.S., Ph.D.Program Description
The Department of Geography and Environmental Systems is at the interface between natural science, social science, public policy, engineering and information technology with faculty who have backgrounds and collaborative relationships in both research and teaching related to all of those areas. The spatial perspective inherent in the program, which is also central to geography as a discipline, provides an analytical framework that bridges disciplinary boundaries and utilizes the tools of geographic information systems to assist in our understanding of complex patterns in the natural and human environment.
Areas of concentration include environmental systems, including water resources and Earth-surface processes, ecosystem science and atmospheric processes; human geography with an ephasis on coupled human-natural systems including the impacts of human activites on the environments, the socioeconomic consequences of environmental degradation and environmental policy and geographic information science and remote sensing. Collaborative relationships with other academics programs on campus include public policy, economics, the Erikson School, civil engineering, mathematics, statistics, biological sciences and physics.
The environment is a key focus area of education and research on the UMBC campus. In addition to a core group of interested faculty from the natural sciences, social sciences and engineering, the campus hosts the field headquarters of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, an NSF and U.S. Forest Service-supported Urban Long-Term Ecological Research Site; the Joint Center for Earth Sytems Technology (JECT) and Goddard Earth Sciences and Technolgoy Center (GEST), both of which are components of the NASA/UMBC consortium focusing on Earth systems science and the application of remote sensing technology to monitoring of the Earth's atmosphere and surface; the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), focusing on the environmental, social and economic consequences of landscape transformation associated with urban and suburban development; and the U.S Geological Survey Water Science Center for the MD-DE-DC region, which will be moving to the campus research park. The concentration of environment-related research activity on campus provdes a rich and diverse set of opportunities for prospective graduate students entering our program.
The M.S./Ph.D. program in Geography and Environmental Systesm received formal approval from the Maryland Higher Education Commission in March 2007 and is recruiting for the first cohort of students to enroll for fall 2008. For more information, visit www.umbc.edu/ges.
COURSE LISTING
GES 602: Research Methods for Geography and Environmental Systems [3]
This course is designed to provide graduate students with a clear understanding of past and present methodology associated with spatial, temporal, and dynamic research in geography and environmental systems. The primary focus of the course will be on the development of research questions and how to utilize various types of analysis to answer these questions and further fields of inquiry.
GES 608: Field Ecology [4]
Students enrolled in this course will gain an appreciation for the modern scope of scientific inquiry in the field of ecology. A major goal is for the students to become familiar with how organisms interact with each other and their natural environment by understanding the structure and function of different types of local ecosystems. Students will learn field collection techniques, as well as how to organize, analyze, present and interpret ecological information. This class includes both lecture and laboratory sessions.
GES 610: Atmospheric Science [3]
This course provides rigorous survey of advanced concepts in atmospheric science including: Thermodynamics, radiative transfer, chemistry, cloud microphysics, dynamics, mid-latitude weather systems, boundary layer and climate processes. The emphasis is on developing a conceptual understanding of the various physical processes at work in the atmosphere and their linkage with other planetary systems such as the hydrosphere, cryosphere and biosphere. The course will provide a synthesis of underlying principles for the graduate student who desires a concise, modern understanding of how the atmosphere functions within the larger Earth system
GES 611: Fluvial Geomorphology [3]
This course focuses on watershed processes associated with the evolution of river systems and with sculpture of the earth's surface by running water. Topics covered include the principles of flow in river channels; erosion and sedimentation; dynamics of sediment transport; morphometry of drainage networks; depositional and erosional features associated with the development of river channels and floodplains; the geometry and statistical properties of channel cross-section, longitudinal profile and planform patterns; the dynamics of channel and floodplain response to environmental change; spatial and temporal variability of fluvial processes and landforms; and anthropogenic modification of the fluvial system. Prerequisities: Prior coursework in geomorphology or hydrology preferred but waived for graduate students with other strong science background. Introductory physics and calculus preferred.
GES 612: Biogeochemical Cycles and the Global Environment [3]
This course explores the chemistry and cycling of elements across the Earth's surface and atmosphere, with special emphasis on human-induced changes in biogeochemistry that are driving global warming, ocean acidification, acid rain, ozone depletion, water pollution, and nutrient saturation of freshwater, estuarine and coastal environments. Basic biogeochemical processes will be introduced and then integrated to explain the global cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur and how these are changed by human activities. Students enrolling for graduate credit are required to design an original research project relating to their Thesis or Dissertation work. Prerequisites: GES 110, 111 or 120, CHEM 102, and GES 308 or BIOL 301, or permission of instructor.
GES 621: Water in the Urban Environment [3]
This course is designed for first-year graduate students who have been awarded Integrative Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT) fellowships on the theme of "Water in the Urban Environment" and is intended to provide an overview of topics related to the broad themes of the program. The syllabus will focus on the environmental, engineering, economic, and policy aspects of water management in urban areas and will address the impacts of urban development on hydrology, geomorphology, water quality and aquatic ecology. The course is team-taught by faculty from Geography and Environmental Systems, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Economics, and Public Policy. There will be several field trips outside of regularly scheduled class time. Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
GES 623: Modeling and Spatial Statistics with Applications to the Urban Environment [3]
The goal of this course is to provide students with knowledge of mathematical models for the urban environment from various disciplinary perspectives, and how such models might be coupled to address urban water problems. Simple models from the fields of environmental contaminant transport, economics and ecology will be used as examples. Material covered will include time series analysis and geostatistical anaylsis of spatially distributed data in the physical, biological, and social sciences. The course will highlight challenges of the interdisciplinary perspective, including (1) space and time scales of concern to different disciplines; (2) issues with uncertainty in data and models; and (3) examples of models that are available to the different disciplines. The course will include hands-on exercises and the challenge for students to combine models from different disciplines.
GES 622: Research Design for the Urban Environment [3]
This is a core course in the IGERT "Water in the Urban Environment" program. Topics include the following: What are the valid and feasible research questions for different kinds of projects? What are the assumptions, conceptual models and research approaches associated with different disciplinary perspectives? What are the key requirements for successful interdisciplinary research? What themes and trends will be important in the near future in interdisciplinary environmental research focusing on urban environment and water resources? Students will work individually and as members of interdisciplinary teams to present case studies, analyze journal articles and grant proposals, educate other students about their own disciplinary perspective, terminology, and methods, and develop research plans in response to an example RFP addressing an urban water-related problem. Each team will prepare written documents and will present and defend its work to the faculty and other IGERT students.
GES 685: Field Methods in Geography and Environmental Systems: Environmental Mapping of Local Landscapes [3]
Students in this course gain hands-on experience with field methods for landscape ecology, including sampling, mapping and spatial analysis of soils, vegetation, soil organisms, stream hydrology, and land use patterns in local landscapes using GIS, GPS, imagery, and other techniques. The class will meet one session each week and six full-day Saturday sessions: scheduling to be arranged. Students will work in teams and prepare final projects that will be presented as scientific posters and on the web. Students enrolling for graduate credit are required to design an original research project relating to their Thesis or Dissertation work. Prerequisites: GES 386 (GIS) , and at least one 300-level physical geography course, or permission of instructor.