Earth and Environmental Sciences - Senior

Course # EAES 4146

Credits 6

Prerequisites: Geomorphology

Course Description

Natural hazards continually modify landscapes, sometimes slowly (chronic hazards) and often episodically. They can be defined as phenomena that originate in the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, or biosphere that have the potential to exert either an extreme impact on humans and/or the natural environment or a more progressive, cumulative impact. When these hazards cause damage to property, infrastructure, environmental investments, or affect people, they become disasters. Natural hazards and related disasters are global phenomena and are becoming increasingly important in Central Asia. Effectively managing hazard risk reduces the human, economic, and environmental consequences. The course primarily focuses on hazards that occur in mountain environments in a global context; however, many examples are taken from the Central Asia region and similar areas. As such, the primary focus of the course is on erosion processes of all types, related hydrological hazards, and mass wasting (e.g., floods, landslides, debris flows, rock fall, extreme soil erosion, desertification, glacial lake outburst floods), as well as the atmospheric or seismic phenomena driving these hazards. Also, an overview of hazard risk and vulnerability, earth and volcanic hazards, drought, and cold region hazards will be presented. For each hazard, the intrinsic physical processes are introduced along with the consequences of the potential disasters. For those hazards affected by human activities (e.g., sediment hazards), interactions with land use will be covered. Where relevant, the effects of climate change and climate perturbations on hazard occurrence and severity will be discussed. Central to all hazard lectures is the consideration of hazard risk and risk mitigation.

Course learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Articulate the concept of risk related to hazards and apply this to various hazard scenarios.
• Distinguish between chronic and episodic hazards and relate this to the types of disasters that may occur.
• Understand and assess the processes that initiate and perpetuate a wide of natural hazards.
• Predict where different hazards are likely to occur and why.
• Appraise how hazard vulnerability and resilience affect hazard risk.
• Identify how climate change and climate perturbations may affect various hazards in the future.
• Evaluate how human activities affect the magnitude and frequency of certain hazards.
• Develop problem solving skills related to complex hazard scenarios and their mitigation.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # DMNS 2076

Credits 6

Prerequisites: None

Course description 

This course covers the field of ecology, focusing on the interactions between living organisms and their physical environments. Students explore the structure and functionality of various ecological systems, including populations, communities, and ecosystems. The course aims to ensure students master major concepts and basic terminology of ecology, comprehend how evolution and ecology complement each other, and become familiar with different approaches to ecological study, such as theory, observations, and experiments. By the end of the course, students achieve a comprehensive understanding of the complex interrelationships that define ecological systems. 

Course Learning outcomes 

Upon the completion of this course student will be able to:

• Explain the environmental characteristics of different ecosystems, evolution, and adaptation of organisms to environmental conditions.
• Define the energy flow and nutrient cycle.
• Recognize and evaluate examples of human impact on the natural world.
• Analyze the global processes. (water cycle, Climate change etc.)

Course assessment and grading 

Course # EAES 4751E

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites:  Information Technology course

Course Description

Programming in Python is an introductory course that covers programming techniques and tools to manipulate, manage, and analyze relevant data. The course focuses on the Python programming language that students will use to solve statistical analysis and GIS problems, apply Machine Learning and Deep Learning techniques, and create a website using Django framework. The tasks will be accomplished by identifying and using existing Python packages as well as appropriate open-source software extensions. The course introduces basic to advanced statistical functions, data visualization, and data manipulation techniques. The relevant functions in data science are explained. The main goal of this course is to give students an understanding of the breadth of different programming applications. In particular, students will be taught how to design and write effective code using Python to perform routine and specialized data manipulation, management, statistical analysis, GIS analysis, and web application development tasks.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, every student will be able to:

• Explain the theoretical concepts of different data types
• Conceptualize and create loops and if/else statements in Python
• Create specialized functions in Python to handle results
• Manipulate data for descriptive statistical analysis in Python
• Use Django framework for development of different types of websites, in particular, a highly customizable app, such as an internet magazine website
• Use special packages, such as panda, to create graphs and convert plain text to formatted text.
• Using the packages NumPy, Matplotlib, Pandas and Skikit-Learn for various mathematical calculations, data manipulation, graphing and creating machine learning algorithms.
• Course Assignments and Grading

Course # MDIA 4083E

Credits 6

Course pre-requisites and co-requisites: N/A (Recommended Science Communication)

Course Description

This course engages in the critical analysis of many and varied environmental discourses connecting the local with the global.  Students study a range of visual and written texts to learn how environmental communication is used by different actors in society. The role of communication is studied at the intersections of other key issues such as biodiversity, sustainable development, and climate change.  By evaluating and creating different media texts students gain an understanding of how media in various social and political contexts shape environmental communication discourses in the public sphere. Using holistic and systems thinking, students design environmental communication campaigns undergirded by the sustainable development framework that places community concerns at the centre.

Course Learning Outcomes:

Upon the completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Examine the ways in which different political, cultural, economic and geographical contexts shape environmental communication discourses in the public sphere.
• Evaluate a range of texts and assess their effectiveness on the intended audience.
• Examine how visual texts act as cultural prism that shape our understanding of nature.
• Discuss the role of media in reporting key environmental issues in different societies while connecting the local with the global.
• Design communication responses to engage a variety of audiences about environmental issues.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # DMNS 2012E

Credits 3

Course Description

Linear Algebra is a foundational course at UCA. It can be applied in business, economics, sociology, ecology, demography, engineering and other areas.

In this course, students will study mathematics that deals with the system of linear equations and their applications, operations with matrices, applications of Markov chains, applications of determinants, eigenvalues and eigenvectors and their applications.

Course Learning Outcomes 

Upon the completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Set up and solve a system of equations to fit a polynomial function to a set of data points.
• Use matrices and Gaussian and Gauss – Jordan eliminations to solve a system of linear equations.
• Do operations with matrices.
• Find the inverse of a matrix.
• Use a stochastic matrix to find the n^th state matrix of a Markov chain.
• Find steady state matrices of absorbing Markov chain.
• Use matrix algebra to analyze an economic system (Leontief input- output model).
• Find the least square regressions line for a set of data.
• Use Cramer’s rules to solve a system of n-linear equations in n variables.
• Model population growth using an age transition matrix and an age distribution vector.
• Solve Linear Algebra problems with the application of R studio.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # EAES 2130E

Credits 3

TBA

Course # ECON 1001

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: None

Course Description

Introduction to Microeconomics deals with the interactions between individual households and business. The course helps in explaining the mechanism behind determination of prices of different commodities. It also explains about the prices of the factors of production. It helps in understanding the working of the free-market economy and it introduces students to some of the basic concepts used in economics. The course introduces the students to the various basic concepts necessary to understand economic policies and their effect on society and shows which policies can enhance productive efficiency that may result in greater social welfare. In brief, the course will introduce some explanation about the working of a capitalist economy.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon the completing this course, students should be able to:

• Define basic microeconomic concepts.
• Explain how markets optimally allocate scarce resources faced with unlimited wants.
• Describe models of goods’ markets with competitive, oligopolistic and monopolistic setups.
• Determine models to solve microeconomic problems as well as assess the power and limitations of these models.
• Relate the "language" of formal mathematical models and the "language" of graphs, to the microeconomic concepts under review.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # EAES 3716E

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: NA

Course Description

Water availability and climate change are deeply interconnected. Integrating climate change considerations into water management planning and adaptation is crucial globally, particularly in Central Asia, which is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. To ensure sustainable water management, it is important to understand and address climate risks affecting water resources in the region. This course explores the multifaceted challenges and strategies associated with climate change adaptation, with a focus on Central Asia. Students will engage with the Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA) methodology, a robust framework developed by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and adopted by UNESCO, to evaluate the risks and uncertainties associated with climate change in the region. The course is structured around the five key steps of CRIDA methodology including development of decision context, vulnerability assessment, robust and/or flexible courses of action, specific adaptation plans, and institutionalizing decisions. Students are expected to gain practical knowledge necessary to contribute to sustainable climate resilience efforts in the region. Specifically, students are expected to use the CRIDA methodology to develop their own Case Study Project for a locality of their choice within Central Asia, based on the knowledge and tools they learned during lectures.

Course learning outcomes

Upon the completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• Explain the intricate relationship between water management and climate change, with a particular focus on the vulnerabilities and challenges faced by Central Asia.
• Identify and develop decision contexts for climate adaptation projects, considering socio-economic and environmental factors specific to Central Asia.
• Conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to evaluate the susceptibility of water systems and communities to climate impacts in Central Asia.
• Develop robust and/or flexible adaptation strategies and specific action plans to enhance climate resilience in selected localities as part of their Case Study Project within Central Asia.
• Develop implementation and monitoring plans for climate adaptation measures, ensuring the institutionalization of decisions and long-term sustainability.

Course Assessments and Grading

Course # ECON 3006

Credits 6

Prerequisites and/or Corequisites: Principles of Microeconomics or an equivalent course.  

Course Description 

Natural Resource Economics applies microeconomic concepts and tools to issues arising from the growth, use, depletion, and degradation of natural systems and their components, including land, energy, air, water, and biodiversity. The course explores how economic objectives can align with sustainability and environmental goals, and how markets can be harnessed to improve environmental quality and preserve natural resources. We begin with a review of microeconomic concepts related to market function and failure, then examine market-based, regulatory, and community-based approaches to achieving economic efficiency and sustainability. A significant focus is placed on the economics of climate change, covering both mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation approaches to cope with climate impacts. Students will learn to apply economic analysis to evaluate real-world environmental policy problems, particularly those relevant to mountainous regions of Central Asia. The course also addresses the limitations of economic analysis in providing policy guidance on natural resource issues, especially in the context of long-term, global challenges like climate change. Throughout, we evaluate approaches in terms of efficient allocation, sustainable scale, and just distribution.

Course Learning Outcomes 

Upon the completing this course, students should be able to:

• Describe the economic aspects of natural resource issues, including those relate to climate change
• Apply analytical tools (rhetorical, graphical, and mathematical) to describe the extent to which these issues constitute the failure of market systems
• Explain the difficulties arising in using economic analysis in natural resource and climate policy design
• Recognize a number of real-world environmental policy problems, particularly those in the context of mountainous regions of Central Asia and evaluate in depth solutions to such problem using economic analysis.

Course Assessment and Grading 

Course # EAES 3027E

Credits 6

Course Description

Introduction to methods is used in academic and professional endeavors to formulate and answer earth and environmental research questions. Students practice using qualitative and quantitative methodologies and research methods including use of academic, public domain and other literature, interviews, field studies data collection, surveys, and primary and secondary data, as well as approaches such as case studies and participatory research. Using an inquiry approach, students gain practical experience in research design, data collection, and data analysis.

Course Learning Outcomes 

Upon the completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Locate relevant earth and environmental information of all types.
2. Evaluate and synthesize the information from a variety of quantitative and qualitative sources and viewpoints.
3. Formulate relevant and testable research questions about the earth and environment.
4. Construct a plan to answer such questions using appropriate research methods.
5. Communicate a coherent synthesis and analysis of earth and environmental information, orally, graphically, and in writing.

Course Assessments and Grading