Other Related Courses
The folllowing courses offered by other departments/programs may be off interests to students in the ESPP Dual Major Doctoral Degree program.
Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE)
AFRE 829: Economics of Environmental Resources
Instructor: Dr. Molly Sears
This graduate course examines how economic tools can be used to understand and address environmental challenges such as pollution, climate change, and natural resource depletion. Students will explore how incentives, markets, and policy instruments shape environmental outcomes, and how these frameworks can inform sustainable management of land, water, and energy resources. Through applied examples, data-driven exercises, and discussions of current research, students will gain practical experience in causal inference, valuation of ecosystem service and externalities, and policy evaluation. The course is designed for students from economics and related disciplines, including environmental science, geography, and public policy.
AFRE 891 Section 003: Business, the Environment, and Sustainabililty
Instructor: Dr. Satish Joshi
While businesses are traditionally viewed as major contributors to environmental problems, they also play a major role in providing solutions to environmental issues. Because of stakeholder pressures, corporations are being challenged to create environmentally sustainable and socially responsive organizations, while maintaining and improving shareholder value. As a result, managing the natural environment and sustainability has become a significant issue for top corporate management. In this course, we will view environmental issues from a business management perspective. We will focus on analytical techniques, management processes and business strategies that enable sustained value creation and reconciliation of sustainability and economic performance goals for businesses. Through a combination of real-life cases, readings, lectures, and simulations, class sessions will seek to engage students in discussions aimed at developing holistic models of corporate sustainability management, covering environmental regulations, compliance, environmental risk management, risk communication, green marketing, product stewardship, sustainable supply chains, business redefinition, blue ocean business models, and sustainability management systems.
Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENE)
ENE 890: Advanced Hydrology [couser flyer]
Instructor: Dr. Yadu Pokhrel
The focus of this course will be on advanced topics in hydrology that are essential for hydrological modeling over varying spatial (global to watershed) and temporal scales. It is intended to provide the theoretical basis for an advanced hydrological modeling course. The general concepts in physical hydrology, covered in ENE 421 (e.g., runoff, evapotranspiration, groundwater flow), will be discussed first before moving on to the advanced topics which include solving complex governing equations of energy and water balance used to resolve various surface and sub-surface hydrological processes. Some examples include 1-D and 3-D Richard’s equation for unsaturated flow and Saint-Venant equations for integrated river-floodplain-reservoir routing. Advanced numerical schemes used to solve these equations in land surface models will also be discussed.
ENE 890: Selected Topic in Environmental Engineering: Electrified Water Treatment [course flyer]
Instructor: Shiqiang Zou
The course introduces fundamental electrochemistry in the first half of the semester and then focuses on engineering applications in water matrices. I previously taught this course twice at my former institution, where it attracted students from Civil & Environ Eng, Chemical Eng, Biosystems, and Environmental and Soil Sciences programs.
Fisheries and Wildlife (FW)
FW/FOR/IBIO 870: Spatial Ecology [course flyer]
Instructor: Dr. Kelly Kapsar
Spatial Ecology is the science of understanding and predicting ecological patterns in space. More specifically, spatial ecology is the science of understanding spatial patterns in the environment and how they link to underlying biological and physical processes. In this course, you will learn the basic and applied aspects of spatial ecology. This course will cover spatial ecology in the context of terrestrial and aquatic environments, including interface environments, as well as the influence of humans on spatial ecology.
FW 891: New Approaches to Ecological Risk Assessment
Instructor: Dr. Cheryl Murphy
Ecotoxicology and risk assessment have moved well beyond the early stages of a paradigm shift,scientists are now operating within it. Building on the vision outlined in Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy (NRC, 2007), the field has embraced predictive, mechanistic approaches that integrate in vitro, in silico, and high-throughput methods to understand how contaminants affect biological systems from molecules to ecosystems.
Today’s central challenge is no longer whether to transition to these new frameworks, but how to rigorously connect responses across biological and temporal scales. How do molecular perturbations translate to individual fitness, population dynamics, or ecosystem function? What models, tools, and data are needed to bridge these levels credibly and quantitatively? This course examines these questions through the lens of current science and practice. You will explore the conceptual foundations and emerging methods that define 21st-century ecological risk assessment—from omics-based assays and adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) to dynamic energy budget (DEB) and systems modeling. Case studies will highlight how these approaches are reshaping regulatory and management decisions for complex mixtures, novel stressors, and multi-scale ecological effects.
Students will engage with the latest literature, evaluate methodological strengths and limitations, and develop an integrative perspective on how toxicity testing and risk assessment are evolving in real time. Whether your focus is on molecular biology, ecology, or environmental management, this course will provide the tools and conceptual grounding to navigate—and contribute to—this rapidly advancing field.
FW 893: PFAS, People, and the Planet
Instructor: Dr. Rachel Leads
This course will cover topics relating to PFAS and their impacts on people and the planet including sources, bioaccumulation, exposure, health effects, community impacts, detection, remediation, and science communication. This course will consist of expert guest lectures/seminars from scientists conducting PFAS research, laboratory tours, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. The course will meet once a week for 7 weeks (Jan.14 – Feb. 25, 2026 ) for 2 hours - Wednesdays from 3-4:50pm in Natural Resources 306. Questions should be directed to Dr. Rachel Leads.
Forestry (FOR)
FOR 845: Nature and Health [course flyer]
Instructor: Dr. Samantha Gailey
This 3-credit, discussion-based graduate course integrates perspectives from public health, psychology, forestry, geography, and environmental science. Through case studies, guest lectures, and applied projects, students examine pathways linking nature and human health—and learn how to use this knowledge to advance health equity, climate resilience, and sustainability. Graduate students across disciplines are encouraged to join.
Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences (GEO)
GEO 406/GLG 406: Geomorphology of River and Coastal Systems [course flyer]
Instructor: Dr. Ethan Theuerkauf
In this course students will explore the dynamic processes and landforms of coasts and rivers. Students will be introduced to the fundamental aspects of coastal and fluvial geomorphology as well as explore cutting-edge research in these fields. There will be opportunities to learn field methods for these disciplines, gather and analyze data, and read and discuss scholarly articles. Examples of topics to be explored in this class include: Great Lakes coastal systems, beach and barrier island response to sea level rise, coastal wetland ecogeomorphology, storm impacts to beach and dune systems, delta geomorphic changes and human impacts, river hydraulics, floods and fluvial sediment transport, and stream ecology, and management.
GEO 428: Digital Terrain Analysis [course flyer]
Instructor: Dr. Arika Ligmann-Zielinska
Have you ever wondered how to analyze the Earth's surface using cutting-edge technology? In this hands-on course, you'll dive into the exciting world of digital terrain modeling. You will master powerful elevation analysis techniques and learn how to apply them to environmental modeling. You'll use industry software in the lab-based sessions to develop, analyze, and visualize terrain data. Through problem-solving projects, you'll build a strong foundation for careers in environmental science, GIS, and related fields. Both undergraduate and graduate students are welcome.
GEO 873: Seminar in Human Geography [course flyer]
Instructor: Dr. Sandy Marquart-Pyatt
This graduate seminar in human geography emphasizes nature-society studies and political geography. Human geography studies the connection between people and place, with particular emphasis on how these interrelations vary spatially and temporally across social, political, cultural, and environmental contexts.
New in spring 2026, this seminar will focus on academic writing and publishing using survey data.
Natural Science (NSC)
NSC 844: Tools for Women in STEP
Instructor: Dr. Filomena Nunes
This is a 2-credit course with practical tools that help graduate students advance their career goals and mitigate the challenges they may encounter. The acquired skills should enable the student to approach the professional STEM environment with a better understanding of the boundary conditions and with various resources to handle the challenges that are part of the female experience. More information can be found in the course webpage: https://fimmnunes.wixsite.com/mysite/t4w-stem