BIO 386
Unique #: 48450
Instructors: Camille Parmesan and Marcy Litvak
Meeting Time and Place: To Be Arranged
(please email mlitvak@mail.utexas.edu
or parmesan@mail.utexas.edu
)
The topic we will cover this semester is global warming, taught through a combination of formal lectures and guided discussions.
Specific Topics Include:
Mechanisms that determine Earth's climate
Evidence for anthropogenic climate change
Impacts of global warming on wild species, natural communities and functioning
of ecosystems
Students will achieve an in-depth understanding of the causes and immediate
impacts of global warming, and expand their understanding of how predicted
global warming over the next 100 years is likely to affect:
Biodiversity
Species conservation at both local and global scales
Invasive species
Biogeochemical cycles
Carbon storage
Evolution of biochemical pathways
Who should take this class?
Biologists
Geologists who want to expand their horizons
Instructor: Dr. Zong-Liang Yang
Office: Geology 5.220DA
Office Hours: MWF 4-5pm or by appointment
Office Phone: 471-3824
E-mail: liang@mail.utexas.edu
Teaching Assistants
Sarah Doyle
sarahdoyle@mail.utexas.edu
Shanna Evans
Shannabeth@mail.utexas.edu
Class Description:
This is an introductory-level course intended for non-science majors. Meeting
times are MWF 10-11am, room 2.216 in Geology Building, plus one 1.5-hour discussion
section in room 2.308 Geology Building.
Course Contents:
Climate history of the Earth and background concepts; climate processes; scales
of heat and mass transfers in the atmosphere; the role of oceans; scales of
climate change: tectonic-scale, orbital-scale, glacial and millennial-scale,
historical and future climate change; causes of climate change; human effects
on climate; health impacts of climate change; ecosystem impacts of climate
change; modeling the climate; predicting climate change.
Course Web Site Homepage: http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/302C
Lectures: GEO 2.216, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10:00-11:00am
Unique#: 52220
Instructor: Dr. Zong-Liang Yang, Tel: 512-471-3824, Email: liang@mail.utexas.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-2pm, GEO Room 5.220DA
Class Time: GEO 3.218 - TTh 9:30-11:00
Goals: To quantitatively understand the earth’s hydrological cycle, climate variability and climate change from a system point of view.
Topics: Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land. Basics of weather and climate
and their mathematical equations. Radiation, Convection, Clouds, Precipitation,
and General Circulation. Physical processes having an impact on precipitation
and evapotranspiration at the earth's surface. Key global change issues explored
using simple web-based climate models or state-of-the-art climate models.
Course Web Site Homepage: http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/387h/index.htm
GEO 391 unique # of 52260
Instructor: Libby Stern
Meeting time and place: To Be Arranged
(please email lstern@mail.utexas.edu
with your interest)
Topics will include:
Controls on the natural distributions of isotopes from:
Daughter products of long-lived radionuclides: Sr, Nd, Pb
Human produced isotope tracers: 14C, 3H
Stable isotope fractionation: C, O, H, N, S, Ca, Si, Fe
By Physical, Chemical and Biological Processes
Cosmogenic production: 3H, 22Na, 10Be, 36Cl, 26Al, 14C
Application of these isotope distributions in understanding:
Dietary proportions
Plant water sources
Plant water use efficiency
Plant physiology
Food Webs
Tropic relationships
Dietary Stress
Animal Migration
Evolution of biochemical pathways
Who should take this class?
Biologists
Paleontologists with an interest in paleoecology
Geochemists who want to expand their horizons
Instructor: Benjamin, A
Course Number: LAW 341P
Time: W: 5:30 - 7:20 p.m., TH: 6:30 - 7:30 p.m., F: 10:30 - 12:20 (Short Course
ends before Spring Break)
Class Description:
Objectives. The course intends to give the student basic knowledge
on some of the most important environmental issues of the world, enabling
her to analyze and understand the different forms of environmental regulation
and legal solutions adopted in various countries and legal systems.
The purpose of the course is not to train the student on international environmental
law or on national environmental law from specific countries, but rather to
provide the means to identify the major environmental problems in any jurisdiction
and come up with reasonable solutions which could be applied worldwide.
Students who plan to work for multilateral organizations, multinational corporations,
international NGOs and major law firms with international clients will benefit
the most from the topics covered. The course will also provide those who intend
to practice Environmental Law and Policy in the United States a better understanding
of the rationales for the national solutions and mechanisms adopted to face
environmental problems.
The course is divided into five (not necessarily equal) parts: (1) foundations
of Environmental Law and Policy, (2) constitutional basis for environmental
protection, (3) property rights and the environment, (4) legal dimension of
sustainable development, and (8) environmental regulation and enforcement.
Part 1 is a general introduction to the course in which the main characteristics,
regulatory approaches, objectives, principles and tools of Environmental Law
and Policy are discussed from a comparative and international perspective.
Part 2 mainly asks the question whether we need a constitutional clause
to adequately protect the environment. The examples of some U.S. States, Mexico,
the European Union Treaty, and the cases of countries like Germany, Spain,
Portugal, Norway, Brazil, Russia, Colombia and South Africa will be covered.
Part 3 will deal with the relationship between property rights and
the protection of the environment, from both an international and domestic
perspective, benefiting from the current debate in the U.S. and Europe. It
will survey issues such as a) the concept of property rights in the enviromental
protection age; b) the just compensation doctrine; c) regulatory takings;
d) the German concept of "social obligation" inherent in ownership;
e) the notion of "environmental function" of property; and, f) the
international implications of the American "wise use" movement.
Part 4 will study the concept of sustainability and the role of and
challenges to law in securing sustainable development. It will cover the recent
developments in that particular topic, stressing the analysis of the intergenerational
equity concept, as well as the precautionary, the polluter-pays and the user-pays
principles. In this segment of the course, the results of the Rio +10 Conference
(Johannesburg 2002) will be discussed.
Part 5 intends to examine, from a comparative perspective, the challenging
global problem of environmental enforcement. Environmental citizen and class
actions will be reviewed and also the role of criminal sanctions, the judiciary
and non-governmental organizations.
Methodology: The course will use four types of learning tools: a) legal
(and also non-legal) texts; b) long distance conference call discussions;
c) short-presentations by students; d) lectures by guests.
Reading materials: There is no single book that covers the subject
matter in full detail. The course will use reading materials from different
authors, most of them Americans. The texts written by foreign authors will
be in English. If necessary, readings listed will be supplemented from time
to time.
Long distance conference calls: During the course there will be one
or two long-distance conference-call discussions among the students and the
author of one of the articles or chapters of books assigned. In the previous
years scholars from the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Austria, Italy and
Germany joined the discussions.
Grading: Grades will be determined primarily on the basis of a final
examination, but substantial weight will also be given to class participation
(15 percent) and short-presentations (20 percent).
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites. The students are not expected
to have taken Environmental Law, International Law, Comparative Law or Environmental
Policy. However, previous knowledge in those areas would be useful.
Meets Wednesday 5:30 - 7:20 p.m., Thursday 6:30 - 7:30 p.m., and Friday 10:30-12:20
(Short Course ends before Spring Break).
Instructor: Benjamin, A
Course Number: LAW 397S
Time: TH 3:30-6:20 PM (Short seminar, ends before the Spring Break)
Class Description:
What the seminar is about. This Seminar examines the nature, structure, and
content of biodiversity law, stressing its international and comparative aspects.
Its chief focus is upon three general subjects: (1) the international regime
of biodiversity protection, (2) the national models of regulation of Protected
Areas, endangered species, flora, fauna, wetlands and habitats, and (3) the
protection of tropical rain forests.
Objectives:
The main purpose of the seminar is to introduce students to the continuously
expanding and evolving area of biodiversity protection. In that regard, we
will study the role of law and policy in ensuring the protection of biodiversity
and related natural resources, particularly after UNCED (United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, and Rio +10
(Johannesburg 2002). We will discuss in detail the importance and effectiveness
of the 1992 Biodiversity Convention as well as its implementation in different
jurisdictions. The seminar is divided into three parts.
Part 1 gives an introduction to the international foundations and instruments
of biodiversity protection. It starts with the general objectives, principles
and tools of biodiversity law, followed by a retrospective on habitat and
biological diversity loss along with a discussion of the different ethical
and legal rationales for the protection of nature. In addition, this segment
explores the basic international framework for the protection of biodiversity,
including the 1940 Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation
in the Western Hemisphere, the 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the 1973
CITES - Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, the 1982
World Charter for Nature, and the 1992 Biodiversity Convention, among others.
Part 2 studies the national legal responses to the biodiversity crisis.
We will analyze six different topics in the biodiversity context: protected
areas, endangered species, wildlife, wetlands, conservation easements, and
natural resources damage.
Part 3 examines the protection of biodiversity in a unique context:
the Amazon Rain Forest. The purpose of this segment is to verify if traditional
biodiversity protection principles, instruments and institutions have equal
application in jurisdictions that do not share the same level of economic,
social, cultural, and political development.
Methodology: The course will use five types of learning tools: a) legal
(and also non-legal) texts; b) long distance conference call discussions;
c) lectures by experts from outside the Law School; d) oral presentations
by students; e) research paper.
Reading materials:There is no single book that covers the subject matter
in full detail. The seminar will use reading materials from different authors,
most of them Americans. The texts written by foreign authors will be in English.
Long distance conference calls: At the end of every major topic there
will be a long-distance-conference-call discussion among the students and
the author of one of the articles or chapters of books previously assigned.
In past years scholars from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Austria, France, Italy,
Belgium, Brazil and Germany joined the discussions.
Lectures by outside experts: Finally, there will be at least one opportunity
in which outside experts will visit the Law School and exchange their views
with the students on a specific issue of the seminar programme. Oral Presentations
to Class. Each student must make a presentation of her/his paper, during which
she will lead a class discussion about her topic for aproximately 30-40 minutes.
In addition to that, students will be required to make 20-25 minute oral presentations
of assigned texts. The use of hand-outs is encouraged.
Research Paper: The paper should be 15-30 pages long, typed, double
spaced. Students are expected to choose their paper topics in consultation
with the class instructor. Interim drafts will not be graded. Failure to meet
deadlines in timely fashion without the instructor's prior permission will
affect the overall assessment. A copy of the second draft of each student's
paper will be distributed to the group before its presentation. The final
version of the paper should be submitted no later than May 31st and reflect
relevant commentary during the presentation.
Grading:There are five components to the final grade: a) final paper:
40% b) 20-25 minute paper presentation with additional 10-15 min. for discussion:
20% c) short-presentations: 20% d) class participation: 10% e) class attendance:
10% The paper will be graded on five criteria (in order of decreasing importance):
a) critical thinking; b) quantity and quality of research; c) organization;
and d) overall impression.
Prerequisites. There are no prerequisites. The students are not expected
to have taken environmental law, international law or comparative law. Students
from natural sciences and economics are welcome.
Short seminar, ends before the Spring Break, Meets Thu, 3:30-6:20 p.m.
Course No: PA 693 B, 60880
Meeting Time: Wednesday 9am - 12noon
Meeting Room: SRH (to be announced)
Faculty: Shama Gamkhar
Office/Phone: SRH 3.210 / 471-4263 (Office)
Office Hours: Thursday 1:30-3:30p
E-Mail: gamkhar@mail.utexas.edu
Secretary: Lori O' Neal
Office: SRH 3.205 / 232-4012
Hours: 8am - 5pm
E-Mail: oneal@mail.utexas.edu
Course Description:
This course seeks to develop student capabilities for analysis and decision-making in the area of environmental economic policy. The course will also provide a comparative perspective on environmental policies in the US and in South Asia. The focus in this course will be on air quality at the local, regional and global levels. The course format will primarily be a combination of lectures, discussions, a research paper and some home assignments. Students are expected to have a good understanding of microeconomics.
The first half of the course will cover the economic theories of externalities, public goods and taxation that are relevant for the design of environmental policy. In this context we will examine the effectiveness of various regulatory instruments (command and control methods, marketable emission permits, environmental taxes and subsidies) in realizing the goals of environmental policy. Additionally, we will examine techniques for measuring costs and benefits of environmental improvement to understand the policy issues in setting environmental standards.
In the second half of the course we will discuss the development of environmental regulation in the United States and in select countries in South Asia. We will discuss the causes and consequences of air and water quality pollution in these countries. Consider the role of command and control and market based methods of regulation as applied by these countries and the problems of enforcement of environmental policy. This section of the course will consist of a combination of lectures by the instructor, guest speakers and student presentations.
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