Courses

The School is home to a range of interdisciplinary courses focused on various aspects of sustainability. A GES course will approach the subject material from multiple viewpoints, with social, economic and environmental consideration.

GES Courses

GES 101 - Foundations of Global Environmental Sustainability

Fall/Spring, 3 credits, On campus and Online

Syllabus

GES101 introduces the student to the complex and broad nature of sustainability. The course begins to develop skills in analyzing problems and solutions with respect to sustainability.  Topics covered include ecology, food and agriculture, energy, the built environment, metrics of sustainability, art and sustainability, poverty, and public health. Students work on a group project and can earn extra credit by volunteering in community-based sustainability initiatives.

Fall only, 3 credits, On campus

Syllabus

GES120 is a multi-disciplinary course that introduces students to the issues surrounding the biggest challenges to the sustainability of life in the West. The course examines the role water plays in supporting human populations, agriculture, and wildlife, along with the history of water development and the processes that govern water allocation including the infrastructure that allows it to be moved and used. By the end of the course, students will understand the challenges to the sustainability of water resources including population growth, climate change, and impacts on water quality. Students from all disciplines are welcome. Learn more at watercenter.colostate.edu/ges120/

Fall only, 1 credit, On campus

Introduction to sustainability engagement via experiential learning.

Registration requirements: Written consent of instructor. Enrolled in Eco-leaders Peer Education Program.

 

Summer only, 3 credits, On campus

Engaging with communities on real projects, teams of students develop workable solutions to problems related to food security, green infrastructure, urban wildlife conservation, and other sustainability topics. This course will be fully integrated with a writing course providing a complementary emphasis on values, ethics, meaning, critical thinking, writing, and speaking.

Fall only, 3 credits, On campus

Syllabus

Fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy sources. Energy conversion, distribution, and storage. Energy and the environment. Energy economics and policy.

Fall/Spring, 1 credit, On campus and online

This seminar introduces students to methods, practices, and ways of knowing in the disciplines represented in this multi-disciplinary field of study.

Fall/Spring, 3 credits, On campus and Online

Build competencies in systems thinking, quantitative and qualitative modeling.

Spring, 3 credits, On campus and Online

Develop techniques to engage in finding solutions for environmental sustainability issues from local to global contexts. Consider the processes of negotiations, facilitations, conversations, and storytelling in the history of climate change, environmental movement, and other areas of sustainability. Practice skills in engaging among stakeholders, policy makers, and public audiences.

Spring, 2 credits, On campus

Engages students in real-world sustainability applications and empowers them to design and execute their own program or research project. A) Project. B) Service Learning.

Prerequisite: GES 130.

Registration requirements: Enrolled in Eco-Leaders Peer Education Program. Credit not allowed for both GES 330A and 330B.

Spring, 3 credits, On campus

Engages students in real-world sustainability applications and empowers them to design and execute their own program or research project. A) Project. B) Service Learning.

Prerequisite: GES 130.

Registration requirements: Enrolled in Eco-Leaders Peer Education Program. Credit not allowed for both GES 330A and 330B.

Spring, 3 credits, On campus and online

Building competence in systems thinking. Core activities include using quantitative and qualitative modeling, exploring the history of systems analysis in sustainability, and deepening the understanding of the concept of environmental sustainability and what it means for systems change.

Spring, 3 credits

Explores the challenges and solutions that exist in the Baja California Sur at the nexus of the ocean, mountains, and desert. Develops an understanding of the ecosystems found in the region, and the human impact on them.

Spring, 3 credits, On campus

Syllabus

Overview of sea level rise (SLR), with lectures on basic geophysics of SLR, the projected future impacts from climate models, and uncertainty around these projections. Impacts of SLR are discussed in a historical, present, and future context, focusing on social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions.

Spring only, 3 credits, On campus

Syllabus

Energy as a critical resource and its connection to climate change, food production, and water resources. This course examines methods of evaluating sustainable energy technologies, including life cycle assessment, energy return on investment, technoeconomic analysis, and political ecology.

Prerequisite: GES141

Registration requirement: Sophomore standing

Fall, 3 credits, On campus

Impact of anthropogenic environmental change on human, animal and environmental health.

Fall, 3 credits, On campus

Introduction to the domestic and international laws that influence and interact with the implementation of sustainability in the U.S. and abroad.

Fall/Spring, 3 credits, On campus and online

The study of systems impacts on environment, public health and society is necessary for the implementation of environmental sustainability. Focus is on life cycle assessment procedures and processes.

Fall only, 3 credits, On campus and online

Syllabus

GES465 is a trans-disciplinary course that explores the life-cycle of electronic devices from extraction of resources to end-of-life disposal and recycling. Globally, 40-50 million metric tonnes of e-waste (computers, laptops, mobile phones, actually, anything that runs on electricity) are generated every year. E-waste is unique because of its toxicity and the value of some of the components (gold, silver, etc.). E-waste cannot simply be thrown into the landfill. The problem is international in scope because much e-waste is exported from developed nations to majority world nations where it is informally recycled using cheap labor and methods that put the environment and human health at risk. The course examines politics, social justice, ethics, economics, business strategies, chemistry, materials science, and toxicology. It concludes with an interdisciplinary group project on an e-waste problem and potential solutions.

Registration requirements: Junior standing. Credit only allows for one of the following: GES465 or MSE465

 

Fall/Spring, 3 credits, On campus and online

In-person Syllabus

Online Syllabus

This course will integrate and apply the foundations of environmental sustainability (the environmental, social, and economic dimensions) to achieve a holistic understanding of environmental issues, practices and problem solving. These three dimensions will serve as the sustainability foundations for the course.  Students will learn and apply tools for assessing environmental issues and best practices for working in interdisciplinary teams.  Case studies demonstrating sustainability principles will be evaluated through discussion and writing, and students will conduct a team project that addresses and dissects an important issue related to global environmental sustainability.  Finally, students will assess their personal academic program (Interdisciplinary Minor) in sustainability, and set goals for their future sustainability endeavors.

Prerequisite: GES101

Registration requirement: Must have completed 12 credits of GES interdisciplinary minor; junior or senior standing. Required field trips.

Fall/Spring/Summer, 1-3 credits

Prerequisite: GES101

Registration Information: Written consent of instructor.

Fall/Spring, 3 credits, On campus and online

In-person Syllabus

Online Syllabus

GES520 is a graduate level course open to all graduate students across campus. Like GES470, this course covers a range of topics in sustainability. While similar to GES101 in overall format, the course accepts a much smaller class size and delves more deeply into a smaller set of topics. Graduate students read from a range of primary literature as a basis for class discussions and lectures. The students develop an understanding of the complexity of problems in sustainability and how to place these issues in a context that structures solutions in economic and social frameworks.

Registration requirements: Graduate standing or Seniors

Fall, 3 credits, On campus

A broad overview of Food/Energy/Water (FEW) nexus issues, including the science underpinning FEW and the trade-offs, socio-economic constraints, and policy limitations inherent in FEW challenges. Introduction to tools that enhance systems-level thinking and problem solving.

Prerequisite: CHEM 103 or CHEM 107 or CHEM 111.

Restriction: Must be a graduate student.

Fall, 3 credits, On campus

A multidisciplinary introduction to environmental justice organized around three themes: parameters of environmental justice; inequalities and environmental justice; and environmental justice across issue areas.

Restriction: Must be a: Graduate.

Registration Information: Credit not allowed for both GES 535 and LB 535.

Fall/Spring, 3 credits, On campus and online

Science and engineering aspects of biobased fuel, energy, and chemical production, including plant biology, thermochemical conversion, biomass deconstruction, fermentation, and biofuel properties. Aspects of sustainable production and economics will be discussed.

Registration Information: Junior standing. Required field trips. Sections may be offered: Online. Credit allowed for only one of the following: AGRI 601, ENGR 601, or GES 542.

CLMT courses

CLMT 275 - Climate Change and Earth System Interactions

Fall, 3 credits, On campus and online

Investigation of earth system interactions with climate change, including impacts to water cycling, oceans, and ecological responses.

Prerequisite: ATS 150 or GEOL 110 or GEOL 120 or GEOL 122 or GEOL 124 or GEOL 150.

Registration Information: Sections may be offered: Online. Credit allowed for only one of the following: CLMT 275, CLMT 350, or GEOL 275.

Spring, 3 credits, On campus and online

Roles of technology, economics, social organization, and ideology in human adaptations to and survival in natural and cultural environments.

Registration Information: Completion of 3 credits from courses approved for AUCC 1C or AUCC 3C. Sections may be offered: Online. Credit not allowed for both ANTH 330 and CLMT 330.

Offered on campus

This new course is designed for undergraduate and graduate students from all backgrounds to explore current issues in sustainability and how they relate to individual, public and global health. Students will participate in didactic lectures, group discussions and mini projects that will both educate and empower them to understand the relationship between sustainability and health.

Offered on campus

This course is an introduction to the domestic and international laws that influence and interact with the implementation of sustainability in the U.S. and abroad.