20 courses with the subject ESST, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
ESST 101Basics of Sustainability3
Utilizing the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and other perspectives, students will examine the three pillars of sustainability - environment, society, and economics - to investigate contemporary environmental challenges as global citizens. Students will explore how today’s human societies can endure and build resilient systems in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation, and resource limitations.
This course investigates major contributions of the social and natural sciences to our understanding of how and why environmental problems happen. Environmentally harmful human behavior is not simply a fact of life, but a product of social conditions that can be studied, understood, and changed. We will examine approaches to resolving environmental problems, including individual and group-based strategies, such as reducing carbon footprints and public policy initiatives, and social movements that promote environmental justice and sustainable development. Students will apply conceptual approaches to the root causes and consequences of, and solutions to, specific environmental issues.
Sustainability represents much more than just saving the rainforests and recycling trash. The idea of sustainability invites bigger questions about who we are, why we act the way we do, how we got into this situation, and what we are going to do about it. This course integrates the ideas, theories, and practices of sustainability in real world applications to the local living environment. We will focus our study on the prospects for sustainability on both global and local scales. By the end of the semester, students will be familiar with the framework of the field of sustainability and will have gained experience in researching and analyzing sustainable issues in order to promote potential long-term changes in community practices.
Earth's soils are critical to feeding the world and protecting our environment. Through lectures, discussion sessions, and in-class projects, this course examines the important physical, chemical, and biological processes in the formation of soils, as well as the critical interactions between bedrock and soil minerals, water, microbial communities and biofilms, and the plants and animals that occupy the soil. (LAB)
This course will examine the physical and anthropogenic geographical aspects of global environmental change, focusing on natural variations of the environment over time, the impact of human activities on the Earth's systems, and the projection of future environmental changes. Offered in January Terms.
Nearly 663 million people in the world lack access to clean water. While many in the United States have seen access to safe water as a “developing world issue,” the water crises that were exposed in Flint, Michigan, Hoosick Falls, NY and numerous other communities in recent years have brought the issue more fully into Americans’ awareness. This course provides an opportunity to delve into questions related to humans’ need for clean water and the environmental, ethical, technical and political challenges this raises. Issues to be considered include understanding the water cycle and challenges to access to water posed by a changing environment; water as part of a broader international sustainable development agenda and local, national and international environmental justice work; the economics of water ownership and provision; international law and organization for human rights; and the roles of NGOs, governments and international organizations in this field.
An introduction to the scientific study of interactions between living organisms and their environment. Students will learn the basics of the scientific method as applied to ecology, practice interpreting ecological data in graphical and tabular form, and understand the basic principles of how the natural world works, and learn some ways that humans interact with and affect the Earth.
Environmental health is the branch of public health that focuses on the relationships between people and their environment, promotes human health and well-being, and fosters healthy and safe communities. Environmental health is a key part of any comprehensive public health system and works to advance policies and programs to reduce chemical and other environmental exposures in air, water, soil, and food to protect people and provide communities with healthier environments. This course is designed as a survey that introduces students to basic environmental health topics such as methods of identification and recognition, evaluations, regulatory frameworks, and controls. Specific subtopics will include health hazards associated with climate change, contaminated water, food & air, vectors of disease, exposure to toxic chemicals, environmental justice, regulations, and safety in the workplace.
In the relationship between people and physical environments, not all peoples experience or impact environments in the same ways or suffer the consequences of environmental degradation to the same degree. This course examines how people in different places are affected by environmental change through the lens of gender. The theories and case studies covered are selected to encourage an understanding of how gender relations shape and are shaped by the physical environment, which informs gender-sensitive approaches that are crucial to addressing environmental problems now and in the future.
The 10-hour course is intended for entry-level workers in the construction/built environment. This course provides information about worker rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint, and provides basic awareness training on recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. Students who complete the course will earn the OSHA 10-Hour Construction Safety card.
The 10-hour course is intended for entry-level workers in the construction/built environment. This course provides information about worker rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint, and provides basic awareness training on recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. Students who complete the course will earn the OSHA 10-Hour Construction Safety card.
Construction firms are realizing that the initial investment and the continuous tracking and monitoring of site safety records do pay off by not only reducing injuries on the job site, but also contributing to an “on time” and “within budget” project delivery. The 30-hour course training for construction and general industry prepares supervisors and workers to avoid workplace safety and health risks. Topics covered in this training include general worksite safety, avoiding common hazards, understanding workers’ rights, employers’ responsibilities, and more to fulfill the requirements for construction, manufacturing, factory operations, and health care. Students who complete the course will earn the OSHA 30-Hour Construction Safety card.
The Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) course is designed for persons with responsibilities in the hazardous waste management business. The course will be an in-depth study of Hazardous Waste Operations, emergency response, and will explore best practices, including site characterization, decontamination methods, container handling, emergency response strategies, radiological hazards, and safe work practices while performing operations at a potentially contaminated site. Students will earn a 40-hour OSHA certification.
This course explores the meaning of sustainability, and in particular how to have sustainable agriculture. Students will investigate sustainability through the lenses of food insecurity, labor, soil management, race, profitability, climate change, and environmental injustice. The class will examine and discuss industrial agricultural techniques and the Green Revolution that promised food for all, but greatly missed the mark and has contributed to the degradation of the land. In addition, the emerging conservation and regenerative methods will be explored that focuses on soil health and soil carbon storage. The class plans to visit local farms and interact with farmers who practice sustainable land management.
In this course students explore Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their use in problem solving and decision making. Students will be introduced to ESRl's ArcGIS software suite which they will utilize to identify; reference; classify and manipulate geospatial data. Through map making and by drawing on geospatial data from a variety of fields, students will critically evaluate the information that is generated by GIS applications. Students will also complete a mapping project in which they apply GIS to a research topic of their choice.
This three-credit course evaluates environmental compliance and occupational health issues in the context of workers’ safety, public health, regulatory standards, and law. In addition, the course includes an environmental assessment of air, water, and soil quality, and discusses current environmental health regulations and their implementations. The course is designed to help students prepare for any science, nursing, or public health careers.
This course examines current energy policy issues through the lens of public policy theories, examining institutions, stakeholders, and legal/regulatory frameworks. Students will learn about current energy policy challenges and opportunities by analyzing what governmental and non-governmental groups do to affect energy choices in the United States, how power is shared between the federal and the state governments, and how communication between interests affected by energy policies develops. The goal is to develop an appreciation for the complex influences on energy policy in the United States. Cross listed as POSC 380.
In this senior capstone for the Environment, Sustainability, and Society Major, students will research issues related to the environment and sustainability and applications within society or natural and built environments and write a formal paper exploring the issue or detailing the project.
