Courses 2024-25: Environmental Science & Engineering

An introduction to climate on Earth. How Earth's climate has changed in the past and its evolving response to the rapid increase in carbon dioxide and methane happening today. Model projections of future climate and associated risks. Development of climate policies in face of uncertainty in these projections and risks. Enrollment is limited. Satisfies the menu requirement of the Caltech core curriculum. Juniors and Seniors who have satisfied their menu course requirement should enroll in ESE 101.

To paraphrase a Caltech engineering colleague: "In terms of Earth and the Environment, our species had been nothing more than the hood ornament on a really interesting car. We should be studying what's under the hood, the microbial world, if we want to understand the engine". We will spend the term examining striking examples of microbes and microbial activities in the environment. First-year (undergraduates) only; limited enrollment.

Approval of research supervisor required prior to registration. Independent research on current environmental problems; laboratory or field work is required. A written report is required for each term of registration. Graded pass/fail.

Two terms of ESE 90 are to be completed during the junior and/or senior year of study. At the end of the third term, students enrolled in ESE 91 will present a thesis of approximately 20 pages (excluding figures and references) to the mentor and the ESE Option Representative. The thesis must be approved by both the research mentor and the ESE faculty. An oral thesis defense will be arranged by the ESE Option Representative in the third term for all enrollees. All prior terms of ESE 90 will be taken on a pass/fail basis, but the third term of ESE 91 will carry a letter grade.

Special courses of readings or laboratory instruction. Graded pass/fail.

Introduction to the fundamental processes governing atmospheric circulations and climate. Starting from an overview of the observed state of the atmosphere and its variation over the past, the course discusses Earth's radiative energy balance including the greenhouse effect, Earth's orbit around the Sun and climatic effects of its variations, and the role of atmospheric circulations in maintaining the energy, angular momentum, and water balances, which determine the distributions of temperatures, winds, and precipitation. The focus throughout is on order-of-magnitude physics that is applicable to climates generally, including those of Earth's past and future and of other planets.

Discussion of current research by ESE graduate students, faculty, and staff.

Exploratory research for first-year graduate students and qualified undergraduates. Graded pass/fail.

Required attendance by first year graduate students at the weekly ESE seminar, Wednesdays 4pm. Graded pass/fail.

Examines the Earth's resources including fresh water, nitrogen, carbon and other biogeochemical cycles that impose planetary constraints on engineering; systems approaches to sustainable development goals; fossil fuel formation, chemical composition, production and use; engineering challenges and opportunities in decarbonizing energy, transportation and industry; global flows of critical elements used in zero-carbon energy systems; food-water-energy nexus; analysis of regional and local systems to model effects of human activities on air, water and soil.

This course provides a survey from the perspective of economics of public policy issues regarding the management of natural resources and the protection of environmental quality. The course covers both conceptual topics and recent and current applications. Included are principles of environmental and resource economics, management of nonrenewable and renewable resources, and environmental policy with the focus on air pollution problems, both local problems (smog) and global problems (climate change).

A quantitative examination of landforms, runoff generation, river hydraulics, sediment transport, erosion and deposition, hillslope creep, landslides and debris flows, glacial processes, and submarine and Martian landscapes. Field and laboratory exercises are designed to facilitate quantitative measurements and analyses of geomorphic processes. Given in alternate years; offered 2024-25.

Introduction to the dynamics controlling boundary layers and clouds and how they may change with climate, from a phenomenological overview of cloud and boundary layer morphologies to closure theories for turbulence and convection. Topics include similarity theories for boundary layers; mixed-layer models; moist thermodynamics and stability; stratocumulus and trade-cumulus boundary layers; shallow cumulus convection and deep convection.

This course focuses on high latitude processes related to the Earth's oceans and their interaction with the cryosphere, including glaciers, ice shelves and sea ice. The course starts with introductory lectures related to regional circulation features, water mass modification and ice dynamics. The second half of the course will focus on a single topic, with input from the students, and will be explored in detail through the scientific literature and through individual projects.

Main topics include the analysis, properties, sources, and cycling of natural organic materials in the environment, from their production in living organisms to burial and decomposition in sediments and preservation in the rock record. Specific topics include analytical methods for organic geochemistry, lipid structure and biochemistry, composition of organic matter, factors controlling organic preservation, organic climate and CO2 proxies, diagenesis and catagenesis, and biomarkers for ancient life. A laboratory component (three evening labs) teaches the extraction and analysis of modern and ancient organic biomarkers by GC/MS. Class includes a mandatory one-day (weekend) field trip to observe the Monterey Formation.

A broad survey of the formation, evolution, and present-day properties of planetary atmospheres, drawing examples from both the solar system and extrasolar planet literature. We will cover topics including energy balance, radiative transfer, chemistry, cloud formation, dynamics, and escape. The goal of this class is to provide an overview of key concepts relevant to planetary atmospheres that can serve as a foundation for future coursework or research in this area.

Evaluation of the data and models that make up our current understanding of past climates. Emphasis will be placed on a historical introduction to the study of the past ten thousand to a few hundred thousand years, with some consideration of longer timescales. Evidence from marine and terrestrial sediments, ice cores, corals, and speleothems will be used to address the mechanisms behind natural climate variability. Models of this variability will be evaluated in light of the data. Topics will include sea level and ice volume, surface temperature evolution, atmospheric composition, deep ocean circulation, tropical climate, ENSO variability, and terrestrial/ocean linkages.

An introduction into methods to quantify trace gases as well as vegetation properties remotely (from space, air-borne or ground-based). This course will provide the basic concepts of remote sensing, using hands-on examples to be solved in class and as problem-sets. Topics covered include Absorption spectroscopy, measurement and modeling techniques, optimal estimation theory and error characterization, applications in global studies of biogeochemical cycles and air pollution/quality. This course is complementary to EE/Ae 157 ab and Ge/EE/ESE 157 c with stronger emphasis on applications for the atmosphere and biosphere. Students will work with real and synthetic remote sensing data (basic knowledge of a scripting language is required, most of the examples will be in Julia).

A course on growth and functions in the prokaryotic cell. Topics covered: growth, transport of small molecules, protein excretion, membrane bioenergetics, energy metabolism, motility, chemotaxis, global regulators, and metabolic integration.

A course on the metabolic diversity of microorganisms. Basic thermodynamic principles governing energy conservation will be discussed, with emphasis placed on photosynthesis and respiration. Students will be exposed to genetic, genomic, and biochemical techniques that can be used to elucidate the mechanisms of cellular electron transfer underlying these metabolisms. Given in alternate years; offered 2024-25.

A detailed course about chemical transformation in Earth's atmosphere. Kinetics, spectroscopy, and thermodynamics of gas-phase chemistry of the stratosphere and troposphere; sources, sinks, and lifetimes of trace atmospheric species; stratospheric ozone chemistry; oxidation mechanisms in the troposphere; aerosol chemistry.

This course will cover selected aspects of the chemistry of aquatic systems. Lectures cover basic principles of physical-organic chemistry relevant to the aquatic environment under realistic conditions. Specific topics covered in this course include the basic principles of equilibrium chemical and physical processes important for natural waters. Topics include: chemical potential, fugacity, phase transfer, acid-base chemistry, metal-ligand substitution chemistry, surface chemistry, octanol-water partitioning, air-water partitioning, partitioning to solid organic matter and biomedia, sorption processes, air-water exchange dynamics, and the kinetics and mechanisms of coupled organic and inorganic redox reactions. Thermodynamics, transport, phase transfer and kinetics are emphasized.

Structural, phylogenetic, and metabolic diversity of microorganisms in nature. The course explores microbial interactions, relationships between diversity and physiology in modern and ancient environments, and influence of microbial community structure on biogeochemical cycles. Introduction to ecological principles and molecular approaches used in microbial ecology and geobiological investigations. Given in alternate years; offered 2024-25.

Climate change has already begun to impact life on the planet, and will continue in the coming decades. This class will explore particular causes and impacts of climate change, technologies to mitigate or adapt to those impacts, and the economic and social costs associated with them - particular focus will be paid to distributional issues, environmental and racial justice and equity intersections. The course will consist of 3-4 topical modules, each focused on a specific impact or sector (e.g. the electricity or transportation sector, climate impacts of food and agriculture, increasing fires and floods). Each module will contain lectures/content on the associated climate science background, engineering/technological developments to combat the issue, and an exploration of the economics and the inequities that exacerbate the situation, followed by group discussion and synthesis of the different perspectives.

Course on contemporary topics in environmental science and engineering. Topics covered vary from year to year, depending on the interests of the students and staff.

This seminar course will explore and discuss the unique intersection of environmental racism, environmental justice, and academia. Course material will primarily feature readings and videos on a case study-like basis and focus on bringing conversations typically had in humanities, social sciences and activism to the bio and geosciences. Topics will center around two primary approaches: an "outward-facing" component that looks at environmental racism through the lens of various activisms, and an "inward-facing" component addressing the biases/malpractices broadly employed in the biological and geosciences, as well as the apparent moral dilemmas of decisions involving multiple stakeholders. Out of class work will largely be based on assigned readings, some multimedia presentations, and occasional writings and thought exercises. This course is taught concurrently with Hum 61 and can only be taken once, as Ge/ESE/Bi 248 or Hum 61.

In consultation with a faculty advisor and the Caltech Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach, students may obtain credit for engaging in volunteer efforts to promote public understanding of science; to mentor and tutor young people and underserved populations; or to otherwise contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusiveness of the scientific enterprise. Students may petition their option representative (graduate students) or academic advisor (undergraduate students) if they seek credits beyond the 12-unit limit.

Thesis research for graduate students after passing the qualifying exam. Graded pass/fail.