Course Syllabus - Biogeochemistry, the Fall 2019 edition
Class meets from 10:05-11:20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in BioSci 130
Discusison section A meets Thursday 11:45-12:35 in GH 1101
Discussion section B meets Friday 11-11:50 in GH 1100
Discusison section A meets Thursday 11:45-12:35 in GH 1101
Discussion section B meets Friday 11-11:50 in GH 1100
Instructor: Emily S. Bernhardt, Professor, Department of Biology, [email protected]
Teaching Assistant: Alexandria Niebergall , Environmental Science PhD Program,[email protected]
Office Hours - Emily: Tuesday or Thursday immediately after class OR by appointment OFFICE: 3313 FFSC
Office Hours - Alex: Fridays 10-11 in 5120 GH by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Alexandria Niebergall , Environmental Science PhD Program,[email protected]
Office Hours - Emily: Tuesday or Thursday immediately after class OR by appointment OFFICE: 3313 FFSC
Office Hours - Alex: Fridays 10-11 in 5120 GH by appointment
Grading
60% - Course Participation and Regular Posts. You are expected to keep up with all assigned reading and to respond to the !- blog post prompts ahead of class each day. Your posts will be used to tailor and inform our time spent together in class and will allow you to learn from and teach one another more effectively. Our "blog" is private to members of the course, but should be written in a style that is accessible and intended to be shared publicly.
Blog post submission: Please submit blog posts to the shared google doc. If you ever encounter difficulties with the document, email your post to
Alex for posting.
Blog post submission: Please submit blog posts to the shared google doc. If you ever encounter difficulties with the document, email your post to
Alex for posting.
40% - Biogeochemistry Project. You will prepare a final synthesis project (individually or in groups of 2)
You will submit a research paper summarizing your effort on the final day of classes. (paper = 20% of grade)
You will present your project to your peers in a poster session during our scheduled exam period. (poster = 20% of grade)
You will submit a research paper summarizing your effort on the final day of classes. (paper = 20% of grade)
You will present your project to your peers in a poster session during our scheduled exam period. (poster = 20% of grade)
Schedule of Lectures, Discussions and Readings
readings with a ** are provided as additional (not required) background readings that you may find useful
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
27 August |
Introduction and Course Logistics |
BGC Chapter 1 **Gorham, E. 1991. Biogeochemistry: its origins and development. Biogeochemistry13: 199-239 ! - Introduce yourself on the course blog as instructed |
29 August |
Origins - Big Bang to Earth's Formation |
BGC Chapter 2 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by DISCUSSION READING: Judson, O.P. 2017. The energy expansions of evolution Nature Ecology & Evolution. 1, 0138. |
3 September |
Origins - The great energy expansions of life on earth |
! - Pick one thing that confused your or fascinated you about what we discussed in class on the 8.29 Learn something about it (scientific literature/websites/news articles) and share that on the blog (example provided) |
5 September |
Origins - Oxygenation of the oceans and atmosphere |
! - Find a popular news article about the G.O.E. and describe in your blog post. |
10 September |
Atmosphere - Mixing, Composition and the Greenhouse Effect |
BGC Chapter 3 ** Fahey, D.W. 2015. Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone Layer ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by |
12 September |
Atmosphere - global climate change & global warming |
Can you find an answer to what confuses you about global climate change at https://www.skepticalscience.com/ !- Describe your efforts to clear up your confusion in a blog post |
17 September |
Lithosphere - weathering and soil formation |
BGC Chapter 4 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by |
19 September |
Lithosphere - acid rain and soil chemical change |
! - find and read a recent (since 2013) article about acid rain and soils. Is this problem over? |
24 September |
Terrestrial Productivity & Decomposition |
BGC Chapter 5 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by |
26 September |
Terrestrial C Cycling |
In class - we will use the NASA MODIS data viewer to examine patterns of vegetation and NPP over time and across the planet. |
1 October |
Terrestrial Nutrient Cycling |
BGC Chapter 6 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by |
3 October |
Terrestrial Nutrient Cycling II |
Synthesis prospectuses due today In class - diagram the N cycle for your assigned ecosystem - what will change with higher temperatures and higher CO2? |
8 October |
Fall Break |
ENJOY YOUR BREAK! |
10 October |
Wetlands - how a lack of O2 makes things interesting |
Deep dive into redox and the importance of both assimilatory and dissimilatory processes. BGC Chapter 7 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by |
15 October |
Wetlands & Global Change Guest Lecture by Emily Ury (PhD student) |
Read Spencer et al. 2016. Global coastal wetland change under sea-level rise and related stresses: The DIVA Wetland Change Model Feedback returned for prospectuses |
17 October |
The Cryosphere - ice and frozen ground |
We're going to work our way through Chapters 2 & 3 of the recently released IPCC Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere. See the class blog doc for specific reading assignments within these chapters. |
22 October |
Inland Waters - Lakes |
BGC Chapter 8 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by in what you read about lakes |
24 October |
Inland Waters - Rivers |
! - Post what you like and what you are confused by in what you read about rivers |
29 October |
Coastal Waters - Eutrophication Debate |
Each member of the course will be assigned a perspective. and a paper for a great debate on N vs. P limitation. **Schindler, D.W. and J.R. Vallentyne. 2008 The Algal Bowl: Overfertilization of the World's Inland Waters and Estuaries. |
31 October |
Oceans I - Ocean C Cycle Guest Lecture from Alex |
BGC Chapter 9 ! - Post what you like and what you are confused by |
5 November |
Oceans II - Circulation, Mixing, Composition |
Based on last week's class and reading! - Post about what you would add, change about the Wikipedia entry for the Oceanic Carbon Cycle |
7 November |
Oceans III - What limits the productivity and C storage of the world's oceans? |
Data collection for synthesis project due. ! For your post - could ocean Fe fertilization solve our atmospheric CO2 problem? Why or why not? |
12 November |
Global Water Cycle |
BGC Chapter 10 !- Prepare your PRE-global cycles blog post answering the question - what is the most altered biogeochemical cycle? [no correct answer here, just make a case for what cycle is the most disrupted and decide on what criteria you will use to compare them] |
14 November |
Global Carbon Cycle |
BGC Chapter 11 |
19 November |
Global N & P Cycles |
BGC Chapter 12 |
21 November |
Global S and Hg Cycles Guest Lecture Jackie Gerson (PhD student) |
|
26 November |
Geoengineering debate |
BGC Chapter 14 Class Finale - teams will compete to convince "angel investors" to buy in to their plan for combating global warming and will prepare opposition research on their competitors. |
26 November |
Synthesis Papers due at Midnight |
grades and feedback returned by 6 December |
14 December |
Poster Session & Dinner (7-10pm) |
During this evening poster session, each project gives a lightening talk about their poster and answers questions during the session. Peer review based prizes |