This course explores the nature and use of digital geographic information systems (GIS) for the analysis and synthesis of spatial patterns and processes through 'cartographic modeling'. Cartographic modeling is a general but well defined methodology that can be used to address a wide variety of analytical mapping applications in a clear and consistent manner. It does so by decomposing both data and data-processing tasks into elemental components that can then be recomposed with relative ease and with great flexibility.

The climate change dialogue in the US has been largely focused on the "mitigation" issues relating to the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHG's). While mitigation is critically important, the challenge of climate "adaptation" must also be considered to fully understand the implications of climate change. The scope of adaptation is largely dependent on how aggressively and successfully we address mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and, at present, adaptation best practices are still evolving. This course will approach climate adaptation from a multidisciplinary perspective -- technical, political, financial and regulatory. After introducing the basic concepts of climate adaptation, the course will explore the current state of play at each level of scale -- from the local to the global -- and examine several of the key emerging topics that will affect public and private sector activities.

This course is intended to give students an overview of the genesis of the so-called "Brownfield" problem and of the various efforts our society is taking to solve or, at least, ameliorate it. The course will place the "Brownfield" problem in the broader context of the growth and decline of the industrial base of cities like Philadelphia. Students will study the general constitutional and statutory framework within which we approach the problems of orphan, polluted sites and the disposal of contemporary solid wastes. They will also analyze the principal actions that have been taken by Federal and state government to address remediation and redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites. The course will also explore environmental equity issues.


The students will collaborate with high school students at the West Philadelphia High School to identify sites in their neighborhoods and to learn how to determine the sites ownership and land use history. The students will study ways of determining environmental risk and the various options that are available for remediation in light of community ideas about re-use. Students will be expected to participate actively in the seminar and the sessions with high school students. Students in the course are required to prepare and present a term paper on a topic in the general area of "Brownfield" analysis and remediation.

This course covers the fundamentals of atmosphere and ocean dynamics, and aims to put these in the context of climate change in the 21st century. large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation, the global energy balance, and the global energy balance, and the global hydrological cycle. We will introduce concepts of fluid dynamics and we will apply these to the vertical and horizontal motions in the atmosphere and ocean. Concepts covered include: hydrostatic law, buoyancy and convection, basic equations of fluid motions, Hadley and Ferrel cells in the atmosphere, thermohaline circulation, Sverdrup ocean flow, modes of climate variability (El-Nino, North Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode). The course will incorporate student led discussions based on readings of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and recent literature on climate change. Aimed at undergraduate or graduate students who have no prior knowledge of meteorology or oceanography or training in fluid mechanics. Previous background in calculus and/or introductory physics is helpful. This is a general course which spans many subdisciplines (fluid mechanics, atmospheric science, oceanography, hydrology).

This course covers the fundamentals of atmosphere and ocean dynamics, and aims to put these in the context of climate change in the 21st century. large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation, the global energy balance, and the global energy balance, and the global hydrological cycle. We will introduce concepts of fluid dynamics and we will apply these to the vertical and horizontal motions in the atmosphere and ocean. Concepts covered include: hydrostatic law, buoyancy and convection, basic equations of fluid motions, Hadley and Ferrel cells in the atmosphere, thermohaline circulation, Sverdrup ocean flow, modes of climate variability (El-Nino, North Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode). The course will incorporate student led discussions based on readings of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and recent literature on climate change. Aimed at undergraduate or graduate students who have no prior knowledge of meteorology or oceanography or training in fluid mechanics. Previous background in calculus and/or introductory physics is helpful. This is a general course which spans many subdisciplines (fluid mechanics, atmospheric science, oceanography, hydrology).