Climate and Environment Courses 

This course introduces the climate system. It provides students with an overview of the origin, operation and history of Earth’s climate system including the atmosphere, ocean, ice and weather systems. Specifically, it focuses on understanding the processes determining Earth’s climates covering greenhouse gases, clouds, atmosphere and ocean circulation, emergence and complexity. The course is intended for students who are new to the study of climate. Three credits and lab. 

This course introduces students to the global environmental systems and processes necessary to address scientifically complex and diverse issues associated with environmental change. Through the study of interconnected global biogeochemical, atmospheric, landscape scale, and hydrological processes, students will learn about the science that underpins many environmental issues associated with resource availability and contamination. Case studies will be used to illustrate concepts, and students will develop an understanding of the fundamentals of environmental measurement, and an introduction to major groups of environmental contaminants. Credit will be granted for only one of CLEN 102, ENSC 115 or ESCI 271. Three credits and lab. 

Conducted from a global perspective, this course is intended for students who wish to broaden their understanding of the present and future impacts of climate change on societies, including the social justice elements of the issues. The course also focuses on the interventions that are being made to combat the impacts of climate change - from global policies to community-level actions. Students will be equipped to articulate the world-wide impacts of climate change, how it impacts people at a community level, and how citizen led action can lead to positive change. Cross-listed as DEVS 203. Prerequisite: CLEN 101, or permission of the coordinator. Three credits.  

An understanding of the impacts of climate change has become crucial for areas of governance, business, engineering and diverse fields of science. This course will provide students with a qualitative understanding of climate processes and climate models as well as an understanding of uncertainty in future climate change and limitations to model simulations. In addition, the impacts of climate change to many aspects of human societies will be explored. Cross-listed as ESCI 272. Prerequisite: CLEN 101 or ESCI 172. Three credits and lab. 

This course introduces concepts, approaches, and trends associated with science policy and science-based policy decision making in Canada. Students will be introduced to key concepts and structures in Canadian public administration, the evolution of key policy actors and organizations that have contributed to science policy decisions in Canada with a focus on the federal level of government, learn the development of science policy in Canada, as well as understand Canadian approaches to science-based policy decisions with a focus on environment-related examples and case studies. Credit will be granted for only one of CLEN 301 and PSCI 389 offered from 2016-2018. Cross-listed as PGOV 307. Prerequisites: PGOV 101 or 3 credits PSCI; ECON 101, or permission of the coordinator. Three credits. 

This course explores the relationship between organizations and the natural environment. Throughout, we build towards an assertion that when the internal functions of an organization are aligned to reach organizational sustainability goals, which are in turn aligned with global goals, we will be set on a more sustainable trajectory (that must be continually revisited as new information and knowledge emerges). The course explores topics such as the tragedy of the commons, environmental policy, sustainability leadership and strategy, operationalizing and measuring sustainability, and communicating sustainability. Cross-listed as BSAD 472. Prerequisites: CLEN 201, 202. Three credits. 

An exploration of the fundamental properties of the Earth systems that generate planetary climate. The course explores the intricate links between the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere and biosphere. It includes an introduction to the fundamental theories of the properties and dynamics of atmospheric systems. Simple intuition-building mathematical models are used to explore climate phenomena including: atmospheric structure, the greenhouse effect, seasons, Milankovic cycles, and long-term planetary climate stability. Prerequisites: CLEN 101 or ESCI 172; MATH 106 or; PHYS 101 or 121; ESCI 265 or 246 or CSCI 161; or permission of the coordinator. Three credits and lab.  

An introduction to the processes which generate micro, local and regional scale climate and weather. Topics include surface energy balance, atmospheric stability and structure, turbulence, climates of coastal regions, forests, grasslands, and soils. Laboratory component is centred onmulti-week outdoor field based projects. Prerequisites: CLEN 101 or ESCI 172, PHYS 101 or 121 or MATH 106 or CSCI 161, ESCI 265 or ENGR 224/STAT 231 or permission of the coordinator. Three credits and lab. 

This course provides students with the tools and strategies necessary to solve problems in climate and environment. Through case studies students will learn about best practices for addressing interdisciplinary problems in climate and environment. Students will then apply these principles to develop and workshop a proposal. Restricted to fourth-year students in the BASc Climate and Environment program. Three credits. 

This capstone course is designed to empower students with interdisciplinary and skills to deploy ideas. In this course, interdisciplinary groups of students will work to launch initiatives and take a project from conception to an outcome. The students will work closely with faculty advisors, and in some cases other outside experts, to define goals, methods, outcomes, and indicators of success. Restricted to fourth-year students in the BASc Climate and Environment program. Prerequisite: CLEN 401. Three credits. 

An advanced examination of current topics in climate science intended to acquaint students with the state-of-the-art in climate science and modelling. Topics include: the stability of meridional overturning circulation, permafrost carbon cycle feedbacks to climate change, climate ice-sheet interactions and sea-level rise, abrupt climate change, and climate intervention. The laboratory component will include practical exercises intended to introduce the students to handling, analyzing and displaying large data sets from global and regional climate model simulations. Prerequisite: CLEN 303 or 304. Three credits and lab. 

Students undertake an independent research project related to climate or environment, under the supervision of a faculty member associated with the CLEN program. Students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in conducting original research. Students will also develop skills in written and oral communication by submitting a scholarly paper, and defending their Thesis by presenting the results of their research in a public presentation. Restricted to students in BASc Climate and Environment honours program. Six credits.