This spring Environmental Studies will launch two exciting new courses, both carrying the SC designation. The first course, Chemistry for the Environment (EVST 180) will serve as a new BA Program chemistry prerequisite option. This course will provide students with a foundation in chemistry principles, while connecting them to real-world environmental challenges. Teaching chemistry in context like this is a passion for Professor Paul Anastas who will be leading this new offering. Professor Anastas is the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment, and serves as the Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale. Anastas has also served as the Assistant Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency Science Advisor (2009-2012).
Professor Oswald Schmitz, the Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology, will offer EVST’s second new course this spring. He has been teaching ecology and environmental problem solving lecture courses for 25 years, and is excited to re-engage with the undergraduate community. In his new course, Ecology and the Future of Life (EVST 273), he hopes to help a broad range of people find a connection with nature. This course will introduce students to systems thinking in a way that exposes them to the interconnection between conservation, research methods, and the technological advances in the Anthropocene. Though the foundation of the class is built on scientific principles, Professor Schmitz believes the true goal of the course is to connect science to ethical reasoning so that every student leaves with an appreciation for the magnificence of the natural environment and an understanding of the importance of preserving our world’s ecosystems.
Reporting Provided by Adriana Colon, TC ‘20