UMass Boston Courses
Boston
EEOS 629
This course is an advanced GIS graduate course focusing on quantitative methods in spatial analysis. It is meant to promote critical thinking and explore current technical advances in GIS. Students will examine GIS applications in detail, and gain hands-on experience with current spatial modeling software in an applied area. Students will also gain experience in planning and outlining an applied GIS project, learning the specific techniques required for the project, and advancing the project through to completion.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 645
A practical introduction to analytical methods and instrumentation available to the environmental scientist. Topics include: (1) sampling of air, water, and sediment and in situ instrumentation (e.g., CTD and sensors); (2) extraction and separation techniques, such as ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration, and electrophoresis; (3) thin layer, gas, and liquid chromatography; 4) mass spectrometry; and (5) UV-Vis, fluorescence, NMR, and ESR spectroscopy. Emphasis is given to recent analytical developments and to instrumentation available to Environmental Science Program students.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|MBEC|MOT
Boston
EEOS 601
The course will analyze basic probability theory, probability distributions useful for modeling environmental processes — including binomial, Poisson, exponential, normal, geometric, hypergeometric, Chi-square, F, and Student’s t — conditional probabilities & Bayes’ theorem, random variables & expected values, the central limit theorem, and parameter estimation. The course focuses on software-based hypothesis testing including p-values & confidence limits, Monte Carlo simulations, Type I and II error & power, Student’s t-tests and non-parametric alternatives, contingency tables & goodness-of-fit tests, regression, correlation, and one-way randomized block ANOVA. The course will make extensive use of programming software (e.g., Matlab or R). Calculus is a prerequisite.
This course is an elective. This course is offered via Distance Learning.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 611
This graduate statistics course is designed to prepare students to design and analyze experiments and field studies using ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) and regression techniques, including generalized linear models. Analyses will be performed using Matlab, SPSS/PASW or R
This course is an elective. This course is offered via Distance Learning.
3 credits
Introduction to Applied Statistics (EEOS 601) or equivalent, or permission of instructor.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 760
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
BIOL 652
This course examines the forces that produce and maintain biological diversity. The course is divided into an evolutionary component that explores the origin of biological diversity (e.g. Cambrian explosion, mass extinctions, speciation and microevolution) and an ecological component that focuses on the maintenance of diversity within communities and why it varies spatially and temporally (latitudinal gradients, competition, predation, disturbance etc.). Both sections consider forces and patterns operating across a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and explore biological diversity at molecular, population, and community levels.
This course is an elective
3 credits.
Permission of Instructor.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM
Boston
EEOS 630
The course analyzes the processes governing the population dynamics of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthos. The course stresses the interaction between marine biology and relevant aspects of physical, chemical and geological oceanography. The course has a special emphasis on applied benthic ecology, especially the effects of pollution on the coastal zone. Other topics include the microphytobenthos, modeling competition, predation & benthic community structure, zooplankton grazing & predation, satellite remote sensing, and the effects of climate change on marine populations. Calculus recommended, but not required.
3 credits
Calculus recommended. This course is offered via Distance Learning.
Option Areas: CSS|LMRSM|MBEC|MASMA|OHH
Boston
BIOL 642
A study of the distribution of organisms in space and time. Includes comparative and experimental tests of island biogeographic theory; the significance of spatial and temporal scale; the roles of dispersal and vicariance; phylogenetic implications; geographic patterns of species diversity in marine and terrestrial ecosystems; contemporary analytical methods; mass extinctions and the fossil record; historical biogeography; macroecology; and the importance of biogeography for understanding conservation strategies and the global biodiversity crisis. Conducted in seminar format with student discussions.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
EEOS 640
A basic description of the chemistry of natural and especially marine waters designed to lay the foundation for more advanced coursework. Emphasis is on the chemical composition of natural waters and the identification of the important chemical, physical, and biological processes controlling their composition. A case study, emphasizing the multidisciplinary nature of these processes, is given at the end of the course.
This course fulfills the Chemical Oceanography core course requirement.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|LMRSM|MBEC|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 680
This course fulfills the Marine Policy and/or Management core course requirement.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 670
This course is designed for those students in the program who have a minimal background in economics. It focuses on the use of economic analysis as a tool for helping to resolve environmental policy problems. Discussion includes such topics as benefit-cost analysis, the taxation and regulation of polluters, and the analysis of current government policies directed at the regulation and reduction of air, water, and solid waste pollution.
This course fulfills the Marine Policy and/or Management core course requirement.
3 credits.
Calculus or permission of instructor.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH
Boston
EEOS 710
This course integrates the biological, chemical, geological, and physical processes affecting reservoirs and cycling of inorganic and organic substances through the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Particular emphasis is given to contemporary research in the biogeochemistry of carbon, nitrogen, and organic compounds of natural and anthropogenic origin. A focus on “back-of-the-envelope” calculations at local to global scales allows students to gain a greater understanding of mass balance, timescales, and elemental cycling.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|MBEC
Boston
EEOS 627
This course has two major components. The first component focuses on GIS raster data models, their structure and function, and in particular their use in a modeling context. The second component focuses on the use of modern structures design techniques for forming a basis for the current design and implementation of GIS applications.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 635
The course will impart basic principles of environmental toxicology, focusing on toxicological assessment, type, and mechanisms of toxicological response, the properties and effects of specific groups of toxicants released into the environment (e.g. PAH, PCB, pesticides, metals, dioxins/dibenzofurans), and an overview of current issues facing the rather broad field of environmental toxicology. Toxicological responses will be discussed at all levels of biological organization, from the molecular/biochemical, cellular, and organismal up through the population, community and ecosystem levels. Biochemical toxicology will be particularly emphasized with respect to toxicant absorption, internal partitioning/transport, metabolism/detoxification, sequestering, targeting, and elimination.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
EEOS 660
This course crosses the traditional boundaries of the natural and social sciences to introduce students (graduates & undergraduates) to the physical and biogeochemical processes that govern the structure and functioning of estuarine ecosystems. As the currency of life, carbon will serve as an integrating theme for examining the dispersal, cycling, and fate of energy and materials (water, carbon, nutrients, particles, and contaminants) in linked watershed and coastal marine systems. This will provide a scientific foundation for understanding human impacts on estuarine ecosystems, and for developing ecosystem-based management strategies for remediation and restoration.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
BIOL 552
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Permission of Instructor.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 657
This course will introduce the student to streamflow hydrology and fluvial processes. Topics will include field measurement techniques, the hydrodynamics of moving water, channel form, sediment transport and commonly used statistical methods such as flow duration and flood frequency analysis. Students will learn how these topics and techniques are linked and utilized in water management and river restoration.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
EEOS 616
This course introduces generally the field of public policy analysis. It orients the student to various concepts and models describing the policy process and critically evaluates various methodological approaches in the study of public policy. It is structured as a lecture/seminar. The course uses particular problems in analyzing environmental and coastal policies as an organizational base.
This course fulfills the Marine Policy and/or Management core course requirement.
3 credits.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH
Boston
BIOL 606
This course investigates freshwater ecosystems from a physical, chemical, biological, and ecological perspective. In lecture students will be exposed to concepts and environmental applications of freshwaters such as properties of water, movement of light, heat, and chemicals, physiography of flowing and non-flowing freshwater, redox and oxygen, hydrologic, carbon, iron, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycling, biodiversity, behavior, predation, competition, food webs, nutrient use and mineralization, disturbance, succession, production, and trophic state and eutrophication. In the laboratory, students will learn techniques to collect, analyze, interpret, and report on physical chemical, biological, and ecological parameters of freshwater ecosystems. Some laboratory exercises will require outside of the classroom activities such as collecting ore measuring parameters in local streams, lakes, and ponds.
This course is an elective.
4 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 623
This course teaches the concepts, principles, approaches, techniques, and technologies of GIS. The specific topics include essential elements of a GIS, hardware requirements and system integration, technologies and techniques for acquiring spatial data, spatial data models, data structures, data formats, database models, spatial analysis and modeling, cartographic design, implementation of a GIS, and environmental and socioeconomic applications. Hands-on exercises on ArcGIS are assigned each week. A term project on the use of GIS in solving a specific environmental or socio-economic problem is required.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 613
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: OHH
Boston
EEOS 622
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
BIOL 615
Selected topics in immunology are studied in depth, using the current literature. Topics are chosen for relevance and current interest or because they are challenging, even controversial, in nature.
This course is an elective
3 credits
Permission of Instructor.
Option Areas: OHH
Boston
BIOL 666
This course provides a background in principles of toxicology in mammalian systems. Coverage includes: basic concepts of poisons and their commonalities with drugs and hormones; toxicant exposure routes, uptake, sites and mechanisms of action, storage, metabolism, activation, and clearance; toxicant roles in carcinogenesis, development, endocrine, and reproductive functions; roles of diet, lifestyle, and concurrent exposures; methods of toxicant evaluation emphasizing multigeneration and high throughput testing; and environmental and medical implications of toxicant/toxin exposures on individual and ecological health.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
General or Organic Chemistry, one advanced course in Cell Biology, Biochemistry or Physiology, and permission of instructor.
Option Areas: CSS|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
BIOL 638
This course explores advanced concepts in population and community ecology. Topics covered may include population dynamics, life history strategies, competition, predation, community assembly, metapopulations, metacommunities, connectivity, climate change and the forces that control species diversity. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between theoretical and empirical ecology. Emphasis changes from year to year.
3 credits.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH
Boston
BIOL 675
This course introduces students to the use of economic analysis in helping to solve marine and energy-related natural resource problems. The first part of the course focuses on the economic theory used to analyze natural resource and energy issues. In the latter half of the course, these theoretical tools are used as a framework to analyze a wide range of issues dealing with marine resources and renewable energy. The purpose of the course is to expose students to sufficiently rigorous economic analysis to appreciate the usefulness of the economic approach to solving resource and renewable-energy problems and to critique economic analyses they may be presented within future decision-making roles. ECON 675L and EEOS 675L are the same courses.
3 credits.
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
EEOS 675
This course is designed for graduate students in environmental sciences with an interest in economics. It explores the use of economic analysis in helping to solve natural resource problems of the coastal zone and ocean. The course focuses on such topics as fisheries management, resource scarcity, the concept of economic efficiency, measuring the benefits of natural resources, on-shore coastal development, and depletable, recyclable, and non-recyclable resources.
This course fulfills the Marine Policy and/or Management core course requirement.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH
Boston
BIOL 628
The functions, roles, and ecology of microorganisms in the environment, emphasizing biogeochemical cycling of elements. Topics for special concentration are chosen from the following: microbial diversity, evolution, interactions, aquatic or soil microbiology, and sewage microbiology. The course focuses on relating molecular and biochemical mechanisms to ecological principles. Readings are assigned from classical and current scientific literature for class discussion. An in-depth review paper on a special topic is required.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|MBEC
Boston
EEOS 750
This course examines the production and cycling of organic matter at the Earth’s surfaces. Starting with the photosynthetic fixation of CO2 and the biosynthesis of a diverse array of molecules, the course traces the path of reduced carbon through the bio-geosphere to incorporation in sedimentary deposits. Specific topics to be addressed include photosynthesis, biosynthesis, chemical evolution, the organic carbon cycle, diagenesis, and catagenesis: the formation of fossil fuels and the biogeochemistry of organic compounds of environmental concern. Students are introduced to selected analytical methods used in organic geochemistry.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|MBEC
Boston
EEOS 650
This course introduces the physical processes active in the ocean environment, including coastal and estuarine regions, and investigates the connection between those processes and observed physical characteristics of the ocean.
This course fulfills the Physical Oceanography core course requirement.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|MBEC|MASMA
Boston
EEOS 621
The focus of the course will be on the dynamic processes and interactions among water column plankton (e.g. phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacteria, and protists) with regard to nutrient and energy exchange. The course will examine how changes in the water chemistry can affect biological processes and community composition and the impacts this has on marine resources and society. There will be a small field component to this course where students are exposed to and allowed to see the different planktonic organisms as well as the basic methods for studying different water-column plankton.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH
Boston
EEOS 625
In this course, students learn the physical principles of remote sensing and become familiar with the capabilities and limitations of current and future remote-sensing systems. They also learn the techniques commonly used for interpreting aerial photographs, satellite remote-sensing data, and thermal and radar imagery, and gain practical lab experience in image interpretation. They are exposed to a wide variety of applications in environmental mapping and monitoring, natural resource management, urban and regional planning, and global change research.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: MASMA
Boston
EEOS 654
Advances in science depend upon systematic communication regarding theories, methods, observations, and findings. At the same time, the development of technology and sound public policy depend upon advances in science. This course is designed to familiarize students with the wide range of models, methods, and media that are employed in scientific communication. Assignments will include the construction of written documents such as abstracts, research proposals, and research reports as well as articles and notes for general audiences; visual presentations such as slides, posters, and graphs; and oral communications such as presentations, testimony, and interviews.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH
Boston
EEOS 716
This course considers the role of scientific and technical information in the policy-making process. Questions of the impact of information on policy evaluation, the role of scientists, and research agenda setting are discussed.
This course is an elective.
3 credits
Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH