WEPA

Wagner Environmental Policy and Action (WEPA)

Environmental Graduate Courses Offered at New York University

Below you will find a description of environmental courses offered at the graduate level at various schools around NYU. For an updated listing of environmental courses offered at NYU click here.

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Environmental Management and Planning. P11.2615 Zimmerman. 4 points.

The development of environmental policy and management in terms of changing goals and technology; environmental measurement, standards, and control technologies for environmental protection; techniques of environmental analysis, including environmental models, for environmental planning for air and water quality and solid and hazardous waste management; legal, administrative, and financial institutions as foundations for environmental management; environmental aspects of siting disputes; role of public involvement in environmental decision making.

Environmental Impact Assessment: Process and Procedures. P11.2610 Zimmerman and guest lecturers. 4 points.

The legal and regulatory contexts for federal, state, and local environmental impact analysis; techniques and procedures for conducting and evaluating impact assessments for public and private development projects. (This course is also held as a summer institute.)

Urban Infrastructure and Environmental Services. P11.2612 Zimmerman. 4 points.

Use and development of planning standards to estimate service capacity in urban and suburban areas; application of urban economics, capital programming, and theories of location and conflict analysis to the siting and development of public and quasi-public infrastructure service facilities. Areas covered include power plants and other energy resource facilities, highways, bridges, airports, mass transportation, parks and recreation facilities, waterworks, and environmental facilities for the collection, treatment, and disposal of wastewater, solid waste, and hazardous waste; relationship of public services to private land development. The role of accident and safety analysis in infrastructure management.

Institute in Environmental Law. P11.2617 Zimmerman. 4 points.

Covers environmental laws concerning air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste, and toxic torts from the perspectives of property transfer, liability, public disclosure, citizens' suits, enforcement, the application of health and environmental standards, and other topics.

Risk Management. P11.2126 Zimmerman. 4 points. Identical with Decision Making in Environmental Health P11.2878.

Designed for public and private sector managers concerned with environmental risks and hazardous substances. Both scientific and regulatory contexts for risk assessment are provided. Topics include identification and assessment of risks, integration of technical information into decision making, risk communication, and the development of solutions. May be taken for credit or on a noncredit basis.

Ecoleadership: The Public Role of the Private Sector in Building Sustainable Societies. P11.2234. 4 points.

This course examines the challenge of creating a sustainable future with a particular focus on the role of the private sector as policy shaper and actor. It examines the growing impact of the private sector on policy making, on the provision of public goods worldwide and on the sustainability agenda through WTO and other mechanisms of global trade. It presents private sector leaders as significant public policy actors whose influence must be fully understood and wisely used by NGO's and public leaders. This course was designed to develop leaders capable of working together to tackle complex issues that cross sectors, borders and generations. For this reason, it uses the idea of Ecoleadership as a conceptual framework for the work of the new leader. Ecology is the branch of science that deals specifically with the interrelationship of organisms and organizations and their environment. 21st leaders will need to manage the interrelationship of economics, the environment and social needs.

Urbanization in Developing Countries. P11.2237 4 points.

Nature, scope, causes, and problems of urbanization in developing countries. Demographic, industrialization, and urbanization trends. Problems of land use, housing, transportation, and the provision of public services. Alternative strategies for national and regional growth.

International Public Finance. P11.2238 4 points.

This course brings public finance/ economics to the international arena. It covers the present system of financing (e.g., capital subscriptions of World Bank, EBRD, and other regional development banks, IMF quotas, UN-assessed and voluntary contributions, funds raised on Wall Street and in other capital markets); the rationale for international public action (e.g., the global commons, environmental damage, market failures, political process); and proposals for reform (e.g., institutional, fiscal, monetary). The course is useful to students interested in international relations,finance, the environment, and how international public financial institutions actually work.

Population Change, Immigration, and Public Policy. P11.2650 Tobier. 4 points.

This course examines the causes and consequences—economic, social, political—of population change and population dynamics from the point of view of its possible implications for public policy. It provides students with an understanding of the principal analytical techniques and sources of data used by demographers and other interested parties to track and describe the major components of population change in all societies. The substantive topics dealt with include the following: race, gender, and sexuality; family structure; aging; immigration; and settlement patterns. The focus primarily is on the United States' changing demographic scene. But students are encouraged to relate these developments to those in other countries both those that in terms of their levels of economic development are like the United States—that is, are advanced industrial economies—as well as those that are classified as emerging economies.

Epidemiology. P11.2865. 4 points. Prerequisites: P11.1011 and P11.1830.

Epidemiologic methods for administrators, policy analysts, and planners. Studies of infectious and chronic diseases and conditions that affect groups of people. Research methods covered include descriptive, observational, and experimental studies.

Leonard N. Stern School of Business

More detailed information about environmental courses offered at Stern can be found at: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/bes/education.htm

Environmental Assessment Management and Strategy. B65.3379. Professor Andrew King.

Modern companies must manage their impact on the natural environment to maintain access to valuable resources and to avoid conflict with communities or government. Increased regulation and growing international concern with environmental issues necessitates that organizations develop more sophisticated management policies. This course teaches students to incorporate environmental issues into operational, financial, marketing and general management practice to maximize performance. Additionally this course explores unresolved environmental science and management issues and explores future challenges.

Course work includes cases, computer simulations, competitive games, and negotiation exercises to teach game theory, develop strategic insight and practice management skills. Analytic and simulation models are employed to evaluate the causes of resource problems, to predict the response of business, and to understand the impact of government regulation.

Several previous students have gone to work for environmental consultancies, public policy institutes, or in environmental positions in Fortune 500 companies. This course counts toward a major in management and a co-major in international business or operations management. Credit in other areas (e.g. economics) is available on request. Students should have taken microeconomics.

Global Industry and Sustainable Development (GISD). B65.3369.10. Professor E. Andres Garcia.

Goals: To explore the fundamental relationships between global industry, the planet’s life-sustaining natural processes and resources, and humanity’s welfare-sustaining social processes and resources. To foster awareness, sensitivity and literacy regarding the major ecological and socioeconomic challenges facing the world, such as pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity, poverty and hunger, population growth, energy problems, and resource overconsumption. To develop systems thinking skills that are critical for addressing these challenges. To broadly examine and appraise the role of global industry in producing and solving global environmental and socioeconomic problems. To enable participants to explore, articulate, and make sense of their own values and attitudesregarding our common ecological and social future, in connection to their decisions about lifestyles and careers.

School of Law

Additional information about the School of Law's environmental courses and the Center on Environmental & Land Use Law is found at: http://www.nyu.edu/pages/elc/

Environmental Law (L01.3035) 4 credits.

This course offers an introduction to the legal regulation of environmental quality. The first part of the course considers the theoretical foundations of environmental regulation, including economic and non-economic perspectives on environmental degradation; the scientific predicate for environmental regulation; the objectives of environmental regulation; the valuation of environmental benefits; the distributional consequences of environmental policy; and the choice of regulatory tools, such as command-and-control regulation, taxes, marketable permit schemes, liability rules, and informational requirements. The second part analyzes the political dimensions of environmental law, including the role of the various institutional actors, (Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the federal courts, as well as environmental advocacy groups), the allocation of regulatory authority in a federal system, and public choice explanations for environmental regulation. The third, and major, part of the course analyzes the principal environmental statutes, particularly the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Liability Act (the Superfund statute), the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Protection Act. The course ends with the consideration of the role of environmental law in an international community, including the relationship between environmental law and international trade, and the salient issues affecting the development of international environmental law. Professor Herz. Fall 2000.

Advanced Environmental Law (L01.3508) (Seminar) Prerequisite: Environmental Law or permission of the instructor. 2 credits.

This seminar will address issues at the frontiers of environmental law and policy, with a focus on international environmental issues, such as global warming and biodiversity, the implementation of international obligations, and the use of economic incentives, damage liability, and other nonregulatory means of promoting environmental protection. Other topics will be addressed depending on the interest of the participants.

Environmental Law Clinic (L02.2510) 4 clinical credits.

The Clinic program emphasizes environmental policy and litigation primarily from the public interest point of view. Clinic participants will work under the supervision of attorneys either at the Natural Resources Defense Council or at other offices doing public interest environmental litigation associated with that of NRDC. Typical issues that students have worked on recently include: protection of New York City’s drinking water, global fisheries crisis, energy efficiency and conservation, protection of Everglades National Park and Florida Bay, implementation of the Oil Pollution and Clean Water Acts and environmental justice litigation. Professors Chasis and Goldstein. Fall 1999 and Spring 2000.

Environmental Policy Clinic (L02.2522) Prerequisite: Environmental Law. 2 clinical credits and 1 academic credit.

The central purpose of the clinic will be to expose students to cutting edge issues concerning the implementation of the federal environmental statutes, in a non-adversarial, non-litigation setting. Students will be expected to develop strong skills in the analysis of public policy issues relating to the environment.

The clinic will be run in conjunction with Resources for the Future (RFF), in Washington, D.C., the preeminent environmental policy think tank in the United States. Students will be assigned to work with RFF researchers on projects examining important questions of environmental policy. Each student will be fully integrated into a research team and will generally have primary responsibility for one component of the project. The bulk of the work will be done electronically, but occasional trips to Washington, D.C. will be necessary. A seven-week seminar will be run in conjunction with the clinical placement.

International Environmental Law (Seminar) (L05.3532) 2 credits.

NOTE: Students enrolled in the Environmental Law Clinic during the 2000-1 academic year are required to enroll in this seminar; but other students are also welcome to enroll in the seminar without any obligation to enroll in the Clinic.

The seminar will comprise 14 sessions divided in three parts: Part 1, General Principles and Institutional Arrangements, will address the sources of international environmental law, the current institutional arrangements(including for the prevention and resolution of disputes) and the general principles which apply (precaution, prevention, sustainable development, etc). Part 2, Substantive Aspects) will address key areas of international environmental law, focusing on protection of international rivers, the marine environment and biodiversity. Part 3, Case Study, will explore the current status of the subject by reference to two cases recently argued before the International Court of Justice. The overall approach of the course is to combine theoretical and practical spects: what does the subject tell us about the current nature and state of international society and the legal relations between international actors, and what practical consequences can the subject bring to bear on the actions of international actors. The course will be examined by written paper or take home exam. Professor Sands. Fall 2000.

International Environmental Law Clinic (L02.2505/2506) 2 credits.

This Clinic offers students opportunities to bring together theory and practice to provide innovative situations to cutting-edge problems in international environmental law and sustainable development. Clients include the United Nations and its various agencies; governments (in particular developing country governments); the World Bank and other multilateral development agencies; and U.S. and international environmental groups and other non-governmental organizations. Students research and prepare position papers for clients on the negotiation and implementation of international and regional environmental agreements and on efforts to ensure that development and policies are protective of the environment. The Seminar component provides an introduction to the basic elements of international environmental law and a forum to explore cross-cutting issues in the field and share the insights gained by students in the course of their client work. Fall 1999. Professor R. Stewart.

Land Use Regulation (L10.3020) 4 credits.

This course examines the legislative, administrative, judicial and private market-based tools used to resolve controversies over how land is used. The course surveys the basics of zoning, planning, subdivision control, environmental regulation (as it affects land & the development of land) and historic preservation. It explores the constraints imposed upon state and local land use officials by the federal and state constitutions, and by administrative law and the local government law. The course examines such current land use controversies as environmental justice, exclusionary and expulsive zoning, growth control, the use of zoning tools, NIMBYism, and the landmarking of religious institutions. Professor Been.

Natural Resources and Historic Preservation (L01.3025) 2 credits.

The course will focus on the law and policy of natural and, to a lesser extent, historic, archeological and cultural resources. The course will cover the regulation of both public resources and resources in private ownership. The applicable constitutional, statutory, administrative and common law principles will be studied with particular reference to conservation and preservation issues confronting the New York area and its resources. The course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the various legal and institutional arrangements which govern natural and historic resources, and to provide them with analytic tools for evaluating the purposes and policies animating these regimes. Professor Adams.

Graduate School of Arts and Science

Department of Biology

A complete listing and description of courses offered by the Department of Biology is found at: www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/bio/courses/index.html

Environmental Health. G23.1004 Identical to G48.1004. May not be taken after G23.2305 (G48.2305). Lippmann. 4 points.

Discusses health hazards in environmental and occupational settings, specifically the extent to which physical and chemical agents in air, water, food, drugs, cosmetics, consumer products, etc., may produce adverse effects on health and contribute to the occurrence of disease. Discussions include sources of hazards, endogenous and exogenous factors affecting responses, detection of hazards in the environment, exposure assessment, and risk assessment.

Tropical Field Ecology. G23.1065 Permission of the instructor required. Meets in Mexico in January during intersession. Borowsky. 2 points.

Studies of the fauna and flora of tropical Mexico with emphasis on the freshwater fish and birds of the area. Habitats studied include cloud and tropical deciduous forests, desert and river edge, and limestone caves.

Ecological Botany. G23.1070 Lecture, lab, and field Studies. Enrollment Limited. Permission of Instructor required. Maenza-Gmelch. 4 points.

Ecological Botany in the Black Rock Forest, Cornwall, New York is a concentrated graduate summer field course in plant ecology with a focus on plant-environment interrelationships, floristics, plant systematics, and sampling techniques. Black Rock Forest lies in an ecotonal region between the oak forests to the south and the hemlock-white pine-northern hardwoods forests to the north. Topographical variation and disturbance history have generated a mosaic of plant assemblages that include mature upland oak forest, hemlock ravine, pitch pine -scrub oak ridge, shrub thicket, bog and post-fire successional. communities

Over 117 plant families are represented. Two pre-trip classes are held at NYU. A seven-day excursion to the forest follows. Students travel from NYC to Garrison, NY via Metro-North railroad. Some students opt to take their own cars. Students are housed at the forest dormitories. Cost of room, meals, and supplies is $330.00. Tuition (4 credits) is separate. Enrollment is limited to 12 students. Permission of professor is required. For more information contact: terryanne.maenza.gmelch@nyu.edu

Environmental Hygiene Measurements. G23.2035-2036 Identical to G48.2035-2036. Cohen. 3 points per term.

Instrumentation, procedures, and strategies for quantitative evaluation and control of hazardous exposures with emphasis on airborne particles, vapors, and gases, and physical agents including ionizing and nonionizing radiations, noise, and abnormal temperatures. Considers the performance of environmental control methods, including ventilation and local exhaust systems.

Environmental Contamination. G23.2305 Identical to G48.2305. Lippmann. 3 points.

Contamination in terms of sources, effects on air and water quality, land use and productivity, vegetation and livestock, and human discomfort and health. Dispersion, storage reservoirs, concentration in food chains, degradation processes and ultimate fate, sampling and analysis techniques, and control.

School of Education

Additional information about the Environmental Conservation program offered by the School of Education can be found at: http://www.nyu.edu/education/humsocsci/environmental.html and http://www.nyu.edu/education/steinhardt/db/programs/19

The Many Faces of Environmentalism. E50.1500

A critical look at the many strands of the contemporary environmental movement and their philosophical foundations. We will have the opportunity, through critical analysis, class discussion, and personal reflection to develop perspectives on the environment and how we relate to it. We will look at preservation, conservation, animal rights, deep ecology, eco-feminism, and the wise-use movement. We will explore how difference notions of what constitutes contemporary environmentalism influence activism, public policy, the social and natural sciences, and education. (Azelvandre)

Education and Ideas of Nature. E50.2019

An examination of “concepts of nature” as the have been found in different cultures and at different times in the past. This course examines the theoretical, historical, and social foundations of modern environmental thought. (Colwell/Clements)

Education and the Contemporary Environmental Debate. E50.2020

An examination of critical yet controversial environmental issues. This course engages students in individual research and use of the Internet. (Clements)

Environmental Organizations. E50.2021

A history of the Conservation and Environmental Movements in the United States, including wilderness preservation, public health, and resource management. The various roles that diverse organizations, governmental and private, perform in the environmental arena are examined. (Colwell)

The United Nations, the U.S. Government, New York State Agencies, Private Organizations, and the Environmental Crisis. E50.2021

Final Seminar in Environmental Conservation Education. E50.2025

Internship in Environmental Conservation Education. E50.2030

Environmental Health Sciences

The courses listed below are generally given during the day either at the Research Laboratories for Environmental Medicine at Sterling Forest, Tuxedo, NY (45 miles from midtown Manhattan); at Washington Square; or the Medical Center. Course information and location are available in the office of Ms. Francine Lupino (telephone (914) 351-5480). A full listing and description of courses offered by the Environmental Health Sciences program is found at: www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/enviro/courses/

Two-Part Courses: A hyphen indicates a full-year course with credit granted only for completing both terms. A comma indicates credit is granted for completing one term.

Environmental Health G48.1004 Identical to G23.1004. May not be taken after G23.2305 (G48.2305). Goldschmidt. 4 points.

Toxicology G48.1006 Identical to G23.1006. Additional prerequisites: V23.0025 and V25.0243-0244. May not be taken after G23.2310 (G48.2310). Note: Jaeger, Schlesinger. 4 points.

An introduction to the science of toxicology, stressing basic concepts essential to an understanding of the action of exogenous chemical agents on biological systems. Principles underlying the absorption, metabolism, and elimination of chemicals are discussed. Toxicokinetics, specific classes or toxic responses, and experimental methods used to assess toxicity are also examined.

General and EnvironmentalToxicological Pathology I-II G48.2015-2016 No prerequisites but permission of the instructor. Bosland. 3 points per term. First term: lectures; second term: lectures and laboratory.

The first term deals with the principles of pathobiology, general pathology: degeneration and cell death, inflammation and repair, immunopathology, proliferation and neoplasia. In the second term, selected aspects of toxicological and environmental pathology will be addressed, tailored to the needs of the students. Also practical aspects of toxicologic experimental pathology will be dealt with in a laboratory setting.

Environmental Radioactivity G48.2017 Prerequisites: G48.2301, G48.2020, or permission of the instructor. N. Cohen. 3 points.

A comprehensive evaluation of the levels, distribution, and variability of radioactivity in the environment. Sources and transport of radionuclides in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Health effects of radioactive pollution from natural sources, nuclear weapons testing, and the nuclear fuel cycle.

DNA Replication, Damage, and Repair G48.2018 Identical to G16.2324 and G23.2018. Prerequisite: biochemistry. Snow. 3 points.

The basic processes involved in DNA replication, damage formation, and processing with an emphasis on eukaryotic cells. Topics include DNA structure and the chemistry of adduct formation, DNA polymerase structure and function, DNA replication mechanisms and fidelity, the enzymology of DNA repair, mechanisms of mutagenesis.

Current Problems in Environmental Health G48.2025 Prerequisite: G48.2305 or permission of the instructor. Penn. 3 points.

Basic principles of effective scientific communication are presented in this two-part course. In part one, students learn to make brief as well as extended verbal presentations to an audience of peers. Topics for presentation are drawn from landmark cell and molecular biology reports and from literature relevant to environmental health concerns. In part two, students learn to make poster presentations. Students are encouraged to use their own data for the posters.

Tutorials in Environmental Health Sciences G48.2031 3 points.

Tutorials arranged on an individual basis with a faculty member for the advanced study of special subjects in the environmental health sciences. A short description must be approved in advance of registering for this tutorial. A comprehensive paper or examination is required.

Aerosol Science G48.2033 Thurston. 3 points.

The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the properties, behavior, and measurement of suspended particles, including background on their underlying physical and chemical principles. The properties of ambient atmospheric aerosols and their respiratory deposition are also presented.

Environmental Epidemiology I G48.2039 Shore. 3 points.

Principles and applications of epidemiology to environmental health problems. Topics include basic epidemiological methods; detecting environmental risks; occupational hazards; quantitation of risk; and epidemiological studies of the effects of air pollution, radiation, and chemicals.

Environmental Epidemiology II G48.2044 Prerequisite: G48.2039.

Zeleniuch-Jacquotte. 3 points. Methods introduced in G48.2039 are further developed for students intending to conduct epidemiological research. Topics include design and analysis of case-control and cohort studies, adjustment for confounding variables, sample size determinations, clinical trials, cluster analysis, and intervention trials. Classical papers as well as recent articles are analyzed.

Multivariate Statistical Methods for Epidemiologists G48.2045 Prerequisites: G48.2044, G48.2303, B90.2314, B90.2317, B90.3380, computer experience, rudimentary FORTRAN, or permission of the instructor. 3 points.

Multivariate statistical techniques useful for application to complex epidemiological data. Review and interrelationship of basic retrospective and prospective study designs. Conduct and analysis of case-control studies, both matched and unmatched, with emphasis on relative risk assessment, confounding and effect modification. Analytic techniques include Mantel-Haenszel summary chi-square analysis and multiple logistic regression.

Epidemiology of Cancer G48.2046 Prerequisite: G48.2044, college level biology, or permission of the instructor. Toniolo. 3 points.

The epidemiology of cancer in its biological context and illustration of how it could be used in the search for cancer etiology and control. Role of viruses, radiation, nutrition, hormones, tobacco, occupational exposures, and genetic factors in the causation of cancer. Strategies for exposure and risk assessment and for cancer control, including screening. Issues of study design and statistical analysis in cancer epidemiology.

Air Pollution Transport and Modeling G48.2048 Prerequisite: G48.2033 and G48.2047. Thurston. 3 points.

Meteorological and engineering aspects of air pollution modeling. Introduces the basics of meteorology bearing most directly on air pollution modeling: atmospheric circulation, equations of motion, stability, mixing layer climatology, and turbulence. The second half concentrates on modeling methods: stability classification schemes, plume rise estimation, dispersion formulae, and trajectory modeling of long-range transport. Receptor modeling methods also presented.

Radiological Health G48.2301 Identical to G23.2301. N. Cohen. 3 points.

Introduction to the physical and biological processes of radioactivity and health effects from radiation exposure. Current principles and philosophies of radiation protection with reference to the commercial and medical use of radionuclides and electrical sources of radiation.

Fundamentals of Environmental Carcinogenesis and Cancer Biology G48.2309 Bosland, Penn. 3 points.

Introductory course to the diseases called cancer. The approach integrates information from population, organismic, cellular, and molecular studies. Emphasis is on environmental factors that cause, exacerbate, or mitigate cancer.

Immunotoxicology G48.2315 Zelikoff. 3 points.

Overview of the components and functions of the immune system in order to set the stage for a discussion of chemically-induced immunotoxicity. Environmental immunotoxicity provides students with the opportunity to investigate and discuss (in a systematic fashion) a relevant topic in the field of immunotoxicology.

Aquatic Toxicology G48.2316 Identical to G23.2316. Wirgin. 4 points.

Study of the physical, chemical, and biological interactions that determine transport and effects of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. Principles of bioavailability and bioaccumulation of organic and inorganic chemical contaminants and mechanisms of toxic effects in marine, estuarine, and freshwater organisms.