Environmental Evolution course
Spring 2012
GEO 483/692E - BIO 597G
Class # 10881 (seminar) #10882 (discussion)
Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 PM
Morrill IV South, Room 159
Graduate student planning session meets every Wednesday from 5:40 to 6:00
Environmetal movies Wednesday 7:30 - 9:00 PM, Morrill III South, Room 319
Instructors: Adjunct Professor Bruce Scofield and Sean Faulkner, M.S.
Environmental Evolution is a science course for seniors and graduate students offered through the Geosciences Department. An interdisciplinary study of the history of the environment from prebiotic times to the present, the course studies the impact of the origin and evolution of life on the surface of the Earth. From prePhanerozoic bacteria to Pleistocene glaciation, ecology and evolutionary biology are viewed in the context of comparative planetology. Beginning with the origins of life and the Gaia hypothesis, we chronologically review the history of life and its environment. Plate tectonics and continental drift are discussed in the context of major evolutionary trends in the Phanerozoic eon. The course requires that students listen to lectures from an expanding library prepared by research scientists and participate in discussions and presentations. Among the required Digital InterActive Lectures (DIALs), DVDs, and sound recordings are:
J. Lovelock, The Gaia Hypothesis
M. McElroy, Comparison of Planetary Atmospheres
H. Lowenstam, Biomineralization: Formation of Minerals by Organisms
A. Lazcano, Origins of Life
A. Knoll, Life in the Proterozoic Eon
S. Golubic, Stromatolites of Shark Bay
L. Margulis, Symbiogenesis and Eukaryosis
R. Siever, Towards a Theory of Plate Tectonics
N. Todd, Mammalian Evolution: Karyotypic Fissioning Theory
Each unit consists of a lecture by the scientist, accompanied by relevant images. Also included is a comprehensive series of questions prepared by students and answered by the lecturer supplementary visual aids such as maps and photographs, and (if available) a printed guide.
The Origin and Effect of Life on Planet Earth
