This 3-credit course is intended to help students understand the principles of soil, water, and plant relationship from an ecological engineering perspective. Sections of the course include: (1) physical, thermal, texture, strength, moisture properties of soil; (2) surface and soil water dynamics; (3) quantitative descriptions of mass/energy flux/storage in ecosystems; (4) plant communities, biodiversity, and ecological restoration; (5) applications of ecological principles in real-world engineering problems. This course also includes introduction to devices and tools for numerical analysis and is paired with lab sessions to help students master state-of-the-art quantitative methods for solving ecological engineering problems. Students will grow their own plants to practice the principles of soil, water, and plant management.
prereq: BIOL 1009, [3012 or concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 3012] or instr consent