Special Topics in Environmental Sciences (390-0-10)
Topic
Environmental Site Assessment
Instructors
Felice Gianluca Sperone
Meeting Info
Technological Institute F285: Mon 2:00PM - 5:00PM
Overview of class
This class will introduce students to perform an environmental site assessment and is designed to develop skills necessary to perform quality work in the field. Experience gained in this course will assist students interested in the characterization, assessment, and management of field sites for environmental or economic purposes. This class will be divided into two sections of four weeks each:
· Section one: will have an actual field trip and data sampling section, and will be focused on:
o preparing and setting up an environmental sampling plan
o perform in situ topographic observations and surveys as well as field sampling activities using rapid field test kits (like water, soil, air, etc.) or more advanced sampling tools
o data management, data analysis and Geostatistical Interpolation focused on project goals
· Section two: will be focused on
o Geostatistical interpolations and data analyses focused on project goals.
Mastery of material presented in this course will benefit those seeking advanced academic degrees in science or engineering disciplines that involve subsurface characterization and modeling as well as students seeking professional employment in applied geology or environmental science. Site assessment involves both qualitative and quantitative analyses: development of conceptual site models requires imagination and experience; quantification of site characteristics requires the design of sampling strategies and application of statistical analyses. The objective of this course is to prepare students to do both by applying concepts and methods introduced in lecture through a series of homework assignments and a comprehensive term project.
Registration Requirements
Pre-registration - majors/minors in ENVR SCI, EARTH, EPC.
· Regular Registration - Any 3 prior STEM courses
· Knowledge in the use of Excel or similar spreadsheet applications preferred
· Some basic GIS knowledge is preferred but not necessary. The instructor will provide material and tutorials to complete the necessary tasks.
Learning Objectives
After successfully completing this class, students should be able to:
· Be familiar with the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994
· Develop and implement a sampling plan
· Perform rapid test field sampling activities
· Being able to structure data for analyses and assess data quality
· Analyze and interpret data sampling results
· Being able to use geostatistical methods to model subsurface
· Create prediction models of potential contamination
· Document and present project results
Teaching Method
This class will be taught with combined lecture/activity sessions. Each week will include a theoretical knowledge base, in-class activities, a relevant homework assignment to build skill
Class Materials (Required)
- No textbook is required.
- A personal Laptop is required. The ideal personal laptop for this course is a PC Windows machine with Window 10 or 11 64x, 4 cores CPU (2 is the minimum), 32 GB of RAM (8GB is the minimum, and a 32 GB or more Hard Disk on a solid-state drive (SSD).
- Google Earth (free open-source software to download)
- ArcGIS Pro or QGIS software.
If a personal laptop capable of downloading the software is a limitation, please first see if you can secure a "loaner laptop" from the Northwestern Library. You may also reach out to Dr. Beddows to discuss what may be other options if the library does not have a unit for you.
Associated Classes
LAB - Technological Institute F285: Wed 3:00PM - 5:00PM