Honors First Year Experience: Linked Courses

"Earlier in my life, I thought I was in love with the answers. I found out later that I was really in love with the questions . . . " - Roger Dunsmore.


Local Water Sustainability and Probabilistic Modeling of Sustainability

HONR 194Q Local Water Sustainability (Block 1) This a general education course designed to be a first-year experience for both major and non-major students who are interested in societal and environmental issues. Across the world we are experiencing unprecedented rates of global change. From globalization to climate change humans are fundamentally altering human and natural systems. How do we promote human development while also ensuring natural resources are available for future generations? In this course, students will learn how global change is affecting people and the planet and discover the importance of environmental sustainability moving forward. The course will explore what it means to be environmentally sustainable and students will see what this looks like in practice locally through two course projects: Over the course of the block students will design and implement a local sustainability project. Through this group project, students will learn first-hand the challenges of implementing and assessing sustainability projects and will learn how to work together and problem solve to overcome these challenges. During the block students will also create a "Water Portfolio" to explore local water sustainability issues. Students will need to find and utilize online data sets for water supply and water demand variables. This water portfolio will be used in Block 2 to model local water resources and explore future scenarios promote water sustainability.

HONR 194R Probabilistic Modeling of Sustainability (Block 2) We will develop probabilistic and numerical skills to extend students' ability to model human-water interactions in a changing environment and explore questions of environmental sustainability. The knowledge gained in the first course will allow students to make more realistic assumptions and approximations leading to more realistic models. Students will consider how changing water supply and consumption affects future projections and sustainability. The models will be used to investigate how to balance human and environmental water resources needs while also ensuring sufficient water resources for future generations.

We hope our students develop an appreciation and love for mathematics not just as an application to life's everyday needs, but for the beauty and elegance that exists in that discipline. -Larry Brazil

Honors First Year Experience: Linked Courses
The subject matter in these two courses will be interrelated and each course will substitute for general education requirements in each field of study. The purpose of Honors First Year Experience is to foster extended collaboration among students engaged in the study of ideas that transcend specific disciplines. These courses will emphasize active involvement and project completion. First Year Honors Linked Courses are an excellent way to begin your undergraduate explorations of Experience One. Students must register for both classes, one after the other during Blocks 1 and 2.
_____________________________________

Prerequisites:
HONR 194Q Local Water Sustainability (Block 1): Students must satisfy the Math Proficiency Standards (see page 8 of the catalog).
HONR 194R Probabilistic Modeling of Sustainability (Block 2) Students must satisfy the Math Proficiency Standards (see page 8 of the catalog).

Substitutions:
General Education in Mathematics: STAT121 Probability
General Education in Science: ENSC 191 Environmental Sustainability

Instructors: Dr. Arica Crootof and Dr. Joeseph Eason

Time: Fall 2019, Blocks 1 & 2,