Graduate-level Course
ENSC200/ENTX 200/CHEM246 — Fate and Transport of Chemicals in the Environment (Co-teaching, 50%)
The overall objective of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct research in environmental chemical sciences. Upon course completion, the students will be able to:
Understand the fundamentals of the sources, fate and transport of chemical pollutants in the environment
Use physiochemical properties to describe the equilibrium partitioning, chemical transformation, transport and dispersion, removal processes and lifetimes of chemical pollutants in the environment that are necessary to predict their impacts
Critically review scientific studies that examine the fate and transport of chemical pollutants in the environment
Identify the knowledge gaps in selected topics and propose potential research directions
Topics in this part include vapor pressure and gas/particle partitioning, activity coefficient and air-liquid partitioning, atmospheric transformation, direct and indirect photolysis in the atmosphere, gas-phase chemistry in the troposphere, formation of secondary organic aerosols, and atmospheric transport and dispersion.
Undergraduate-level Courses
ENSC136/CHEM136 — Chemistry of Natural Waters
This course introduces the processes controlling the chemical composition of natural waters. Topics include activity-concentration relationships, chemical equilibria and kinetics, thermodynamic basis for chemical equilibria, acid-base systems, air-water exchange, coordination chemistry, dissolution-precipitation, oxidation-reduction reactions, adsorption processes, and use of equilibrium and kinetic models for describing water chemistry.
ENSC177 — Environmental Sampling and Analysis
Quantitative chemical analysis is a key component in the environmental sciences. This course aims to provide both fundamental and hands-on experience for students to gain proper skills for sampling, preparation, and quantitative analysis of environmental samples. Another goal is to provide training for students to present their analytical results in a technical or research context. Topics include environmental sampling design, sampling techniques, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), data collection and reporting, sample preparations, extraction and cleanup, chemical separations (chromatography), and instrumental detection methods (spectrophotometry, potentiometry, mass spectrometry) relevant to quantitative environmental analysis.