Courses taught

EOSC-494

University of San Diego, Asst. Professor

New class @ USD!

Special topics in EOSC: Soils and Society

Every society needs soils for a variety of ecosystem services. They are how we grow crops, they help filter water, are an engineering medium, store carbon, and do so much more. Here you’ll learn about the factors and processes that contribute to soil formation, the role of soils in the global carbon cycle, the factors that govern nutrient availability, pollution within soils, and how societies die or thrive with (or without) proper soil management.

Guaranteed: Get your hands dirty and fall in love with soil!

Semesters offered: Starting in Spring 2024 (Will be offered with a lab starting 2026!)

EOSC-300

University of San Diego, Asst. Professor

Environmental Issues

Course description: This course is a consideration of environmental problems that confront our society today. By looking at controversial environmental issues, students will be encouraged to distinguish political interests and emotional hyperbole from scientific facts; furthermore, students will be presented examples of scientific facts that support different interpretations of an issue. Both environmental resolutions and their social implications will be considered. Three hours of lecture per week.

Semesters offered: Fall and Spring

EOSC-175

University of San Diego, Asst. Professor

Climate and Sustainability

World leaders recognize that to promote prosperity while protecting the planet takes an organized ecosystem response. The health of our planet and how it responds to changes in climate is central to global sustainability. This course examines the principles of environmental sustainability through the lens of climate change. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework we will explore anthropogenic climate-induced changes and their impact on biodiversity loss, food insecurity, changing rainfall and temperature patterns, emerging infectious diseases, depletion of soil and water resources, coral reef and fisheries decline, and access to clean water and sanitation. At the end of this course students will be able to describe connections between Earth’s climate system, complex interactions in the environment, and the importance of science-based targets to meet the United Nations goal of “achieving a better and more sustainable future for all”.

Who should take this course?

Are you a curious citizen of the planet Earth? Then you should take this course! This course provides excellent knowledge of the fundamental challenges of our time: climate change, and how it impacts many other facets of our lives. This course is a vital complement to majors in business, health industries, science, politics, communication, sociology, law, and many others.

Semesters offered: Fall and Spring

ESS-155

Stanford, Co-instructor

Science of Soils

Provide select lectures and lead a portion of the laboratory section on the physical, chemical, and biological processes within soil systems. Emphasis is on factors governing nutrient availability, plant growth and production, land-resource management, and pollution within soils. Students learn how to classify soils and assess nutrient cycling and fate of contaminants. 

Method of instruction: in-person

Quarters taught: Spring 2022

ESS-256

Stanford, Co-instructor

Soil and Water Chemistry

Co-instructor and expert panelist in the graduate level course on the topics of practical and quantitative treatment of soil processes affecting chemical reactivity, transformation, retention, and bioavailability. Principles of primary areas of soil chemistry: inorganic and organic soil components, complex equilibria in soil solutions, and adsorption phenomena at the solid-water interface. Processes and remediation of acid, saline, and wetland soils.

Method of instruction: hybrid, in-person

Quarters taught: Winter 2022