The course covers the ecological basis for six broadly defined 
environmental challenges threatening to undermine even the 
loosest definition of a sustainable future for humankind.  
These include:
(1) Population Growth, how it is measured, what the future 
trajectory of human population is, and why population growth 
poses serious threats to the ability of the natural world to 
provide clean air and clean water to burgeoning human 
populations.
(2) Basic Ecological Principles, including photosynthesis, 
predation, and competition.  The course also explores the 
ecological role of disturbance and life history characteristics 
on the adaptive limits of animal and plant populations.
(3) Global Climate Change, including issues of global warming, 
ozone pollution, and hurricane frequency.  Considerable time is 
spent on the power and limitations of predictive climatological 
models. 
(4)  Biodiversity, including issues pertaining to evolution and 
extinction, and to the goods and services provided to human 
societies by intact ecosystems. 
(5) Pollution of Air and Water, including information on the 
water crisis, pesticides, and nuclear waste.
(6) Environmental Ethics.
Almost all issues surrounding modern science and debates 
relating to the creation of a sustainable future are value 
laden. We try to teach critical thinking skills and the 
scientific method as a way to introduce facts into an arena in 
which information and logic is often completely lacking.  We 
use current environmental issues (global and local) to 
emphasize the importance of the scientific information being 
studied.

I.  Introduction: Course organization and goals	
II. Population Growth
     a.	Population Growth 1:  Measuring population size
     b.	Population Growth 2:  Exponential Growth
     c.	Population Growth 3:  Limits to Growth
     d.	Population Growth 4:  Population trends in two Georgias
III.Ecological Principles
     a.	Ecological Principle 1:  Photosynthesis
     b.	Ecological Principle 2:  Disturbance and Competition
     c.	Ecological Principle 3:  r & K  Selection
IV.Global Climate Change
     a.	Global Climate Change 1:  Global Warming
     b.	Global Climate Change 2:  Coral Bleaching & Ocean       
       Temperatures
     c.	Global Climate Change 3:  Ozone
     d.	Global Climate Change 4:  Hurricanes
     e.	Global Climate Change 5:  War and the environment
V.Biodiversity
     a.	Old Growth Forests
     b.	Biodiversity 1:  Evolution and Extinction
     c.	Biodiversity 2:  Why preserve mother nature
     d.	Biodiversity 3:  Examples of how to get it right
VI.Water
     a.	Water Resources 1:  The water crisis
     b.	Water Resources 2:  River of Grass / Color of the Ocean
VII.Pollution
     a.	Pesticides
VIII.Energy
     a.	Energy 1
     b.	Energy 2: “The Day After Tomorrow”
     c.	Energy 3:  Chernobyl
IX.Environmental Ethics
     a.	The Effects of Naval Bombardment on Vieques, P.R.
     b.	Human Evolution & Genetically Modified Crops
     c.	What’s Killing Florida’s Coral Reefs
     d.	Whales
     e.	Native Peoples and the Environmental Ethic

Students will be reminded to review the UGA booklet A Culture of 
Honesty: Policies & Procedures on Academic Honesty.  Students 
suspected of cheating will be reported to the VP for Academic 
Affairs.