ENR Courses

ENR Capstone Projects - 4900/5900 Environmental Assessments (Spring 2009)

The culminating project for ENR students is to create an environmental assessment of a local or global environmental development. In Spring 2007, 2008, and 2009, students in the capstone class wrote  environmental assessments for the following:

Coalbed Methane Assessment (Spring 2007)

Liquefied Natural Gas Assessment (Spring 2007)

Panama Road Construction Across the Isthmus (Spring 2008)

The Bahamas: The Effects of ocean Acidification and Warming on Coral Reefs (Spring 2009)

Selected Courses for Undergraduates

ENR 1100 - Environment and Natural Resource Problems and Policies (2 credit hours; I,L, Freshman Interest Group)
This course is a survey of environmental and natural resource issues and policies at local/regional, national, and global scales. Students are challenged to think critically as they dissect the causes, complexities, and solution of contemporary interdisciplinary ENR problems. (Offered fall semesters.)

ENR 1200 - Environment (4 credit hours; SB)
The primary goal of Environment is to use complex, real-world environmental challenges as the portal through which to explore fundamental scientific principles. Students will also understand how to gather, manipulate, and present scientific data, as well as to critically evaluate information sources. Equally important, this course explores the limits to scientific approaches. Specific areas of study include: land use and exurban development, ground-level ozone, coalbed methane development, polar bear listing, and endocrine disruptors. This course includes a lab component.

ENR/GEOL 1500 - Water, Dirt, and Earth's Environment (4 credit hours; SE)
This course introduces the science of water, soil, and the earth's environment and how it matters to all our lives as students tackle three timely resource-related topics - the environmental geology of water, dirt, and climate change. During each part of the course, the use and management of dirt, water, or climate is examined. This course includes a lab component.

ENR 2000 - Environment and Society (section 1)  (section 2) (3 credit hours; G)
Students will explore the connections of humans to the non-human world at various scales of space and time. Students scrutinize the ways that the human/nature relationship is conceptualized and politicized across cultures. Readings and media drawn from a variety of fields -- art, anthropology, economics, environmental history, geography, literature, politics, philosophy, and the natural sciences -- will introduce questions including: How do values and knowledge about cultural/natural systems vary across place and time? How have ideas about the environment and society developed in relation to historic, economic, and political processes? How are environmental problems and solutions (particularly choices about resource use) articulated, and by whom? Taught by an interdisciplinary teaching pair, the course encourages conversation among students and faculty. At the same time, students develop critical thinking skills and the ability to identify and understand the dimensions of ENR issues at a range of scales. (Offered fall and spring semesters, with an on-line offering through the Outreach School during fall semesters.)

ENR 3900 - ENR Seminar (1-3 credit hours, max. 3)
The purpose of this course is to use the knowledge gained in other courses to work with hands-on projects and case studies. The course features presentations from faculty researchers on campus, researchers in the field, and policy makers in the public and private sectors. Previous classes have focused on national energy plans, the complexities of biodiversity issues, and environmental economics. (Usually offered fall and spring semesters.)

ENR 4000  - Approaches to Environmental and Natural Resource Problem-Solving (3 credit hours; CS, WB)
The main purpose of this class is to make students aware of the ways scholars and practitioners approach environmental issues and design policies. The course gives students an opportunity to become involved in the decision processes of environmental issues. Additionally, the course helps students learn how decision-makers acquire, organize, and interpret data used in ENR problem solving. Includes structural review of the history, rationale and content of relevant laws and regulations as well as conflict resolution and environmental ethics. (Offered fall semesters.  This course is the first semester of the capstone series and should be taken in the same academic year as ENR 4900.)

ENR 4500 - Risk Analysis (3 credit hours; QB)
Explores the major components of risk analysis, including risk perception, identification, assessment, communication, management, and policy.  Provides quantitative treatment of risk assessment procedures, fundamental mathematical models, and the concepts of variability and uncertainty; and practical experience in risk analyses conducted by teams of students.  Emphasizes environment and natural resource examples.

ENR 4600 - Campus Sustainability (3 credit hours) 
The main goal of this course is to continue the systematic exploration of what our university is doing and what it can do further to become a role model for institutional environmental, economic and social sustainability. Through readings, field trips, consultation with on-campus and off-campus experts, and research, students will assess the environmental impacts of our university and begin to develop strategies for reducing those impacts in economically and socially sound ways.  Students will learn about sustainable practices at other university campuses, and will study and practice the tools for successful social change in the context of the University of Wyoming.  
 
"The Sustainability behind Historic Preservation" by Mary Nass and Mandy Vellia

"Recycling Cyclers" by Mark Bolton and Stanley Lopata
 
"UW Athletics - Reaching Greener Seasons" by Andrew Elston, Kristy Henderson, and Bronson Pate
 
"Wind Energy and the University of Wyoming" by Ainsley Thraikill
 
"Investigation & Audit of Full-Time Campus Sustainability Positions at Trustee Comparator Higher Education Institutions" by Jennifer Harris and Jordan Wieland
 
"Waste Audit" by Matt Carberry and Doug Kauffman
 
ENR 4890 (formerly 4990) - Topics in Environment and Natural Resources  (1-6 credit hours) 
The specific issues covered in ENR Topics vary from year to year. Past courses have focused on water law in Wyoming, adaptive management, applied law and policy, collaborative decision making, negotiation analysis, and other timely topics. (Multiple offerings; see an advisor for details.)

ENR 4900 - Environment and Natural Resources Assessment Practice  (3 credit hours; C2, WC)
The main purpose of this class is to provide students experience in working toward the resolution of ENR issues in multidisciplinary teams. The course uses case studies to help students appreciate the differences between theory and application and helps students apply the investigatory, analytical, and organizational skills they have acquired to ENR management problems. (Offered spring semesters.  This course is the second semester of the capstone series and should be taken in the same academic year as ENR 4000.)

ENR 4970 - Internship  (1-6 credit hours)
The ENR internship is intended to supplement the student's academic training with practical experience in dealing with ENR issues as well as providing interaction with ENR professionals. (Offered all semesters.)

International Internship Opportunities 
Students are encouraged to seek international internship opportunities.  The benefits of international internships are two-fold.  Students will gain a body of knowledge about the systems and issues of another country, but they will also gain important life experience as they navigate through the demands of life abroad.  International internships can be completed as part of a study abroad at another university or as a work experience abroad for which students could receive UW academic credit.  Click here to learn more about organizations that can help place you in an ENR-related internship abroad.

Selected Courses for Graduate Students

ENR 5000 - Approaches to ENR Problem-Solving (3 credit hours)
Uses faculty practitioner, policymaker, and student presentations and discussions to explore the methodologies and tools of ENR-related disciplines and how the tools of these disciplines fit together to inform policy. (Offered fall semesters. This course is the first semester of the capstone series and should be taken in the same academic year as ENR 5900.)

ENR 5500 - Risk Analysis (3 credit hours)
Explores the major components of risk analysis, including risk perception, identification, assessment, communication, management, and policy.  Provides quantitative treatment of risk assessment procedures, fundamental mathematical models, and the concepts of variability and uncertainty; and practical experience in risk analyses conducted by teams of students.  Emphasizes environment and natural resource examples.

ENR 5600 - Campus Sustainability (3 credit hours)
The main goal of this course is to continue the systematic exploration of what our university is doing and what it can do further to become a role model for institutional environmental, economic and social sustainability. Through readings, field trips, consultation with on-campus and off-campus experts, and research, students will assess the environmental impacts of our university and begin to develop strategies for reducing those impacts in economically and socially sound ways.  Students will learn about sustainable practices at other university campuses, and will study and practice the tools for successful social change in the context of the University of Wyoming. 

ENR 5900 - Environment and Natural Resources Assessment Practice (3 credit hours)
The main purpose of this class is to provide students experience in working toward the resolution of ENR issues in multidisciplinary teams. The course uses case studies to help students appreciate the differences between theory and application and helps students apply the investigatory, analytical, and organizational skills they have acquired to ENR management problems. (Offered spring semesters.)

ENR 5890 (formerly 5990) - Topics in Environment and Natural Resources  (1-6 credit hours) 
The specific issues covered in ENR Topics vary from year to year. Past courses have focused on water law in Wyoming, adaptive management, applied environmental law and policy, collaborative decision making, negotiation analysis, and other timely topics. (Multiple offerings; see an advisor for details)