Sustainability & Environmental Studies

ENV 101: Introduction to Sustainability and Environmental Studies 

This interdisciplinary, introductory seminar explores current environmental issues from a variety of perspectives (historical, social, and scientific) and disciplines (humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences). Attitudes toward the natural world and approaches to public and private decision-making are examined in terms of environmental justice issues. Field trips are taken to examine local and regional practices and issues.  

Jan Wellik TuTh 9:25-10:50 am, 11:00-12:25 pm

Alysa Remsburg TuTh 12:40-2:05 pm, 2:15-3:40 pm

Margot Higgins INTERNET, two sections

ENV 303: Topics in Sustainability and Environmental Studies 

ENV 303 Section 01: Occupying the Driftless

This course examines the social, cultural, and ecological formations that shape the area that has recently been popularly known as the Driftless. This region that includes Northeastern Iowa and Northern Illinois, Southeastern Minnesota, and Southwest Wisconsin –including La Crosse–is marked physically by the action of glaciers, and shaped by diverse human and non-human communities, including the enduring presence of Indigenous nations. It is a place where global environmental problems are present at a local scale. The impacts of climate change on local livelihoods is increasingly present, particularly in the context of unprecedented flooding. Bringing together local residents that include indigenous community leaders, farmers, scholars, activists, writers, and artists in a series of guest visitors, this seminar aims to understand the origins and effects of environmental and social challenges in the region. My goal for students in this class is to consider how the stories that are told and not told shape our sense of who and what matters in this region, and to practice how to engage with community partners to use storytelling and oral histories for public good. I also hope to inspire you to engage further with human and more than-human communities in the Driftless. Repeatable for credit- maximum six.

Margot Higgins Tuesday 1:10-3:55

ENV 303: Section 2: Mississippi River: Mighty and Managed

We enjoy scenery and outdoor recreation along the Upper Mississippi River, but how “natural” is it really, and what role should people play in shaping it? The “Mighty Mississippi” is a prime example of human interaction with the natural world, demonstrating how rivers connect all of us. The goal of this course is to connect you to your watershed(s) and foster an understanding of how changes in one part of a hydrologic system impact those upstream and downstream. This course examines how land and river management have resulted in both infrastructure we depend on and also significant environmental damage. We’ll study past and present Mississippi River management through readings, field trips, guest lectures, and discussion. The course will examine reasons for river management, underserved communities along the river, and controversies with river transportation, flooding, recreation, pollution, and invasive species. Sustainability and Environmental Studies invites us to draw from diverse types of expertise to study this dynamic and highly manipulated part of our landscape.

Alysa Remsburg TuTh 9:25-10:50

ENV 304: Topics in Environmental Justice 

Topic: Justice, Injustice, and Activism

Underrepresented populations have historically borne the brunt of environmental inequalities and have had disproportionate access to environmental benefits. They have also often been, and continue to be, marginalized by the environmental movement. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have been absent and disenfranchised by historic and present efforts to resolve environmental problems, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists, including local organizers. We will examine social movements broadly, including the relationship between the history of environmental inequalities and the environmental movement, as well as recent political movements that seek to rectify environmental injustices and develop new possibilities for a more equitable future. This is a reading-intensive discussion-based seminar, not a lecture course. The environmental problems we will confront throughout this course are complex and daunting, defying simple, ‘silver bullet’ solutions. You should be prepared to grapple with and consider multiple and often conflicting perspectives about the environmental movement, who has been impacted by environmental harm/policy, as well as varied and sometimes inconclusive debates about how these problems should be solved.

This semester students will develop a grassroots campaign on campus that will apply the theory and practical skills you learn in class. These will be focused on campus sustainability issues that also tie into the La Crosse Climate Action Plan.

Repeatable for credit- maximum six.

Margot Higgins  Wednesday 1:10-3:55

ENV 496: Environmental Studies Capstone 

As a culmination of the sustainability and environmental studies minor, this course has two main purposes. The first is to take action locally on an environmental service learning project. Action in the community builds professional skills, offers networking, and solidifies student interests. The second purpose is to help students clarify personal and career goals that are based on their environmental philosophy. Hearing from recent graduates and professionals in environmental fields provides students with a wide variety of perspectives and ideas as they consider their future decisions.  

Alysa Remsburg F 9:55-11:50 

Bio 307: Ecology 

A study of interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of living organisms. The basic principles of ecology are presented in order to develop an understanding of the nature of these interactions at the individual, population and community levels of biological organization.

Bio 473: Marine Biology

Marine Biology is an interdisciplinary field that includes elements of geology, physics, chemistry, and biology. Students will gain an introduction to how biological organisms deal with varying physical, geological, and chemical conditions found in marine ecosystems. Emphasis will be placed on current conservation concerns and marine invertebrate diversity.

GEO 101 – Earth Environments 

This course concentrates on understanding the earth's dynamic environments through the study of processes and physical and human interactions related to the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. A scientific approach is used to examine fundamental concepts in earth and environmental science related to topics such as plate tectonics, landform development, atmospheric processes, global climate, and water resources, in order to provide an understanding of how the earth system functions and the human role in these phenomena. Lect. 3, Lab 2. 

GEO 211 – Global Climate Change 

This course serves as an introduction to causes of natural and human-induced climate change, and the current and future impacts of climate change on environmental systems and society. Actions that could be taken by governments, industry, non-profit organizations, and individuals to mitigate the magnitude and effects of climate change will be addressed. The course will investigate social, cultural, and political aspects associated with climate change policy, including how vulnerability, resilience, and adaptability to a changing climate vary across the globe.

MIC 350: Bacterial Diversity

A survey of bacteria. Lectures will cover bacterial classification and the structure, physiology, ecology, and applications of various groups of bacteria. Emphasis will be on the more unique species and those of industrial, ecological, and environmental importance. The laboratory will involve enrichment and isolation procedures for selective groups of bacteria. Lect. 2, Lab 3.

GEO 200 – Conservation of Global Environments 

Introduction to natural resources, resource management, environmental and land use ethics, environmental impacts of resource utilization and strategies to resolve environmental conflicts. Course examines the relationships between society and the environment from the global to the local scale. 

PH 335 – Environmental Health 

This course will examine the interdisciplinary and global impacts of human-environment relationships. Emphasis is placed on the critical nature of our understanding these relationships in order to improve ecosystem health, human health and well-being, global economics and sustainability. Politics, economics, science, technology, human behavior (both individual and collective), history, ethics, and the media are examined for the purpose of improving the quality of life for all people through the creation of a sustainable global society. The science, methods and processes of environmental health will be considered. The role of environmental health in public and population health will be examined. 

REC 306 - NatureRx: Environmental Ethics and Behaviors in Recreation and Tourism 

This course provides an overview of the natural resources used for outdoor recreational pursuits and nature-based tourism. Students analyze leisure, recreation, and tourism activities dependent on natural resources, present issues associated with recreational land use, and develop environmental awareness and a personal environmental ethic. 

HIS 317: American Environmental History

This course studies human societies and their changing relationships with their physical and natural surroundings. The focus is on the environmental history of North America from pre-Columbian times to the present. Topics explored may include the Columbian exchange, evolving concepts of humanity's relationship to nature, the development of a market economy, science and technology, government roles in conservation and preservation, and the recent emergence of an environmental movement.

ENG 368: Green Thoughts in a Grey World: Environment, Trauma, and the Formation of New Identities in 1900s British & American Literature & Culture

Confronted by the new century’s wrenching social and historical traumas, twentieth century writers shared a conviction that the traditional structures of nineteenth-century literature had broken down and lost their authority. They responded by forging radically new literature and art responsive to these disorienting conditions, works that not only reflect the fragmented realities of the twentieth century thematically, but also rework the very forms of language and literature to accommodate those experiences, exerting new interpretive demands on modern readers. In particular, we will consider how environmental issues shaped major literary themes. For example, will examine how the nostalgia associated with the English pastoral countryside began to change in the wake of war and new ideas about labor and class. How did new representations of gender and sexuality inflect ideas of home, displacement, and how we imagine what is “natural”? How did new promises of urban utopia or dystopia (including AI human robots as early as 1920), and new scientific developments in evolution and psychiatry change conceptions of what it meant to be a human animal? Although our inquiries will revolve around environmental questions, we will address issues, movements, and intellectual trends that are central to twentieth century intellectual history more generally. We will read authors including T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, and Ali Smith.