Environmental Science & Sustainability

This course is general in nature that provides a general introduction to environmental issues and sustainable development. It surveys the impacts that humans have on the environment such as pollution, climate changes, loss of agricultural land, etc. It reviews the principles of sustainability and their applications to energy, climate change, urban planning, transportation, water use, etc. The course will also address changes and steps that can be made to promote sustainability. Current environmental issues will be discussed to motivate students to be active members of society for enhancing environmental awareness and in taking action to address environmental issues and sustainability in KSA.

Environmental toxicology is an elective course focusing on the study of toxic effects of environmental chemicals on living organisms (including humans). In this course, the basic concepts, methods, and approaches in environmental toxicology will be introduced. Natural and synthetic chemicals commonly encountered in the air, water, and soil will be discussed regarding their occurrence, fate and transport, and toxicological effects on ecological species and humans. Case studies will be used to illustrate the complexity of environmental toxicology issues. New trends in chemical toxicity testing will be discussed. Contaminants of emerging concerns such as pharmaceutical and personal care products and engineered nanomaterials will also be introduced.

This course focuses on the profound transformation of Earth'92s environment that is now apparent, a transformation owing not to the great forces of nature or to extraterrestrial sources but to the numbers and activities of people '96 the phenomenon of global change. This course sets out what is known about global change and the nature of the Earth System.

This course will help students to understand the critical relationships of the environment, energy, and sustainability. Leading experts provide comprehensive coverage of each topic, bringing together diverse subject matter by integrating theory with engaging insights. This course fills an information gap in energy, environment, and sustainability, presenting broad overviews of energy challenges and solutions along with the materials advances needed to enable rapid progress. The purpose of this course is to serve as a college-level that brings together the themes of environment and energy in the context of defining the issues, and subsequently focuses on the materials science and research challenges that need to be met.

This course will cover introduction to environmental science, pollutants including chemical and biological and industrial hygiene. This will includes evaluating the various sampling techniques, pollutants and analytical techniques which can contaminate water, soil/surfaces and outdoor/indoor air. Furthermore, it will emphasize on environmental pollutants detection, hazards controlling, risk reduction, selection of the appropriate instrumentation techniques, calibration, quality control and reporting.

This course covers the principles of waste management. It provides an overview of municipal waste, industrial waste, and hazardous waste management including design and economic analysis. Reviews physical, chemical, biological treatment of hazardous waste, and the innovative management practices associated with different waste. Students will be exposed to real world settings through worked examples, case studies, and field trips to water and solid waste management facilities. Case studies for specific industries like petrochemicals, fertilizers, desalination and petroleum refining, etc.

This course explores the proper role of government in the regulation of the environment. It will help students develop the tools to estimate the costs and benefits of environmental regulations. These tools will be used to evaluate a series of current policy questions, including: Should air and water pollution regulations be tightened or loosened? What are the costs of climate change in the U.S. and abroad? Is there a "Race to the Bottom" in environmental regulation? What is "sustainable development"? How do environmental problems differ in developing countries? Are we running out of oil and other natural resources? Should we be more energy efficient? To gain real world experience, the course is scheduled to include a visit to the ministries and government institutions in KSA. We will also do an in-class simulation of discussions for and against specific case scenarios.