IDCE 342 - Dynamic Modeling of Human/Environment Systems

The transition to “sustainable futures” will be achieved through a process of social-technical integration and innovation.  Pivotal to this innovation is the participatory application of environmental models to represent baseline systems and to forecast what those systems may look like in the future.  Environmental systems are complex, open systems.  The course material has three parts: 1) An overview of methods and approaches to modeling; 2) the state of the art for modeling environmental processes; and 3) tools and models for management.  Current and future developments are also discussed.  The approach to the course is one that simplifies complex systems, introducing students to modeling software and tools using practical examples from climatology, ecology, hydrology, geomorphology and engineering.  A group project applies one model or a cluster of models to a real place/issue of interest to students.  The course text has an associated website containing color images, links to web resources and chapter support pages, including data sets relating to case studies, exercises and model animations. 

Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall