ESRM 250- Intro to GIS
I was a little unsure of just what I was getting myself into with this class considering I had never even heard of Geographic Information Systems before, and had no idea what a class on the subject would entail. However this course turned out to be rather fun and was even a bit easy for me, and I could clearly see the practicality of the skills learned. The best description of what GIS is, as I often described to my friends, is "online cartography;" in class we learned how to make map images online, attach additional information to points on the map, and then apply that information and manipulate the image in ways that would be beneficial for biologists and others. I was fascinated by just how much useful information could be pulled out of a seemingly random pile of data using GIS, and if possible I would love to take more classes on the subject.
I was a little unsure of just what I was getting myself into with this class considering I had never even heard of Geographic Information Systems before, and had no idea what a class on the subject would entail. However this course turned out to be rather fun and was even a bit easy for me, and I could clearly see the practicality of the skills learned. The best description of what GIS is, as I often described to my friends, is "online cartography;" in class we learned how to make map images online, attach additional information to points on the map, and then apply that information and manipulate the image in ways that would be beneficial for biologists and others. I was fascinated by just how much useful information could be pulled out of a seemingly random pile of data using GIS, and if possible I would love to take more classes on the subject.
ESRM 200- Society and Sustainable Environments
This class was not what I was expecting it to be. Not to say it was bad, but by the end of the quarter it did become a bit tedious. This class had a lot of readings, and the majority of class was then spent discussing the readings. In general I am not a fan of class discussions, and I am even less a fan of them when they involve talking about feelings, which is what most of these discussions ended up being. The course content focused heavily on the psychology/philosophy of sustainability and less on the science/policy side of sustainability, to my disappointment. While I did find the readings and topics engaging, it was simply not my cup of tea. After talking with other friends who had previously taken ESRM 200, I found that the class content had more to do with the professor, Peter Kahn, than the course itself and that other professors did indeed focus the course around the science/policy aspect of sustainability.
This class was not what I was expecting it to be. Not to say it was bad, but by the end of the quarter it did become a bit tedious. This class had a lot of readings, and the majority of class was then spent discussing the readings. In general I am not a fan of class discussions, and I am even less a fan of them when they involve talking about feelings, which is what most of these discussions ended up being. The course content focused heavily on the psychology/philosophy of sustainability and less on the science/policy side of sustainability, to my disappointment. While I did find the readings and topics engaging, it was simply not my cup of tea. After talking with other friends who had previously taken ESRM 200, I found that the class content had more to do with the professor, Peter Kahn, than the course itself and that other professors did indeed focus the course around the science/policy aspect of sustainability.