Courses

Choose your venue - field and lab and classroom.

Fall Semester

River Classification

Course ID:
FEG 412 / ERE 612
Meeting Location & Time:
Field and Baker 437, Baker 106, 12:30-3:20PM Tuesday
Teaching Assistant:
Mark Fabian, mwfabian@syr.edu
Online Syllabus & Resources:
Blackboard
General Description:
This course introduces form and process based river classification techniques, and implements the Rosgen classification as a field exercise, followed by engineering design. Classification is conducted through measurement and interpretation of river profile, pattern, dimension, and substrate. Investigations use laboratory work with maps and photographs to extract information on valley type and watershed characteristics. Field exercises provide site sketches, photographs, and survey data to reveal 1) the profile of bed, water, and bankfull slopes, 2) the pattern of meanders and belt width, 3) the dimension of cross sections at steps / riffles and pools, and 4) sediment surveys at cross sections and throughout longitudinal profiles. Data are used to interpret river processes, stability, and possible departure. Analysis of river geometry and peak flow data are used to complement the classification. Students complete readings in channel evolution, degradation, and restoration issues. ERE 612 students will have additional readings and assignments, resulting in a 15 page paper.

Engineering Lectures

Orientation Seminar:
FEG 132
Graduate Seminar:
ERE 797
General Description:
These courses introduces are taught by our entire faculty, sometimes by students as well, to discuss the wide variety of topics in environmental resources engineering. With the undergraduate course, we have ventured out to nearby watersheds and conducted qualitative and quantitative field data, examining how we would parameterize fundamental equations describing key phenomena. Topics that have captured student interest include exploring GIS, building and testing bridges, flying airplanes for distance and height competition, and getting their next semester courses selected. With the graduate course, we model conference proceedings through brief talks followed by questioning, as well as prepare the students for presenting their work. Topics that have intrigued the students include the faculty presentations on their favorite research questions, as well as the first public presentation by their fellow graduates. These courses are updated each year to reflect the exciting developments in the field of research and ideas in teaching.

Spring Semester

Ecological Engineering in the Tropics

Course ID:
FEG 311 / ERE 511
Meeting Location & Time:
Field sites in Honduras, Spring Break Trip + 2-3 days buffer
Teaching Assistant:
Fito Steiner, fitosteiner@yahoo.com, 011+504+9984-0600
Online Syllabus & Resources:
ESF Web & Blackboard
General Description:
Ecological Engineering in the Tropics could be called the "Restoration of Rainforests, Reefs & Ruins" because our topic is restoration, and our field visits are rainforest, coral reefs, and Mayan ruins. This course is designed for upper level undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a science or engineering major at SUNY ESF, and may serve to satisfy field and design experience requirements in EFB and ERE. Environmental restoration is the integrating theme for the course, with watersheds and rivers providing the field focus. In the field students will complete surveys of land use patterns and resulting river adjustments, and then design sustainable restoration options for the coupled watershed-river system. The 3-credit hour course is oriented around a 10-day field visit to Honduras, Central America to achieve three interconnected objectives, a) increase hands on learning for undergraduates, as recommended by the National Research Council, b) increase interdisciplinary activity between engineering and other environmental sciences, and c) extend the above learning to cultures experiencing rapid population growth and associated economic and natural resource pressures. Students completing this course will master skills applicable for successfully participating in both national and international restoration projects. This course intends to redouble student dedication to their college career, and was awarded support in 2004 from SUNY International Programs.

Engineering Hydrology and Hydraulics

Course ID:
FEG 340 / ERE 540
Meeting Location & Time:
Baker Labs, 9:30-10:50AM Tuesday and Thursday
Teaching Assistant:
Mark Fabian, mwfabian@syr.edu
Online Syllabus & Resources:
ESF Web & Blackboard
General Description:
Engineering Hydrology & Hydraulics is an introduction to the broad topic of water resources engineering; topics include the delineation of watersheds for hydrologic cycle analysis, the application of hydraulics to estimate pipe and channel dynamics, the estimation of runoff frequency to predict floods, the conceptualization groundwater flows to understand drawdown, and the analysis of ecologic function to guide restoration. Water resource systems will be studied to identify and isolate the fundamental hydraulic and hydrologic processes controlling the system, often reduced to the equations for conservation of mass, momentum, or energy. The hydrologic processes explored by the course will include scaling rainfall across time and space, computing the timing and magnitude of watershed runoff, and routing flood waves through detention basins and streams. The hydraulics explored in this course will include pipe flow, open-channel flow, flows within control structures (e.g. weirs and flumes), and flow through porous media. A variety of probability distributions will also be explored to better assess the engineering challenges in designing a structure to withstand an uncertain future. Additional emphasis will be placed on student participation in a design and research projects. Design projects are coupled to weekly laboratory exercises that pursue in greater detail several key lecture topics. The research project has taken the form of service-based learning and of pure research, depending on the student's inclination. Results are presented at the ESF Spotlight on Research & Outreach. Students will additionally learn of sources for hydrologic and hydraulic data, engineering analysis tools, and important restoration applications for technical information. Graduate students will conduct additional research and writing work to satisfy this course.

University Lectures

Hydrogeology and Biogeochemistry:
ERE 797
General Description:
This course is inter-disciplinary and brings together our environmental biology, forestry, chemistry, and engineering units, as well as collaborative partners from Syracuse University. We mix presentations on recent research findings with food and drinks, and have enjoyed a favorable response by students and faculty. Topics that capture student interest include photo essays of nearby research sites, introducing graduates to field locations available for their work, and describing the history of lessons learned from those areas.

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is fundamentally about facilitating student learning through interactive lessons, often based in experiential or service learning, that utilize standard and innovative tools. I provide lectures that introduce topics, connect themes, and field questions, as well as facilitate classroom discussions that reinforce application and untangle misconceptions. Directed readings are intended to provide depth in content, while assessment of student projects and opportunity sets provide iterative feedback for mastery. I view teaching as an integral part of my job at the College, and the College supports my scholarship in the classroom. My teaching, of course, must reach and change the learner, and in my effort to do this, I expect that the student take responsibility to actively manage their learning. I am dedicated to always learning more about facilitating great teaching from teaching workshops, teaching consultants, exemplary teachers, student comments, and reflection on my own performance. Given the breadth of opinions on teaching, I am sure that I have plenty of ground to cover in my quest to explore the frontiers of instruction. If you would like to contribute, please act.