FREC 3044: Environmental Data Science

This course uses hands-on, computer-based modules to investigate important global issues facing society by integrating knowledge across the environmental, computational, and statistical fields. Students will: apply statistics and modeling to the analysis of environmental data collected at multiple spatial-temporal scales; demonstrate how to acquire and store environmental data from data repositories; create visualizations of environmental data, analyses, and uncertainty; and evaluate ethical and methodological issues associated with data curation, quality control, and sharing.

Why take it?

Environmental data collection and analysis is foundational for supplying the information necessary to detect, attribute, and manage change in environmental systems that support society. For students pursuing careers in data science and environmental informatics, this class will prepare them using hands-on learning to understand the unique challenges of using environmental data.

FREC 3044 fulfills an elective in the following Pathways minors:

• Blue Planet 
• Climate and Society
• Data and Decisions

Requirements

Prerequisites: FREC 1044 (MIN grade of P) or CMDA 2014 (MIN grade of P); sophomore standing required; and foundational knowledge in quantitative and computational thinking expected.

This course fulfills Pathways requirements in Advanced Quantitative and Computational Thinking and Ethical Reasoning.