Generic

Note #1: Reading assignments do not become official until they show up in the Announcements section on the course homepage.

Note #2: Optional readings are exactly that: optional. They are readings we've used in past quarters, or readings we thought about using but decided not to. If you're curious, take a look, but these readings will not be fair game for the exam or otherwise be in any way required reading for the course. (Translation: optional means optional.)

* Mon Jan 5 (PDF, PPT): If possible, please complete the following homework for Monday's lecture: Examine the UW Climate Impacts Group climate change website and answer these questions:

With regard to the Pacific Northwest: (1) What has happened to temperatures over the last 100 years? (2) Precipitation? (3) Snowpack? And (4) Spring? (5) What do the red and blue dots in Figures 1a, 1b and 1c mean? (6) What does dot size tell you?

Optional readings are Seattle Times 2004 ("Cascades glacier may vanish by end of century") and Wikipedia's "Retreat of glaciers since 1850".

* Wed Jan 7 (Climate change science: PDF, PPT): The required reading is the IPCC Working Group 1 FAQs (2007). Please read all of the italicized blurbs that provide short responses to the FAQs, and then read the detailed responses to the following FAQs:

1.3 ("What is the greenhouse effect?")
3.1 ("How are temperatures on earth changing?")
5.1 ("Is sea level rising?")
6.1 ("What caused the ice ages...?")
8.1 ("How reliable are the models...?")
9.1 ("Can individual extreme events be explained by greenhouse warming?")
10.2 ("How likely are major or abrupt climate changes?")

Optional readings include additional materials about climate change, either from this FAQ document or from other documents from the 2007 IPCC reports or elsewhere. (Note that the IPCC reports represent the consensus of the scientific community.) Optional readings are Seattle Times 2004 ("Cascades glacier may vanish by end of century") and Wikipedia's "Retreat of glaciers since 1850".

* Fri Jan 9 (PDF, PPT): Sunny Remington on carbon cycling in the Amazon. Required readings are Seattle Times 2008 ("Acidified seawater showing up along coast ahead of schedule", May 23) and Turley 2008 ("Impacts of changing ocean chemistry in a high-CO2 world", Mineralogical Magazine, 72:359-362). Some questions to think about:

How does the "carbon pool" in the ocean compare to that in the atmosphere and on land?
Does ocean acidification increase or decrease the pH of the ocean?
What kind of direct effects could acidification have on marine ecosystem, and what kind of trophic cascades could result?

* Mon Jan 12 (PDF, PPT): Required readings are National Academy of Sciences 2001 ("Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences", executive summary), the King County Environmental Services website, the King County Sims Global Warming Initiative website, and this this Jeep Patrol video.

For the NAS reading: What are the environmental challenges listed in this summary?
For the Environmental Services website: (1) What major environmental issues, in your opinion, that are highlighted on this page are similar to the grand challenges cited by the National Academy article? Select no more than six. (2) What is meant by stewardship? (3) What is a ‘green' building? (4) What are biosolids? (5) What is a watershed and what is the Cedar River Watershed?
For the global warming website: What is the history of Ron Sims' leadership in understanding and addressing global climate change? What is meant by adaptation to climate change?Based upon the response of western Washington to the floods of December 2007 (see, e.g., the Jeep Patrol video) and your readings for Monday, do you think western Washington is prepared (adapted)?

Optional readings are Seattle Times 2008a ("Snohomish County dedicates new biodiesel facility") and Seattle Times 2008b ("State on team to cut greenhouse gases"). Questions to think about: (1) What are the positives and negatives of using biodiesel that are discussed in this article? (2) Name the four provinces and seven states that are teaming up to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

* Wed Jan 14: Biogeochemical cycles (PDF, PPT). Required readings are Buesseler et al. 2008 ("Ocean iron fertilization – moving forward in a sea of uncertainty") and Cullen and Boyd 2008 ("Predicting and verifying the intended and unintended consequences of large-scale ocean iron fertilization"). Here are some questions to think about: (1) Why add iron (Fe) to the ocean? (2) Why is adding Fe to the ocean considered a carbon mitigation strategy? (3) What are some of the risks and why might it not work as a strategy?

Optional readings are Huesemann 2008 ("Ocean fertilization and other climate change mitigation strategies: an overview") and Orbach 2008 ("Cultural context of ocean fertilization").

* Fri Jan 16 (Biogeochemical cycles II: PDF, PPT) The required reading is Service 2004 ("As the west goes dry", Science 303: 1124-1127).

Take the information from all of the lectures and reading assignments (please review questions for the first lecture) to this point and integrate them with what Service points out in his article. What is the future of water in the west? Think about winter and summer. What is water used for in the west? Why all the worry about fresh water?

* For Mon Jan 19: No class. MLK Day: Make it a day on, not a day off.

* Wed Jan 21 (Econ I: PDF, PPT): The required readings are Hardin 1968 ("The tragedy of the commons", Science 162: 1243 - 1248) and Economist 2008 ("A rising tide", Sept 18). The Hardin article is short but difficult; try to follow his main points, try to understand the overgrazing example, and think about whether you agree with his argument about the UN Declaration of Human Rights. For the article from The Economist, understand what the acronym ITQ stands for and how it works. How did the Alaska halibut fishery operate before and after ITQs? Why would fisherman push for reducing catch quotas?

Optional readings include other articles about the recent ITQ study: BBC 2008, ("Ownership key to saving fisheries") and NY Times 2008 ("Privately owned fisheries may help shore up stocks", Sept. 18).

* Fri Jan 23 (Econ II: PDF, PPT): The required readings are Read 1958 ("I, Pencil", The Freeman, December 1958, reprinted May 1996 with comments by Milton Friedman, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in economics); Durning and Ryan 1997 (excerpts from Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everday Things); and this Stuff quiz. Questions: (1) How does Read's story relate to the "invisible hand" idea? (2) List one way in which the two readings are similar and one way in which the two readings are different?

* Mon Jan 26 (Environmental ethics: introduction and Simon/Ehrlich: PDF, PPT): The required readings are Economist 1997 ("Plenty of gloom", Dec. 18), Economist 2006 ("The heat is on", Sept. 7), and Solow 1991 ("Sustainability: An economist's perspective", reprinted in Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings, 5th ed., edited by Robert Stavins, 2005).

For the 1997 Economist article: (1) What does the (anonymous) author think about environmental issues? [Note that almost all Economist articles are written anonymously.] (2) Do you think the author is just a cranky jerk, or do you think that one or more of the authors' critiques are valid? If so, which ones and why? (3) How well has the article held up now that 10+ years have passed since its publication?
For the 2006 Economist article: (1) How does this article compare with the 1997 article on the subject of climate change? (2) Does the author argue that scientific uncertainty argues for taking action or not? Why? (3) What does the second-to-last letter to the editor suggest about the author's biases? (This will come in again next week when we do environmental ethics, and note that it's not just the author's biases---the last letter to the editor indicates that one of your instructors read this article many times, and he has to confess that he didn't pick up on this problem either :)
For the Solow article: Think about how you would answer his challenge to "invent for yourself how you are going to explain to the Chinese that... even living at their standard of living they shouldn't burn [their] coal, because the CO2 might conceivably damage somebody in 50 or 100 years."

* Wed Jan 28 (Environmental ethics: PDF, PPT): Guest lecture from Stephen Gardiner (UW philosophy) on environmental ethics. The required reading is Singer 1991 ("Environmental Values")

For the Singer article: The article opens with a discussion of whether or not to build a dam in a wilderness area, but goes on to discuss many other "moral situations". Give three examples and give one argument for each side.

* For Fri Jan 30: (Cost-benefit analysis: PDF, PPT): The required readings are Carson 1962 (excerpt from Silent Spring), Rosenberg 2004 ("What the world needs now is DDT", New York Times, also available in PDF form), and Rosenberg 2006 ("The revival of a notorious solution to a notorious scourge", New York Times, also available in PDF form). Think about the two authors' perspectives on DDT, think about how this issues relates to environmental justice, and think about your own attitude toward when (if ever) DDT is appropriate and how you would "objectively" go about answering this type of question. An option reading (especially recommended if you like to be infuriated :) is the Larry Summers Memo. (Note that the memo is from the "Whirled Bank" website that parodies the World Bank, but the memo itself is real, although arguably taken out of context.)

* Mon Feb 2 (PDF, PPT): The required readings are Ripple and Beschta 2004 ("Wolves and the ecology of fear: Can predation risk structure ecosystems?", BioScience 54: 755-766) and the Puget Sound Partnership's 10 minute video Shifting Baselines.

For the Ripple and Beschta reading: What is the history of wolves in Yellowstone? What do Ripple and Beschta mean by the ecology of fear? What responses have occurred in Yellowstone as a result of the re-introduction of the wolf and are there any "benefits" from these responses?
For the Shifting Baselines video: What is the evidence that our vision of the Puget Sound has shifted? What are the impacts or changes discussed in this video?

Optional readings are Ripple and Beschta 2006 ("Linking a cougar decline, trophic cascade, and catastrophic regime shift in Zion National Park", Biol. Conserv. 133:397- 408), Ripple and Beschta 2007 ("Hardwood tree decline following large carnivore loss on the Great Plains, USA", Frontiers in Ecol. And the Environ. 5: 241-246), Kauffman et al. 2007 ("Landscape heterogeneity shapes predation in a new restored predator-prey system", Ecology Letters 10: 690-700). Here's a summary of the last article: Wolves have not eliminated the elk because the elk are now using their habitat differently (taking advantage of landscape heterogeneity. Therefore postage stamp reserves or large reserves with lots of human presence will likely not work. Also interesting is a recent news story that you can use to think about whether the introduction of wolves back into Olympic National Park would have the same effects as they did when they were re-introduced into Yellowstone.

* Wed Feb 4 (PDF, PPT): The required readings are McKibben 2008 ("The challenge to environmentalism", Daedalus 137 (2):5-7) and McKibben 2007 ("Thinking past ourselves -- Climate change challenges us to move beyond a culture that has reduced nature to yet another consumable", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 63 (6): 28-31) and a review of Gifford Pinchot's lecture from Oct 1 2008.

Question: What parallels do you note between Pinchot's lecture and the two articles by McKibben? What does McKibben think about the balance between individualism and a focus on something other than the individual? How does China's automobile mileage standards compare to those of the US? How does McKibben suggest that the environmentalist balance a focus on wildness versus community? Connecting the two McKibben articles -- does a focus on wildness and this Bud is for you come from similar or different mind sets?

Optional readings include Norgaard 2006 (" 'We don't really want to know': Environmental justice and socially organized denial of global warming in Norway", Organization and the Environment 19:347-370.) [Note: Professor Norgaard is an Assistant Professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla.] Also, you can learn more about Bill McKibben, who is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, Vermont.

* Fri Feb 6 TBD (PDF, PPT): Guest lectures from Sara Curran and Steve Harrell. The required reading is the first 2 pages of Lutz et al. 2001 ("The end of world population growth", Nature 412: 543 - 545). Pay particular attention to the graphs and these questions: What is likely to happen by the end of the century? What are current and projected human populations (roughly speaking)? How does what is happening compare with Garrett Hardin's argument that "freedom to breed is intolerable"?

* Fri Feb 9 (Lecture PDF, PPT): Required readings are Running 2008 ("Ecosystem disturbance, carbon, and climate", Science 321: 652-653) and Tollefson 2008 ("Not your father's biofuels", Nature 451: 880-883).

For the Running 2008 article: (1) Running talks about the history of how the land surface has been treated in GCMs; what changes occurred? (2) What are examples of disturbances and what do they do to the carbon cycle? (3) What is albedo and how does it change after a fire? (4) How fast does vegetation recover in the tropics vs. the boreal forest? (5) What happens to land surface temperatures and productivities following the 2002 Biscuit fire? (Speaking of biscuits, have you had a Puyallup Fair, Fischer Scone?)

For the Tollefson 2008 article: (1) Why is ethanol not the best form of fuel? (2) What is meant by the following statement: "I'm of the opinion that the crucial thing that needs to be done is not actually to make better fuels out of sugars but to make sugars more efficiently from cellulose." (3) What is the role of "wonderbugs"? (4) What are some of the difficulties associated with scaling from the lab to production systems?

Optional readings on various topics---biofuels, biotic pumps (plants as regulators of macro-, meso- and micro-climate), carbon cycle, and coarse woody debris---are listed in this document.

Or maybe this one? (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: PDF, PPT) The required reading is Powledge 2006 ("The Millennium Assessment", BioScience 56: 880-886).

What happened at the Earth Summit? When was the MEA report released? (3) What are the key assumptions behind the MEA reports? (4) How do ecosystem services related to human well-being (be able to define terms as well as give an example). (5) What is the modeling framework or foundation of the MEA? (6) Are there different spatial scales to the model and if yes, what are they? (7) What are the four scenarios that the MEA developed and what purpose did they serve? (8) What appear to be some of the positive and negative outcomes of the report?

Optional readings are(A) Kurz, W.A. and seven other authors. 2008. Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change. Nature 452: 987-990. (B) Raffa, K.F. and six other authors. 2008. Cross-scale drivers of natural disturbances prone to anthropogenic amplification: The dynamics of bark beetle eruptions. BioScience 58: 501-517. (C) Agrawal, A., A. Chhatre, and R. Hardin. 2008. Changing governance of the world's forests. Science 320: 1460-1462. (D) Andersson, E., S. Barthel, and K. Ahrne. 2007. Measuring social-ecological dynamics behind the generation of ecosystem services. Ecol. Appl. 17: 1267-1278. (E) Bonan, G.B. 2008. Forests and climate change: Forcings, feedbacks, and the climate benefits of forests. Science 320: 1444-1449. (F) Liu, J., Dietz, T., Carpenter, S.R., Alberti, M., Folke, C., Moran, E., Pell, A.N., Deadman, P., Kratz, T., Lubchenco, J., Ostrom, E., Ouyang, Z., Provencher, W., Redman, C.L., Schneider, S.H. and Taylor, W.W. 2007. Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317: 1513-1516. (G) Martinez, M.L. and F. Lopez-Barrera. 2008. Special issue: restoring and designing ecosystems for a crowded planet. Ecoscience 15: 1-5.

* The midterm is Wed Feb 11 and covers everything through Fri Feb 6.

* Fri Feb 13: (David Battisti: PDF, PPT) Lecture on regional and global impacts of climate change, with special guest lecturer David Battisti, a UW climate scientist. The required reading is Lobell et al. 2008 ("Prioritizing Climate Change Adaptation Needs for Food Security in 2030", Science 319: 607-610). Note that you may get an error message when you open this document, but you should be able to keep going to read the article.

What crops and regions are more vulnerable?
What measures are possible to counter this vulnerability?

Optional readings are Funk et al. 2008 ("Warming of the Indian Ocean threatens eastern and southern African food security but could be mitigated by agricultural development", PNAS 105: 11081-6) and the UN Environmental Programme's Global Environment Outlook Year Book 2006 ("Crop production in a changing climate").

* Mon Feb 16: No class. Happy Presidents Day!

* Wed Feb 18: (Petroleum geology: PDF, PPT) Guest lecture from Dan Morgan (UW geologist) on petroleum. The required reading is Deffeyes 2001. You should understand the graph on page 6; think about what "the impending world oil shortage" means for human quality of life, both in terms of economics and in terms of environmental quality; and think about the economic incentives that would be (and are being!) generated by rising oil prices.

* Fri Feb 20 (Energy discussion with Dan Morgan, Tom, and Yoram: PDF, PPT): The required reading is Carr 2008 ("The power and the glory: A special report on the future of energy", The Economist, June 21 2008). This is pretty detailed article, so you can skim over the really detailed stuff, but make sure to get the gist of it all. Questions to think about:

Is the article optimistic or pessimistic about the future of energy?
Which energy sources does the author relate to GMOs (genetically modified organisms)?
How is economics relevant?

Ruth, L. 2008. Bio or bust? The economic and ecological cost of biofuels. EMBO Reports 9: 130-133.

* Mon Feb 23: (Tom: Intro to air pollution: PDF, PPT) Required readings are Travis et al. 2002 ("Contrails reduce daily temperature range", Nature 418: 601) and Ramanathan 2007 ("Role of Black Carbon in Global and Regional Climate Changes", Testimonial to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ). Here are questions to think about:

For the Travis et al. article: When were the observations made, why during that time period, what is a contrail and how do the authors propose that it impacts the earth's climate?
For the Ramanathan article: What is black carbon and where does it come from, what does Ramanathan suggest that it does in the atmosphere, what is his evidence, what happens if we remove black carbon from the atmosphere? (PS. Learn more about this remarkable person at his website. And check out his cool research planes!)

Optional readings are in this document.

* Wed Feb 25: (Dan Jaffe: PDF, PPT) Guest lecture from Dan Jaffe (UW atmospheric chemist) on international transport of air pollutants. The required readings are Seattle P-I 2008 ("Trout bearing chemicals are even in our national parks", Feb 26), Keating et al. 2005 ("Air quality impacts of intercontinental transport," Air and Waste Management Association October 2005, pp. 28-30), and the first 3 questions from this EPA website. Two important definitions and ideas:

Ozone concentration at any point = f(weather, emissions of precursors, distribution of emissions, biomass burning, global background ozone concentration)
PM2.5 refers to particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or smaller in size

Some questions:

For the Seattle P-I article: What was the pattern of mercury distribution in fish; where were the highest levels; where might have this mercury come from? (FYI, this article is designed for you to think about where the substances you breathe or eat come from; Professor Jaffe's lecture will focus on the mechanisms of transport and its implications.)
For the Keating et al. reading: (1) Why the concern about the addition of 52,000 metric tons of PM2.5 into the U.S. boundary layer? (There are multiple answers.) (2) What about ozone and how is PAN related to ozone? (3) What is the future regarding foreign contributions of air pollutants to the US? (4) How do we get a driver (invisible hand) aboard this bus? (Learn about Dan Jaffe, his lab and the neat things that they do here.)
For the EPA website: (1) What are the health risks associated with PM2.5? (2) Why are children more sensitive (two reasons)?

Optional readings are in this document.

* Fri Feb 27: (Yoram on carbon taxes and cap-and-trade: PDF, PPT) The required reading is Sightline 2007. Think about which of the three policies you favor (or maybe you don't like any of them) and think about the political aspects of passing this sort of climate policy.

* Mon Mar 2 (PDF, PPT): Jason Scullion on biodiversity. Required readings are BBC 2008a ("Wildlife populations 'plummeting'", May 16) and BBC 2008b ("Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis'", Oct 10). Here are some questions to think about:

What percentage of other species are lost each year because of human activity?
What kinds of "ecosystems goods and services" are mentioned in the articles, and what are the arguments for and against valuing nature in terms of the services it provides to humans?
What target was set at the Convetion on Biodiversity, and how successful have governments been at meeting that target?

* Web Mar 4: (Tom on conservation biology: PDF, PPT) Required readings are Soule 1985 ("What is conservation biology? A new synthetic discipline addresses the dynamics and problems of perturbed species, communities, and ecosystems", BioScience 35: 727-734) and Meine et al. 1996 ("'A mission-drive discipline': the growth of conservation biology", Conservation Biology 20: 631-651).

When reading these articles, try to trace the history of ideas about conservation, resource management and ecology over time and how ideas and approaches have changed over time. Is conservation biology a fad, as one critique suggested, or will it continue into the future? What issues does it currently focus on?

An optional reading is: Frank, E. and J. Unruh. 2008. Demarcating forest, containing disease: land and HIV/AIDS in southern Zambia. Popul. Environ. 29: 108-132.

* Fri Mar 6: UW biologist Dee Boersma on penguins (no PDF or PPT, check out screencast). The required reading is Boersma 2008 ("Penquins as marine sentinels", BioScience 58: 597-607). This is a pretty hefty article, so some optional readings that might help include Seattle P-I 2008a ("Penguins seen as 'canaries in climate coal mine'", June 30) Seattle P-I 2008b ("Scientists find new penguin, extinct for 500 years", Nov. 19) Professor Boersma's website, and Roach 2006 ("Oil-slicked penguins wash ashore dead in Argentina", National Geographic News, May 12).

For the required reading, take the perspective that this bird is like the Orca: it lives a relatively long time, it covers a lot of distance in the ocean, almost all its food comes from the ocean, and, unlike, the Orca, it breeds on land (hotspots). It integrates the problems that it encounters (think about what these are). At same time, there are supposed to be treaties, regulations, and practices to protect it and/or its environment (think about what these are, what they are in response to, how long have they been in effect, are they helping the bird or not, and if not, why not). Enjoy the great color pictures! (Why do penguin chicks do ok with snow and ice, but not rain?) Other questions to help your reading: How many penguin species are there, and how many of these species are restricted to Antarctica? Why is stable sea ice important for successful breeding for some species (but not all)? What is the relationship between El Nino events and Galapagos penguins? Do Patagonian penguins show high or low fidelity to place? How do chicks respond to tourists? How do penguins and fisherman interact?

* Mon Mar 9: Poster symposium in MGH first-floor foyer.

* Wed Mar 11: Poster symposium in MGH first-floor foyer.

* Fri Mar 13: Concluding lecture (PDF, PPT).

Fall 2008: There is no textbook for this class, but you must have a Turning Point radio-frequency "clicker" for use during lectures and you must register it using this Fall 2008 WebQ. (Follow the link for a photo; clickers can be purchased new for about $35 at the textbook counter in the bookstore or used from other students, e.g., in the "electronics" section of Uloop.com. If you already have one, that's fine too.) Failure to register your clicker before 8am on Friday Sept 26 will negatively affect your grade. If you have your clicker on Wed Sept 24 please bring it to class. When you're in class, here's how the clickers work: (1) Push button #1 (for example) and a green light should come on to show that your answer was recorded; there's no need to push the GO button or anything else, and note that you only get the green light when you're in class and the polling is open to record student responses. (2) If you push one button and then another button, the system records the last button you pushed. (3) If you're in class and the polling is open and you don't get a green light, you're probably seeing a flashing red-and-orange light, which means you should wait until it goes away and then push GO - 4 - 1 GO, and then never push the GO button ever again. If you're still not getting a green light, come to the podium after lecture, and if for some reason you need to change the clicker number you registered online then email Yoram.

Writing Link: If you're interested in signing up for English 198G, the Writing Link course connected to ENVIR 100, check out the course website.

Volunteer notetaker needed: Disability Resources for Students(DRS) is looking for a volunteer notetaker to assist a student who has a disability that impacts their ability to take notes in class. DRS has already recruit a primary notetaker to copy their notes once a week, but they're still looking for an alternate who would be on standby as a back-up notetaker. The time commitment is minimal, but the difference it makes for the student is significant. DRS will pay for the photocopying and will provide a letter of recommendation for your volunteer hours. If you're interested email uwdss@u.washington.edu.

Syllabus: In case you missed it, here's the syllabus.

If you still need to register your clicker, follow this link for details.

If your clicker # is one of the following, your clicker is not registered. 199E66, 1EBBE7, 1F1FA8, 1EC0F2, 199E12, 15F93E, A1C2D, 1E9E9C, 149B77, 0C2AB6, 199E81, 1F1EC0, C2AB6. If your clicker # is on this list, you need to email Yoram ASAP with your clicker # and your UW email address!

Poster topics: In the next quiz section you'll pick your poster topics and groups, so spend some time thinking about what you'd like to work on!

UBNA quiz section Th Oct 2 and T Oct 7: The quiz sections on these dates will be down in the Union Bay Natural Area: your TA will send you instructions on where to meet. You will be working outside on an ecological restoration project, so bring gloves if you have them and dress appropriately: consider bringing a hat, sunscreen, some water, and a rain jacket (here's the weather forecast), wear sturdy shoes (no flip-flops or open-toed shoes!) and clothes that can survive a bit of rough treatment. Here's a Google Map to the Douglas headhouse, and here are directions, which you are encouraged to print out because it's a long way from campus and it's easy to get lost: Get to the Montlake parking lot, which is north of Husky stadium. From the parking lot, head east and go past the north end of the soccer stadium (so that you're heading east, with the soccer stadium immediately on your right). Cross the bridge and continue to follow this gravel path (called Wahkiakum Lane) into the Union Bay Natural Area. Follow the path approximately 1/4 mile until it turns to pavement and eventually dead-ends into Union Bay Circle NE. Turn right (east) onto a side street leading to a parking area. Proceed east approximately 150 yards (you will pass on your right two buildings then a landscaped area that are a part of the UW Botanic Gardens). Turn right (South) onto Union Bay Circle NE. Proceed south for approximately 60 yards (there should be a parking area to your left). Turn left (east) when you enter the gravel parking area. You are now looking at the Douglas Research Conservatory. Proceed through the front door, then through either of the doors facing you directly as you enter the building into Douglas 113, otherwise known as the Douglas "Headhouse."

Outside seminar: Remember that your outside seminars are due Thursday Oct 16 or Tuesday Oct 21 (whichever day your quiz section meets). Don't put this off to the last minute!

Here's the midterm review sheet and here's info on office hours prior to Wednesday's midterm: You can get extra help prior to the midterm on Monday Oct 27 (from 4-6pm with Jill Harris and Gus Jesperson) and on Tuesday Oct 28 (from 2:30-3:30pm with Jennifer Webster and from 4:30-5:30pm with Jason Scullion). All of these will be in MGH 274.

Town Halls: The global town hall is Thursday Oct 16 or Tuesday Oct 21 (whichever day your quiz section meets), the local town hall is the following week. Tons of information and links on the assignment page!

Your memo paragraph is due Friday in lecture (unless your TA tells you otherwise). Please write your TA's name on your paper.

Your next quiz section (T Nov 4 or Th Nov 6) will (unless you hear otherwise from your TA) be meeting in Suzzallo Library for a library skills training. Stay tuned for details from your TA, and note that this will help prepare you for your memo/poster paragraph, which is due in lecture on Fr Nov 7 unless your TA tells you otherwise. Also, your Wikipedia assignment is due in the next quiz section (T Nov 4 or Th Nov 6).

The library sessions happen in one of two places in Suzzallo Library: the Suzzallo Instruction Lab (directions: Enter Suzzallo from Red Square and immediately turn left; the Instruction Lab is behind the Exhibition Room) or the Government Publications (Gov Pubs) Instruction Lab (directions: Enter Suzzallo from Red Square and go down one floor [or enter Suzzallo from the entrances near the Hub]; go past the Gov Pubs reference desk and head up the ramp). Unless you hear otherwise from your TA, the following quiz sections should meet in the Suzzallo Instruction Lab: Jill's sections, Jason's sections, and the Th Nov 6 section with Jen. Similarly, the following quiz section should meet in the Gov Pubs Instruction Lab: Gus's sections and the T Nov 4 section with Jen.

Your memo is due in the next quiz section (Th Nov 13 or T Nov 18). Please bring one copy for each member of your poster group, plus one copy to turn in to your TA (unless they tell you otherwise).

Midterm clicker grades: If you are curious about your midterm clicker grade, you can find your average (as well as daily scores) here. There are a few of you with unregistered clicker numbers---you must email yoram@u... to register them or you won't get credit! The unregistered clickers are marked "NO ID!!" on the attached spreadsheet, and are also listed here: 15F93E, AD0EB, 199E80, 199E12, 199EC1, 199E26, 15F8F6, 19C2B7, 162F71, A1BDE, 199E9B.

The two guest lectures this coming week will be great. So don't miss them! And here's a PS from Dr. Sunny Remington's guest lecture from Fri Nov 21: "The acidity of urine DOES, in fact, neutralize the alkaline vemon of the jellyfish. However, most people's urine is not acidic. Apparently, whether or not urine will work depends on the person's diet." For more information she suggests this resource. (PPS. Dr Remington will be part of the teaching team for ENVIR 300 in spring 2009.)

Final exam review sessions will be held in MGH 258 from 3:00-4:30pm on Monday and from 9:00-10:30am on Tuesday. The exam is Wednesday 8:30am in our lecture classroom.

Take-home portion of the final exam: Here it is in PDF and as a Word document. Instructions are in the document; note that this part of the exam is open-notes but you are not allowed to talk to other people about it. Please email yoram@u... if you have questions.

Here is the final exam review sheet. Note that the review sheet just covers material since the midterm, but the final exam will be comprehensive (but will focus on material since the midterm).

Take-home portion of final exam. This quarter we are going to have a portion of the final exam grade (tentatively 25%) based on a one-page essay; the assignment will be posted online on Friday Dec 5 and due in class at the beginning of the exam on Wed Dec 10. The point of this essay is to complement your studying and to give you an opportunity to showcase your knowledge outside of the stress of an in-class exam. Details to come on Friday...

The poster symposiums are Wed Dec 3 and Fri Dec 5 in the main-floor foyer of MGH. If your quiz section meets on T Dec 2 then your poster is due Wed Dec 3 at the beginning of lecture. If your quiz section meetings Th Dec 4 then your poster is due Fri Dec 5 at the beginning of lecture. Do not put off printing to the last minute because it can take time to print! We will have pushpins and posterboards and easels, so all you need to bring is your poster (on the day you're presenting) and your clicker (on both days). After the poster symposiums we will send your posters for display in the Natural Sciences Library (Allen South).

The capstone conference is W Dec 3, 1:30-6:00 in HUB 108. Information on the various sessions is online, and note that this would be a great event to spend a few minutes (or more) at if you're thinking about being an Environmental Studies major and want to see what the senior capstone project is all about.

We still have three clicker mysteries: 199E28, 199EC1 and AD0EB. If one of these is your clicker, please email yoram@u... with your UW net ID, i.e., your UW email address. Otherwise you will not get any credit because we do not know whose name to associate with these clickers.

Want to sell your clicker? Note that many other classes at UW require clickers, but if you want to sell yours then try the "electronics" section of Uloop.com. (That's where we'll tell winter quarter students to go to try to buy one used.)

Grades on the midterm and other recent assignments are now available from the link in the grades section. Exams will be returned in your next quiz section, and an answer key will be posted online at the end of the week.

Upcoming readings are in the section on Readings and Lectures, along with links to PDFs and PPTs and screencasts of previous lectures.