SOIL 480/680 Soils and Pollution
Instructor: Frank Casey
Contact information:
123 Walster Hall
Phone 231-8577
email: francis.casey@ndsu.edu
Location and meeting time of class:
Walster Room 217: 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday
Office hours:
Tuesday and Thursday after class or by appointment
Prerequisites:
Soil 210, Math 146, Chem 121, 121L
Textbook:
No text is required. I will try to provide online links with useful information about topics we will cover.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
The detailed syllabus below is tentative, we may need to spend less or more time on certain subjects and thus our schedule may need amended.
Bulletin Description
To provide the basic principles of physical, chemical, and biological fate and transport processes of pollution in soils and to neighboring water bodies. Also, how these principles apply to the landscape scale.
Course Objectives
The objective of this class is to provide an overview of pollution’s interactions with soil and water. Once we form a basic understanding of the physical, chemical and organic characteristics of soil that influence the fate and transport of pollutants, then we can learn how these concepts apply to the “real world.”
The focus of this course will be on physical and chemical processes, and the description of these processes mathematically. At times, computers will be used (mainly advanced spreadsheet calculations) to understand and predict pollution fate and transport. This course is meant for upper–level undergraduates and graduates who wish to have a background in pollution fate and transport.
Please note that I will do my best to take apparently complex concepts and break them into their simplest elements. I will then try to reconstruct these concepts from these simple elements. It helps me to know whether you understand what I am teaching at each step of the way. I will try to use various methods to assess your understanding, but this is not always useful. If you do not understand me at any point, then please feel free to interject your concerns anytime during the class. Dialogue in the classroom makes it more interesting and FUN!
