COURSE LIST

UVic is a global leader in climate research, which means students have the opportunity to take classes from researchers at the forefront of the field. We have compiled a list of courses from nine faculties across campus, including the Faculty of Continuing Studies, that focus on climate change, climate solutions, and other environmental issues.

You can navigate through the course list by faculty using the buttons below.

Clicking on the course information will bring you to its entry in the UVic Calendar.

Science

Title	Course	Department	Description
Terrestrial and Freshwater Conservation	MRNE421	Marine Science (MRNE)	Modern theory and practice in conservation ecology as applied to terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Emphasis on field experience, supplemented by lectures including global biodiversity, ecosystem services, links between conservation and livelihoods, legislation protecting habitats and species, and local and global solutions. Independent research projects include biodiversity surveys, environmental impact assessments, and restoration techniques.
Atmospheric Sciences	PHYS340	Physics (PHYS)	Introduction to the dynamic and thermodynamic processes governing the Earth's weather and climate. Emphasis on energy and temperature; cloud and precipitation processes; winds and weather systems; ocean-atmosphere interaction; El Nino; and past, present and future climates.
Principles of Ecology	BIOL215	Biology (BIOL)	An introduction to factors controlling the distribution and abundance of plants and animals. Physical environments of organisms; biotic environments and interactions among species; factors influencing population growth; behavioural ecology; community ecology; succession; trophic levels and energy flow, island biogeography; biodiversity; human impact on global ecology; conservation ecology.
The Biology behind the News	BIOL351	Biology (BIOL)	An examination of the biological science that bears on current environmental, social, ethical and political issues. Emphasis on how an understanding of the science might inform decision-making by individuals and groups.
Conservation Biology	BIOL370	Biology (BIOL)	Diversity of organisms, functioning of ecosystems, and the impact of human activities on these. Topics include the nature of biological diversity; extinction and its cause; habitat alteration and fragmentation; effects of exotic species; economic and ethical considerations; practical applications and analytical tools; and legal frameworks for conserving species and habitats.
Forest Ecology	BIOL418	Biology (BIOL)	Structure and function of forest ecosystems at the tree, stand and landscape scale, including: effects of the environment upon plant abundance, distribution and diversity; nutrient, carbon and water cycles; population and community ecology; disturbance; forest conservation; climate change and global forests.
Paleoecology and Environmental Change	BIOL457	Biology (BIOL)	Fundamental principles of paleoecology with emphasis on species, community and ecosystem responses to environmental change over the past 2 million years. Topics include: using fossil remains to infer ecological dynamics and climate change since the last glaciation; ice age megafaunal extinctions; role of paleoecology in conservation.
Oceans and Atmosphere	EOS110	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Origin and structure of the oceans and atmosphere. Dynamic processes that drive ocean and atmosphere circulation, weather patterns and global climate change. The coastal ocean, marine ecosystems, nutrient and carbon cycles, human influences on ocean environments, marine resources and sustainability.
The Dynamic Earth	EOS120	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Internal and external processes that shape the Earth and its landscapes. Nature of tectonic forces, earthquakes, volcanoes, rocks and minerals, and mountain building. Processes of erosion, sediment transport and deposition and glaciation. Global water cycle and hydrological processes. Geologic record of past environmental change and its impact on life. Natural resources, natural hazards and sustainability.
Earth System Evolution	EOS260	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Introduces the inherently interdisciplinary field of "Earth System Science" by studying how Earth has evolved throughout its history. Focus is on processes which link components of the Earth system and feedbacks which may alternately keep conditions on Earth stable or cause major change. The course includes study of some major events in Earth history (examples may include snowball Earth, mass extinctions, superplume events).
Atmospheric Sciences	EOS340	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Introduction to the dynamic and thermodynamic processes governing the Earth's weather and climate. Emphasis on energy and temperature; cloud and precipitation processes; winds and weather systems; ocean-atmosphere interaction; El Niño; and past, present and future climates.
Understanding the Oceans	EOS350	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Focuses on a small set of ocean topics involving human impacts on the ocean that are of particular relevance to society. Topics considered may include pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, marine conservation, and coastal modification.
Climate and Society	EOS365	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	A survey of the climate system and its interaction with past, present and future societies. Topics include: climate change and the onset of agriculture/domestication, climate change and the rise and fall of early civilizations, the anthropocene and global warming. The interplay between science, media, public relations and public policy is also addressed.
Energy Resources	EOS422	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Discusses the Earth's major economic natural energy resources. Focuses on conventional oil and gas, coal, CBM and tar sands, including modes of formation, accumulation and recovery, along with the mechanisms of migration and trapping. Canadian examples of petroleum systems and basin modelling augment the material. To a lesser degree, other energy sources are looked at, such as nuclear fuels, solar, hydrogen, geothermal, biogas, wind and tidal, as well as related socio-economic-environmental issues.
The Climate System	EOS433	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	Studies of the Earth's climate require an understanding of the intimate links between the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere and biosphere. Basic theories of the dynamics of ocean and atmosphere. The physics and biogeochemistry of coupled models are examined with emphasis on simple intuition-building mathematical models as well as discussion of large computer models.
Earth System Science	EOS460	Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS)	An examination of the interrelationships between the complex systems operating in the solid Earth, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere; methods of systems analysis for the planet; modelling of global processes.

Are we missing a class that should be on the list? Email us!