Pollution Control of the Earth System Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico

1. �Pollution Control of the Earth System� Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico By Aluisio Pimenta, Ph.D. Edbertho Leal-Quiros, Ph.D. Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico

2. Background Puerto Rico Caribbean Island Extreme as Alaska Size of Connecticut 3.9 million inhabitants 98.8% Hispanic Bilingual (Eng/Span) Polytechnic Univ. of PR Largest private Hispanic engineering school (in USA) CHE, MSACS & ABET accreditation Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Civil Engineering Program among largest in entire US 30% of students are female

3. Motivation The earth has become small Most people lack education on Earth Sciences There is a need to develop education tools for earth constituents regarding earth sciences

4. Scope of Work A graduate level course was initially developed for a non-engineering program; The program selected to offer the course was the Master in Environmental Management at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (course MEM 6940); 4 professors were assigned to develop and teach the course.

5. MEM 6940 Course Objectives The main objective of the course is to inform the students on potential environmental impacts to the earth system: Describing the main components of the earth system; Pinpointing the consequences of anthropogenic activities on this sensitive system; Indicating available solutions to existing issues and problems, and; Identifying future trends.

6. MEM 6940 Course Components: The Ocean, Surface and Ground Water, Land, Atmosphere & Air Quality, Ecology, The Integrated Earth System

7. MEM 6940: Specific Objectives Ocean, Water, Land and Atmosphere: Characterize Systems physically, chemically and biologically; Understand the standards developed to assess environmental impacts; Identify the main sources of environmental impact (auditing included); Review the management and technological tools available to minimize environmental impact; Analyze future trends

8. MEM 6940: Specific Objectives Ecology Enhance the understanding of the interactive nature of ecosystems, which are composed of diverse elements and living species; Review the main interaction mechanisms in nature; The Integrated Earth System Review auditing tools to recognize and assess environmental impacts to earth systems; Pollution Prevention.

9. MEM 6940 Student Evaluation Levels Analysis Synthesis Evaluation of work performed Assignments Paper Reviews Projects Exams Presentations Assignments are specific for each component

10. Results Course was prepared in English. Spanish version is under revision; 15 students enrolled in the Winter/03 term; Student acceptance was good (survey); Grade average was 82%; Course has been added to curriculum of School of Management; Course has been scheduled for the Winter/05 term.

11. Observations Student response was variable due to distinct professional and academic backgrounds; Teaching the course more than once would have been important to this point, but was not possible due to logistics at PUPR; The course material is still heterogeneous due to multiple authors, and should be edited;

12. Conclusions The course is appropriate as a general introduction both on undergraduate and graduate levels. The course material must be adjusted to each specific application or academic level; A Public Outreach tool can be developed from the accomplishments so far.

13. The Future Develop a Public Outreach tool to address the earth-wide environmental impact theme; The tool would be electronic and interactive; Different levels of material complexity would be employed to reach from elemental to graduate level users;

14. The first class

15. The PUPR Team Professors: Maximo Cerame Vivas, PhD; Hugo Pelaez, PhD; Edbertho Leal-Quiros, PhD; Aluisio Pimenta, PhD; Assistant: Lotte Aalling

16. 3 of the 4 Professors

18. Questions ��. ?