Potential topic areas for EnvSc 330 term research projects
Proposal due Monday Sept.20: 2-3 double-spaced pages, with
citations for any data sources or literature you have consulted. Keep in mind that your project must involve
use of the peer-reviewed published scientific literature, whether through
electronic journal access or via hard copies in the library.
Research projects should focus on environmental science
as opposed to politics and policy, activism, etc. Economic analysis may be incorporated but
should not be the basis of projects. You
should also strive to be quantitative, incorporating data and analysis where
possible.
Note that this is simply a list of subject areas and some suggested
general topics only; original ideas not covered below, or modifications and refinements
of the listed topics are encouraged; topics should generally be more
focused than these suggestions.
Vegetation:
- Desertification
in New Mexico
(or elsewhere); changes in vegetation communities related to land use and
environmental change (including climate change)
- Differing
impacts of fire suppression on contrasting forest and range ecosystems in
the western U.S.
(or elsewhere)
- Vegetation
and environmental change resulting from burning in tropical rainforests
- Exotic
and invasive plants: impacts on forest, range and riparian communities
- Biological
control of invasive plants; current methods and prospects
- Prediction
of vegetation responses to future climatic change, e.g. in “island”
ecosystems such as isolated high-elevation southwestern mountain ranges
- Effects
of fire on aquatic ecosystems
- Potential
ecological risks of genetically modified organisms: current scientific
understanding
Animals
- Current
extinction rates: do they constitute mass extinction? What species are
most at risk? primary causes; future prediction
- How
large must wildland reserves be
to preserve ecosystems or a given species?
- Exotic
species impacts in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems: case studies;
processes of introduction
- Marine
fisheries status; importance of climate; prospects for the future
- Domestication
and farming of wildlife (e.g. bison, elk, salmon) in the western U.S. (or
elsewhere): impacts on genetics, disease, etc.
- Megafaunal extinctions in the late Pleistocene and
Holocene; evidence for and against human involvement
Soils
- Agriculture
and soil erosion: processes of wind and water erosion; measurement
difficulties; case studies; effects on fertility; downstream impacts and
sediment pollution.
- Fertilizer
use and sustainability
- Metal
pollution of soils
Water
- Groundwater
depletion and associated problems in the southwestern US: case studies,
future supply predictions, alternatives, impact of urban growth and
climate change, agricultural use, etc.
- River
regulation and water withdrawals: defining instream
flow needs for river ecosystems, effects of dams on flow regimes, water
temperature, chemical water quality, river channels, etc.
- Water
use by saltcedar and other invasive riparian
plants; current knowledge
- Evaluation
of potential new water resource supplies and impacts of development: interbasin transfers, desalination, potential for
increased efficiency and conservation
- Impacts
of recreational use of rivers and lakes
- Land-use
effects on flooding; processes at various basin scales (e.g. Bear Canyon
Arroyo vs. Mississippi River)
- Acid
mine drainage; chemical processes, prevention, mitigation
- Artificial
wetlands for water quality improvement
Geologic and geomorphic processes
- Humans
as a geologic agent; mass of rock and soil transported in construction,
mining, etc.
- Land
use and landslides; effects of timber harvest and forest clearing,
agriculture, residential development, etc.
- Floods
from dam failures
- Science-based
planning and management in areas of geologic hazards, e.g. volcanic,
earthquake, and landslide hazards
Atmosphere and Climate
- Metal
and trace element dispersal and pollution from coal-fired power plants
- Acid
precipitation: sources, distribution, impacts, progress
- Methane
as a greenhouse gas: human effects on cycle and atmospheric loading;
methane in gas hydrates (clathrates) in marine
sediments and climatic significance
- Land-use
and land-cover effects on local, regional, and global climate
- The
“missing carbon problem”: possible “sinks” for atmospheric CO2
- Anthropogenic
sulfur dioxide and climate impacts
- Tropical
storm generation and future climate change
- Prediction
of future sea-level change: processes, models, and uncertainty
- Projections
of future fossil fuel use in developed and developing countries