UMass Amherst Courses

Advanced Food Microbiology

Amherst
FS 723

Relationships of yeasts, molds, and bacteria to foods. Microbiology of refrigerated foods, mycotoxins, pectic enzymes. Immunological and PCR detection of food-borne pathogens.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: OHH

Advanced GIS (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
ECO 697K

This course will cover a number of methods and applications in GIS. Basic automation methods of repetitive or complex tasks using Model Builder and Python scripting will be covered first. Then these methods will be applied to a number of common problems in Natural Resources including home range definition species-habitat relationships, occupancy models, and movement analysis.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Introduction to GIS (NRC 592G) or equivalent.

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH

Advanced Remote Sensing

Amherst
GEO-SCI 594Q

To introduce the principles of image analysis for interpreting remotely sensed data for environmental, resource and urban studies. Emphasis will be given to the processing and information extraction from optical and thermal imagery.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: MASMA

Advanced Soil Chemistry

Amherst
PLNTSOIL 830

The course discusses in depth the chemical processes affecting the fate, bioavailability, and redistribution of both organic and inorganic chemicals in soils and sediments, and presents the state-of-the-art knowledge, theories, and research in soil chemistry. Research methodology, including advanced analytical instruments, is also covered. Class presentations and term papers.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Consent of the Instructor.

Option Areas: CSS|MBEC

Advanced Statistical Ecology (UMA Graduate Course

Amherst
ECO 697SA

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MASMA|OHH

Advanced Watershed Science (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
ECO 697WS

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

Aquatic Ecology (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 590AE

This course is an elective.

Advanced ecology course that examines the interplay between aquatic organisms and their physical, chemical and biological environment, with an emphasis on freshwater lakes and streams. Students will learn basic concepts, ecological theory, and methods in limnology, and apply them to understand the impacts of human activities and management on aquatic ecosystems. The course is intended for undergraduate students in Natural Resource Conservation, Environmental Science, and Biology and graduate students. Laboratories include field trips. Catalog Requisites: Two semesters biology, one semester of chemistry, one semester of ecology, or permission of instructor.

Professor Allison Roy

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

Coastal Processes (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
GEO-SCI 557

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|MBEC

Conservation Biology

Amherst
ECO 697C

A seminar course that reviews several scientific methods discussing the benefits and limitations of each; survey sampling, including random sampling, stratified sampling, and cluster sampling; parameter estimation from band recovery, mark-recapture, and line-transect data; and experimental designs commonly used in environmental research.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM

Conservation Genetics (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 597F

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

Digital Remote Sensing (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 587

This course is an elective.

4 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH

Dynamics and Management of Wildlife Populations (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 565

Basic techniques and concepts of the management and population dynamics of wildlife populations; emphasis on estimating animal population parameters, development of population growth models, and principles of population management. Includes field and laboratory techniques for estimating population parameters for wildlife.

This course is an elective.

4 credits

Ecolg Econ and Sustainability (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
ECO 697Z

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

Ecology of Fish (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst NRC 570

An advanced course that examines the interactions of fish with their environment. Topics include feeding adaptations, community trophics, mating systems, reproductive biology, life history strategies, growth dynamics, predator-prey systems, community diversity, and population dynamics.

This course is an elective.

4 credits

Two semesters biology, one semester of ecology or permission of instructor.

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH

Ecology of Diadromus Fishes (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
ECO 687J-ST

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH

Ecosystem Modeling and Simulation (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 577

This course is an elective. Generally taught in Fall of odd years.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|MOT|MASMA

Environmental and Occupational Toxicology

Amherst
PUBHLTH 666

The toxicological activity of toxic substances found in the general environment and in industrial settings. Topics include biochemical mechanisms for absorption, excretion, tissue distribution, metabolic transformations, and conjugations; comparative metabolism of animal species; special applications to the toxicology of heavy metals, pesticides, and other industrial chemicals.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: OHH

Environmental and Occupational Toxicology II

Amherst
PUBHLTH 667

This course is an elective.

3 credits

PUBHLTH 666.

Option Areas: OHH

Environmental Soil Chemistry

Amherst
ENVIR SCI 575

This course describes fundamental chemical concepts/processes in soils such as precipitation/dissolution, ion exchange, redox reactions, partitioning and adsorption, and ion speciation and nature of soil minerals and organic matter. These concepts and computer models are used to examine some current environmental, agricultural, and engineering problems. The course also addresses how the chemical processes affect fate, transport, and availability, and remediation of heavy metals and organic contaminants in soils and other related terrestrial environments. Reactions and solubility of plant nutrients are also discussed. Problem sets, quizzes, midterm, and final, scholarly review.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Consent of Instructor.

Option Areas: CSS|MBEC

Fish Science and Management

Amherst
NRC 571

This course examines the basic principles of fisheries science from the basic biology of individuals to dynamic processes of populations, whole fisheries, and how mathematical models are derived to predict changes in fisheries for management purposes.

Professor Adrian Jordaan

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: LMRSM

Forest and Wetland Hydrology (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 528

Hydrologic structure and function of forest, wetland, and agricultural ecosystems. Changes in water flow and quality associated with land and resource use. Management approaches to prevent or reverse adverse environmental impacts.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

GIS and Spatial Analysis

Amherst
GEO-SCI 668

The objective of this course is to introduce you the concepts and principles of GIS. Both theoretical and applied realms of GIS are emphasized in this course. Some important spatial analysis topics in GIS are also included in this class. Through the completion of labs and a final project, the students will be able to use ESRI ArcGIS for mapping, basic spatial analysis and other GIS applications.

This course is an elective.

3 credits.

Option Areas: MOT|MASMA

Glacial Geology (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
GEO-SCI 563

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|MBEC|OHH

Global Environmental Conservation (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 597GC

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

Hydrogeology (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
GEO-SCI 587

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|MBEC|MASMA|OHH

Inorganic Contaminants in Soil

Amherst
PLNTSOIL 597X

Physical, chemical, and biological factors affecting the fate and transport of heavy metals and other inorganic contaminants in soils, sediments, and groundwater. . Introduction to heavy metal chemistry: their sources, pedogenic and geochemical behavior, and methods used for their analysis. Remediation technologies, options, and goals also presented.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|MBEC

Introduction to GIS (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 592G

Introduces students to the construction, manipulation, display, and analysis of spatial information using Geographic Information Systems. Hands-on use of ArcGIS on a PC platform.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Permission of Instructor. Must be taken with Lab (NRC 597G).

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH

Readings in GIS (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 597GA

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|MOT|MASMA|OHH

Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
GEO-SCI 626

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: MOT|MASMA

Spatial Data Analysis

Amherst
GEO-SCI 591D

The course covers a broad range of spatial data analysis methods from basic statistics to advanced computational techniques. The topics include point pattern analysis, spatial prediction based on deterministic methods and Geostatistical theory, spatial autocorrelation and regression, and raster analysis. The labs are based on ArcGIS and statistical software. The goal of this course is to introduce students various quantitative methods, particularly multivariate regression and spatial analysis, used in geographical data and applications; to teach students to understand these concepts and to be able to apply them in geographical problems.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: MASMA

Sustainable Aquaculture (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 597SA

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|MBEC|OHH

Toxicology

Amherst
FS 785

Evaluation of methods used to determine the safety of economically important chemicals. Mechanisms of drug disposition and drug metabolism. Effect of toxic agents on bone marrow and blood cell formation. Histopathology of chemically damaged organs, neurotoxicology and genetic toxicology (DNA damage, repair, and tumorigenesis).

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Consent of Instructor.

Option Areas: OHH

Water Resources Management and Policy (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 597WR

This course is an elective. Generally taught in Fall of even years.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|MBEC|OHH

Watershed Science and Management-Special Topics

Amherst
NRC 597R

The course will cover basic concepts in watershed hydrology, biophysical processes, systems approach, nonpoint source pollution, air-land-water interfaces at watershed scale, water quality modeling, socioeconomic issues, GIS and simulation experiments, and management options and policies.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM

Wetlands Assessment

Amherst
NRC 597W-ST

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH

Wetlands Ecology and Conservation

Amherst
ECO 768

Ecosystem approach to the ecology and conservation of wetlands. Emphasis on ecological processes of hydrology, soils, vegetation, and wildlife ecology. Other topics include classification, status, regulatory protection, and current issues in wetlands conservation.

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM

Wetlands Wildlife Ecology and Management (UMA Graduate Course)

Amherst
NRC 563

This course is an elective.

3 credits

Option Areas: CSS|ICM|LMRSM|OHH