Courses

Courses I regularly teach include the following:

GEOG-411/GEOG-611 (Quaternary and Surficial Geology)

My Quaternary geology course considers major processes that have shaped the landscape of western Canada over the past two million years. In lectures we consider topics including ice dynamics and glacier mass balance, external and internal factors driving climate change during the Quaternary, radiometric dating techniques, and methods of paleo-environmental reconstruction. Laboratory exercises include surficial mapping from air photos, problem sets in glacier flow and glacier mass balance, logging stratigraphic sections, principles of topographic surveys, and exercises in Quaternary dating methods. Students are also expected to prepare a major research paper and oral presentation on a Quaternary topic of their choice.

GEOG-311 (Drainage Basin Geomorphology)

This course focuses on hillslope and fluvial processes in drainage basins. Laboratory exercises integrate concepts introduced during lectures and readings. As Geomorphology is a quantitative science, many of the laboratory exercises are developed to introduce or to re-emphasize analytical and statistical techniques.

GEOG-310 (Hydrology)

The physical properties of water, its variable states, and interaction with the atmosphere, biota, surface and subsurface of the earth make hydrology one of the truly multi-disciplinary fields of study in the earth and environmental sciences. Consequently, hydrologists require a basic understanding of Atmospheric Science, Biology, Chemistry, Forestry, Physics, Physical Geography and Soil Science. This course introduces the fundamentals of hydrology as a process-based science.

GEOG-210 (Introduction to Earth Science)

The study of Earth’s dynamic surface is best appreciated though physics, mathematics, and chemistry. This introductory course blends these required disciplines together and allows students to appreciate how surface processes operate to create the diverse landscape that we see today.