Time Schedule:
Robert Pavia
HONORS 222
Seattle Campus
Evolution of an idea or concept central to the natural sciences. Intended for non-science majors. Content varies from year to year. For University Honors Program students only. Offered: Sp.
Class description
Title - Disaster Science: Interdisciplinary Exploration of Marine Oil Spills
Can an oil spill fundamentally change U.S. domestic and international policy? Read these five recent headlines from the Seattle Times:
“Obama to confront oil pipeline, climate change”
“Shell ship grounding fuels Arctic drilling debate”
“As ice melts, the race is on for Arctic treasures… With Arctic ice melting at record pace, the world's superpowers are increasingly jockeying for political influence and economic position”
“Oil-tanker traffic is expected to increase in Washington waters under an expansion proposal by a Canadian pipeline company”
“Fears grow that Libya is incubator of turmoil… Islamic militants have taken advantage of the oil-rich country's weakness to grow in strength”
This course explores the scientific underpinnings of marine oil spill science, policies, and practices. Students will gain knowledge of key marine science principles and apply them to contemporary issues such as Arctic oil development, Tar Sands and unconventional oils, and the BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil spills provide a crucible for exploring the theme of knowledge across disciplines applied to real-word problems of managing marine ecosystems. Students will examine major oil spills to understand both the scientific and human dimensions of preserving ocean resources.
Oil spills provide a window on to how society uses science to mitigate the effects of technology. By studying the science of oil spills, students will develop skills for critically evaluating the popular portrayal of scientific concepts and their role in policy debates as a way to gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity of developing sustainable societies.
Over the past decade, there have been between 3,000 and 5,000 marine spill incidents annually. Marine oil spills are among the most visible and potentially damaging threats to fish and wildlife and their habitats, regional economies, and the people of a region in which a spill occurs. They can impact international relations, national energy policy, and even election outcomes, yet few people understand the scientific foundations of spills.
We will begin with an introduction to oil spills that have had a major impact on response science, technology, and policy in the United States. Each spill will illustrate key disciplines that provide the scientific foundation for mitigating spill impacts, such as physical oceanography, chemistry, geomorphology, and ecosystem interactions. Understanding oil spills requires an interdisciplinary approach that considers both natural and social sciences. In exploring spill response science, we will examine:
• Oil spill history – legal, science, and policy frameworks o The social and political role of oil in the United States
o Spills of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s
o Oil spill management.
o Evolution of technology and policy
• Oil spill fate and behavior in the marine environment.
o Oil chemistry and toxicity
o Transport and fate
o Natural resource sensitivity
• Spill response methods for open water and shorelines.
o Mechanical and alternative response methods
o Determining cleanup endpoints
o Computer-based simulation models and tools
• Natural resource and human effects o Principles of ecological risk assessment o Natural resource injury assessment and restoration o Science and politics in disaster response
Student learning goals
At the end of this course, the student will be able to:
Explain how oil spills behave in the marine environment, with an emphasis on fate and effects on humans and ecosystems.
Explain how oil spills behave in the marine environment, with an emphasis on fate and effects on humans and ecosystems.
Recognize the role of old and new media in communicating science and affecting policy.
List, describe, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of the basic spill response strategies and their differing impacts to the environment and humans.
Display a leadership role in the classroom community through discussion, group learning, and class presentations.
Demonstrate how to apply oil spill tools and models to an oil spill scenario in order to critique alternative response strategies.
General method of instruction
We expect students to be new to this topic and many to be non-science majors. Course materials and lectures will consider the backgrounds, experience, and goals of enrolled students. The course will rely on lectures from the instructor and guest lecturers with first-hand spill response experience to conveying general principles and key aspects of oil spill science. Lectures will provide examples of how to apply science to improve spill response actions and reduce impacts to coastal communities.
Students will learn about and apply planning methods such as ecological risk assessment and tools such as computer models to understand and evaluate spill response alternatives. Instruction methods will use a variety of approaches beyond lectures to help promote successful learning by non-science majors.
Some class time will be devoted to discussion of assigned readings drawn from scientific literature, government policy and plans, the popular press, and social media. Throughout the course, students will be expected to engage in critical examination of lectures and readings through peer-to-peer discussions, small group work, and short homework assignments.
There will be one group assignment where students will apply knowledge and skills gained in the class to examine alternative approaches to spill response. The assignment will involve either a critical evaluation of a past spill or inventing a spill scenario. The assignment will require that the group evaluate, synthesize, analyze, and apply course content.
Class will conclude with an oil spill response drill where students assume key decision-making roles in a hypothetical oil spill disaster.
Recommended preparation
Read newspaper and periodical stories on the Arctic oil develop, Keystone Pipeline, oil shipping in Puget Sound.
The course will not have a required text book. We will use chapters from National Academy Press Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects and other readings. These can be read on line or downloaded in whole for free.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10388
Class assignments and grading
Attendance and general in-class participation – 10% Discussion briefs and short writing assignments – 20% Quizzes – 30% Group Project – 20% Final Paper – 20%
Grades will be assigned using the University of Washington Standard Grading System found at: http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html
Students will be expected to adhere to University of Washington Academic Guidelines found at: http://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf
