Atmospheric Aerosols and Health

UC Merced & CSU Fresno Breadth Courses

AAH Breadth Course Requirement

The goal of the Breadth Courses is to give you exposure to the different processes involved in the air quality life-cycle (e.g., emissions of pollutants) as well as the different approaches used to study these processes (e.g., field measurements).

To fulfill this requirement, you need to take at least one course each in two of the three processes and one course each in two of the three approaches that are listed in the table below. Since each individual course counts for one process and one approach, the Breadth Requirement can be fulfilled in as few as two courses. Note that the courses listed under the Approach of Policy, Regulation, and Society are assumed to cut across all three processes; each course here can count for any one of the three processes.

Here are two examples of course combinations that fulfill the Breadth Requirement:

1. ESS 100 (Process: Transport, etc; Approach: Modeling), PUBP 130 (Process: Emissions (or Effects); Approach: Policy).

2. CHE 115 (Process: Emissions; Approach: Measurements); Core 100 (Process: Effects; Approach: Policy)

Note that courses from UC Davis and CSU Fresno are also in the course listings and can be used to fulfill Breadth Requirements. With approval of the AAH Directors, other applicable courses can also be used to fulfill these requirements.

Breadth Courses that are related to your major field of study should be taken for a grade. Courses outside of your area can be taken as pass-fail. Note that, in general, courses that are to be counted towards your degree requirements must be taken for a grade. All graded Breadth Courses need to be passed with a grade of B or better.

Air Quality Breadth Course Requirement Chart: UC Merced & CSU Fresno*
Click here for UC Davis Breadth Requirement Chart

	Approach
Process		Laboratory and Field Measurements	Theory and Mathematical Modeling	Policy, Regulation, and Society
	Emissions Characterization and Control	MERCED: CHE 115, ENGR 270L FRESNO: PH 263	MERCED: ENVE 130, 132, ES 260 FRESNO: ENSC 100B, CE 142, GEOG 128, PH 263	MERCED: PUBP 130, CORE 100, ECON 120 FRESNO: CRP 135
	Pollutant Transport, Transformation, and Deposition	MERCED: ENVE 184, CHE 115	MERCED: ESS 100, 131, ENVE 130, ES 234, 270 FRESNO: PH 263
	Environmental and Health Effects	None	MERCED: ES 218 FRESNO: HS 160, 161

*These tables show some of the possible courses that can be used to fulfill the requirements for courses with different approaches and processes. With approval of the program, other courses can also be used to fulfill these requirements. Students at UC Merced can take classes at UC Merced, UC Davis or CSU Fresno to fulfill their requirements.

Course Details - UC Merced
Click here for current UC Merced schedule of classes & course catalog

Course	Units	Prerequisites	Description
Chemistry (CHEM)
CHEM 115 Instrumental Analysis and Bioanalytical Chemistry	3	CHEM 8, CHEM 10	Spectroscopic, electrochemical and separation methods of chemical analysis including bioanalytical techniques.
Core (CORE)
Core 100 The World at Home – Planning for the Future in a Complex World	4	CORE 1 or junior standing.	This course is the second half of the Core Course sequence, building on the foundation of UC Merced's general education program and has a strong emphasis on writing, quantitative literacy, critical thinking and understanding events in their historical and cultural contexts. The inaugural theme will be a study of how individuals and societies can make the best choices in preparing for an uncertain future. The unifying theme in these modules will be contemporary California which will act as a common reference point highlighting the regional implications of global events or the global consequences of seemingly local choices. A wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives from the arts, humanities, social sciences, life and physical sciences, and engineering will be brought to bear on the course topics. Upper-division-level quantitative literacy skills and writing ability is expected.
Earth Systems Science (ESS)
ESS 100 Environmental Chemistry	4	CHEM 8, ICP 1 or equivalent.	Chemical principles of Earth and environmental systems focusing on environmental processes in water, soil and air. Emphasis on acid-base chemistry, aqueous speciation, mineral and gas solubility, oxidation and reduction, and isotopes.
ESS 131 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics	4	ESS 20 or ENVE 20	Chemistry and physics of the troposphere and stratosphere, including atmospheric aerosols.
Economics (ECON)
ECON 120 Economics of the Environment	4	ECON 100	Analysis of public policy measures that pertain to human environments.
Engineering (ENGR)
ENGR 270 & 270L Intorducation to Electron Microscopy and Lab	3/1	ICP 1A nad 1B or equivalent. or PHYS 9	270: Principles and techniques of electron microscopy used in the study of materials. Emphasis upon practical applications. Graduate requirements include additional assignments, quiz problems and a project. Cross-listed with ENGR 170. 270L: Laboratory for principles and techniques of electron microscopy used in the study of materials. Graduate requirements include additional laboratory reports and a research project. Cross-listed with ENGR 170L.
Environmental Engineering (ENVE)
ENVE 130 Meteorology and Air Pollution	4	ENVE/ESS 20	Basic physics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere; fundamentals of atmospheric sciences important to environmental problems; chemistry and physics of atmospheric pollutants; visibility; air quality modeling; emissions; air pollution control strategies.
ENVE 132 Air Pollution Control	3	ENVE 130	Topics will include government regulations, design and economics of air pollution control for point and spatial sources, strategies for regional air pollution control and engineering solutions. Air pollution control for both point and mobile sources will be addressed in the context of case studies.
ENVE 184 Field Methods in Environmental Chemistry	1-3	ENVE 100	Introduction to the fundamental field instruments used for environmental chemistry field investigations. Air, water and soil sample collection and preservation procedures. Particle separation and analysis, ion selective electrodes, colorimetric assays for nutrients and metallic species, extraction of organic species. Experimental design, measurements and interpretation of data.
Environmental Systems (ES)
ES 218 Global Change	4	Graduate standing.	Detection of, adaptation to and mitigation of global climate change. Climate-change science, sources, sinks and atmospheric cycling of greenhouse gases. Societal context for implementing engineered responses. Assessment of options for responding to the threat of climate change. Graduate requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis.
ES 234 Air Pollution and Resources	3	ESS 100 or permission of the instructor. Cross-listed with ESS 134.	Chemistry and physics of atmospheric pollutants, urban air pollution, visibility, mitigation and resource economics.
ES 260 Sustainable Energy	4	Graduate standing.	Current systems for energy supply and use. Renewable energy resources, transport, storage and transformation technologies. Technological opportunities for improving end-use energy efficiency. Recovery, sequestration and disposal of greenhouse gases from fossil-fuel combustion. Graduate requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis.
ES 270 Contaminant Fate and Transport	3	Graduate standing.	Properties and behavior of organic and metal contaminants, in soils, groundwater, surface waters and air. Emphasis on phase transfer and transport for organic compounds; complexation and surface processes for metals. Topics include modeling of environmentally important compounds, photochemical reactions, natural organic matter, sorption phenomena. Graduate-level requirements include preparation of a detailed case analysis. human beings on earth systems.
Public Policy (PUBP)
PUBP 130 Environmental Policy	4	PUBP 1, PUBP 100, ECON 100 and PSY 105 or ECON130.	Examines current environmental policy as a way of exploring problems in the design and implementation of policy. Provides an overview of basic concepts and methods of environmental policy analysis and implementation, looking at a range of local and global environmental policy issues, such as environmental justice, air quality and urbanization.