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Courses

A summary of each course to help with your selection.

Academic Year

Programs

Course ID

Course ID	Course
GENV 230	GENV 230 Geography of Canada Course Credits: 3 This course describes and explores Canada's physical and human geography focusing on the regional distribution of natural features and resources, population and settlements, economic activities and development, and cultural change. It emphasizes the diversity and interrelationships between the physical and human landscapes which have evolved over time, creating the identifiable regions and subregions within the country. Prerequisite(s): None. (3-0; 3-0)
GENV 231	GENV 231 Environmental Philosophy Course Credits: 3 An overview of the various perspectives put forward in the West on the proper human relationship to the environment. We will investigate the metaphysics behind the fact/value dichotomy, the currently influential views on the human-nature relationship, various environmental ethical frameworks, the distinctive characteristics of moral reasoning and argumentation as they bear on the human-nature relationship, and the religious, economic, socio-cultural, and ideological factors contributory to the rise of the ecological crisis. We conclude by critically interrogating the conceptual substructures of some popular contemporary environmental frameworks.
GENV 262	GENV 262 Marine Biology Course Credits: 3 A study of the life history and distribution of marine organisms in several major habitat types, including soft sediment and rocky substrate communities. Emphasis is on field and laboratory work in a survey of common local marine plants and animals and their relationships. Includes field work in the Lower Mainland, Gulf Islands, and/or Vancouver Island. Cross-listed: BIOL 262 Prerequisite(s): Instructor's consent. NB: Summer sessions only. Not offered every year. See department chair.
GENV 282	GENV 282 Geographic Information Systems Course Credits: 3 Students are invited into understanding and using quantitative and computational inquiry to understand and discern computer-based spatial analysis as a mode of inquiry. Students develop confidence in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and accompanying computer- based, spatial analytical tools to model geographic problems using mathematical and computing notation. Students are provided with the opportunity to investigate the theory and practical utility of GIS through collecting empirical spatial data, analyzing quantitative data, conducting computational spatial analyses to answer meaningful geographic and environmental questions, making judgements based on quantitative information derived from these analyses, and communicating the results with purposeful, multi-audience cartographic products. Prerequisite(s): None. (0-0; 3-2)
GENV 316	GENV 316 Plant Ecology Course Credits: 3 The crucial role of plant ecology in shaping major habitats, including those in British Columbia, will be examined. A trip to Salt Spring Island will highlight the threatened Garry oak ecosystem and other features of interest. Field trips throughout the course will highlight the population dynamics and interrelationships of plant communities in natural habitats, agricultural crops and managed forests. Critical assessment of planetary stewardship will form a common theme across various issues in plant ecology. Cross-listed: BIOL 318 Prerequisite(s): BIOL 103, 104, and 105; or BIOL 113, 114. NB: Summer sessions only. Offered every other year.
GENV 318	GENV 318 Tropical Botany Course Credits: 3 This course explores the botanical riches of the tropics, focusing on the plant life of Hawaii. The course traces fundamentals of plant taxonomy, physiology and ecology in relation to complexities of existence on the most isolated island chain in the world. Issues related to indigenous vegetation including effects of introduced animals and plants, agriculture and ethnobotany will be discussed. The course will involve one week of lectures at Trinity Western University Langley campus and two weeks of lectures and field work in the Hawaiian Islands. Prerequisite(s): BIOL 103, 104, and 105; or BIOL 113, 114 and instructor's consent. BIOL 216 or 312 or 314 or BIOL/GENV 316 strongly recommended. NB: Offered every other year.
GENV 320	GENV 320 Geomorpology Course Credits: 3 A scientific examination of the physical processes which shape landform development, structure, and dynamics. Topics include: weathering, slope systems, fluvial and coastal environments, and glacial and periglacial systems. Special emphasis is placed on deciphering past events from current landscape structures. Field trips and field studies are required. Cross-listed: GEOL 320 Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of geography and environment including one of GENV 121, 131, 220, GEOL 109 or 220; or instructor's consent. (3-2; 0-0) NB: Offered every other year.
GENV 321	GENV 321 Geography of Soils Course Credits: 3 A scientific investigation of the various aspects of soil as a natural resource. Topics include: physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soils applied in the context of soil formation, soil classification and land use, agriculture, and environmental engineering. Soil mapping and spatial distribution of soils is also considered. Field trips and field studies are required. Cross-listed: GEOL 321 Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of geography and environment including one of GENV 121, 131, 220, GEOL 109 or 220; or instructor's consent. (3-2; 0-0 NB: Offered every other year.
GENV 322	GENV 322 Global Climate Change Course Credits: 3 Students will investigate what are the scientific principles and processes which govern natural and human-induced climate change. Students will gather evidence drawing on the latest research and evolving pattern of scientific data that has emerged on climate in recent years. Employing scientific data, students will then be invited to analyze the severity of climate change impacts on a myriad of living and nonliving systems such as arctic sea-ice, freshwater, terrestrial and marine ecosystems; as well as analyzing the socio- economic changes and adaptations that human communities are making in response to Earth's changing climate. Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of geography and environment including one of GENV 121, 131, 220, GEOL 109 or 220; or instructor's consent. (3-2; 0-0) NB: Offered every other year.

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