Elizabeth Johnson

Hot Topics in Global Warming part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Activities
Students locate and write about current climate change research using the 2007 IPCC report. This information literacy project is designed to help students learn how to find, read, and explain peer-reviewed scientific research to a general audience.

A LONG, LONG time ago: geologic timescales part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Activities
Students compare their pre-conceived impressions of events on the geologic time with the actual positions of these events on a 45.5' geologic timescale.

Introduction to Petrology part of Cutting Edge:Course Design:Goals Database
Igneous and metamorphic processes explained using crystallization theory, phase diagrams, thermodynamics and geochemistry; laboratory study of rocks, their chemical and mineralogical signatures, and their geologic origins.

Earth Systems and Climate Change part of Cutting Edge:Introductory Courses:Courses
GGEOL 115 explores cycles, trends, and abrupt events in the Earth system. Analyses of the geologic record and global climate models provide perspective for understanding paleoclimate and future climate changes, including global warming. Current hypotheses for causes of climate change are evaluated including plate tectonics, orbital cyclicity, variations in the Sun's strength, and human activities. The two reoccurring questions of the course are "What are Earth's climate stories? and How do we know?"