Preparing students to address climate change, water scarcity, resource depletion, and other complex socio-environmental challenges requires more than disciplinary content mastery. In response, we have redesigned introductory, general education, and upper-division courses in the School of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University to embed principles of Wicked Science across the undergraduate curriculum. Guided by Paul Hanstedt's framework in Creating Wicked Students, this initiative reframes courses around complex, open-ended problems characterized by uncertainty, no single correct solution, and competing social, economic, and environmental priorities.

We present curricular redesigns in three courses spanning varied academic levels: EARTHSC 1121 (Dynamic Earth; introductory survey), EARTHSC 2204 (Water Issues; general education), and EARTHSC 4502 (Stratigraphy and Sedimentation; upper-level major requirement). Each course incorporates transdisciplinary integration, systems thinking, stakeholder/impact analysis, and attention to geoethics. For example, Dynamic Earth now frames plate tectonics, geohazards, and Earth systems within contemporary socio-environmental problems that require risk assessment and community planning. Water Issues engages students in contested water resource case studies requiring policy and community analysis with the evaluation of sustainability tradeoffs. Stratigraphy and Sedimentation situates facies analysis and basin evolution within basin-scale resource, hazard, and sustainability contexts tied to subsurface fluid injection and groundwater decisions.

Across courses, we scaffold skills central to 'wicked' inquiry: systems mapping, identification of leverage points, collaborative problem framing, and evidence-based argumentation under uncertainty. Assignments shift from isolated problem sets to applied projects with iterative skill-building. Assessment strategies evaluate integrative reasoning, perspective-taking, and the capacity to justify decisions in complex systems.

This poster documents our design principles and implementation strategies, highlighting how a coherent, vertically integrated Wicked Science framework can revitalize geoscience courses and undergraduate thinking from general education through advanced disciplinary training. We invite discussion on adapting Wicked course design across institutional contexts and Earth education settings.