Biology and Society
This course is an exploration of life on earth with emphasis on the relationship between science and modern society, including applications to medicine, forensics, agriculture, and popular culture. This course will include student discussions of the social, legal and ethical implications of advances in modern biotechnology. Laboratory exercises will reinforce concepts learned in lecture through hands-on experimentation.

Environmental Science: A Global Concern
This course covers a broad range of current environmental problems including population growth, global climate change, famine and food resources, global warning and the loss of bio-diversity. The laboratory portions of the course provides students with hands-on field and lab experiences that introduce a variety of methods and techniques used to examine natural communities and air and water quality.

Introduction to Astronomy
This course will discuss two of the most exciting and rapidly changing areas of astronomy: the study of planets around other stars and the study of the formation and evolution of the universe. How is information about these distant objects obtained? How are models for planetary systems and for the universe constructed from that information? How has new information changed long-accepted models?  In the lab we will study gravity and orbits, the analysis of light, optics, the motion of galaxies, and other topics. There will not be much time working with telescopes, but there will be some mathematics.

Introduction to Chemistry
This is a course for students who have not previously studied chemistry. This course introduces basic concepts in chemistry. We discuss the relationship between chemistry and environmental issues concerning air, energy, water and the global climate change as well as biological issues such as genetic engineering, designer drugs and nutrition. Chemistry is a hands-on science and the learning activities are integral part of the course. Chemical concepts are introduced and applied. The course is centered on real-world societal problems and issues that have significant chemical content. This course emphasizes decision-making activities and responsible citizens stewardship of our natural resources. The course also demonstrates use of library and Internet resources for information gathering and includes experiments during the lab periods and experiments in class. Prerequisites: MT 1010 or MT 1020. Offered every other spring.

Introduction to Planetary Science
Starting with the formation of stars and solar systems, this course investigates the underlying concepts and theories of planetary science. The course’s objectives are to understand the principle forces that drive geological, atmospheric and hydrological processes and their influence on the development of life. A structured approach develops a comparative planetology for examining planets both within and outside our solar system.

Tropical Marine Biology
This course will focus on the tremendous biodiversity of life exhibited by the tropical marine environments near Belize, including coral reefs, sea grass beds, tidal pools, sandy/rocky shores, and coastal mangroves. Additionally, students will explore the tropical terrestrial biodiversity of Belize, as well as the history, culture, environmental issues, and service opportunities. This will be a fall term course with field and lab experience, including a required international field trip to Belize during January of 2011.