Recommended reference text: Miller, G. Tyler, Jr. Living in the Environment. Current ed. Wadsworth.

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Course Requirements And Grading System:

• Exams: There will be three 100 pt exams and one final 200 pt exam, the latter being comprehensive.
  
• Quizzes: At the discretion of the professor, daily quizzes may be given on the assigned readings and/or research. These will adjust the total points below (but not percentages).
  
• Class Participation: A rubric will be distributed that will quantify this topic (50 pts).
  
• Current Issues: You should immerse yourself in coastal and wetland issues available to you via the various media outlets. If it’s in the news, it may well be discussed in class. Be prepared to discuss current events.
• Field Trips: Three field trips will be scheduled. Attendance is required unless permission is granted to miss (rarely granted), and each student must describe their observations in a journal format. There will be no make-up field trips.
  
  • Jean Lafitte National Park: A half day trip down Coquille Trail will introduce you to a cross-section of coastal Louisiana. This will take place on a weekend morning (8:00 am - 12:00 noon). 25 pts.
    
  • Grand Isle: A full day trip that will introduce many Louisiana coastal habitats, coastal erosion examples, restoration projects, and wildlife observation. This trip will be on a weekend (7:00 am - 6:00 PM). 50 pts.
    
  • New Orleans Pump Station: This trip will give you an overview of how the drainage system works in metro New Orleans. We will meet at a designated pump station at 3:30 PM on a weekday. 25 pts.
    

    If you attend the field trips, involve yourself in discussion during the trip, and write your journal, then the full 100 points will be earned. The journal should describe the trip and chronicle what you have observed and learned. The purpose of the journal is to reinforce what you have learned and to sharpen your observational skills. Journals are due the class after each field trip.

Help Along The Way. If you have special needs (i.e., alternative testing, help with writing, etc.), please speak with me at the start of the term so that proper arrangements can be made. For more information about support services, contact the Office of Academic Enrichment, Monroe 405, 865-2990.

If you would like to speak with a personal counselor, contact Counseling & Career Services, DC 200, 865-3835.

The Academic and Career Excellence (ACE) Center, Room 101 Monroe Library, is an excellent resource. In effect, this is "one stop shopping" and one can work on projects there (using computers and other resources), and get instant advice from the following offices: Academic Enrichment, Counseling and Career Services, Disability Services, English Writing Lab, Mathematics Center, Monroe Library, Ross Foreign Language Center, and Writing Across the Curriculum. The information number is 865-7155.

Final Grade:The final grade will be based on the following point distribution:

A	92-100%	592-650 points
B+	88-91%	572-591 points
B	82-86%	533-571 points
C+	77-81%	501-532 points
C	70-76%	455-500 points
D+	67-69%	436-454 points
D	60-66%	390-435 points
F	Below 60%	Below 390 points

Rules & Regulations: The following will be strictly enforced.

• Attendance: Regular class attendance is expected. If you must miss, you are required to notify the professor before or immediately after your absence. Each class absence over three that are excused will drop your class average by one letter grade (see additional implications in the class attendance/participation rubric). Three unexcused absences will result in an F for the course. Two lates count as one absence. Arriving 15 minutes late to class counts as an absence.

• Exam make-up policy: Arrangements must be made prior to the original exam date. If arrangements are not made before the original exam date, or the make-up is missed, the grade will be zero (0).

• Deadlines: You must meet the deadlines for assignments (the journal), otherwise you will receive a zero (0).

• Proper grammar and spelling are expected: ALL misspelled words are 1/2 point off each (unless the word is misspelled in such a fashion that it changes its meaning or it is a scientific name, in which case the point loss may be most drastic!).

• Plagiarism: You are being educated to be a credible professional. If you plagiarize others, you lose the credibility that is so precious to your field. You are also guaranteed an F in this course, and possible expulsion from the university (see student handbook regarding plagiarism).

Class Schedule:

January 16 - Introduction, Discussion of Wetlands
January 18 - Definition of the MRD, Values of Wetlands
January 23 - Meteorology (especially hurricanes)
January 25 -Meteorology continued
January 30 -Soils; living in the deltaic plain
February 1 -Mississippi River
February 6 -Anatomy of a River
February 8 -Flow and Sediment Rates in the Mississippi River
February 13 -ORCS and Flooding
February 15- Deltas
February 20 -Mississippi River Delta
February 22 -Sediment Deposits
February 27 -Off: Mardi Gras : )
March 1 -Off: Mardi Gras : )
March 6 -EXAM I : )
March 8 -Habitats of the Delta
March 13 -Habitats continued
March 15 -Causes of Wetlands Loss
March 20 -Causes continued
March 22 -Solutions for Wetlands Restoration
March 27 -Solutions continued
March 29 -Laws & Rulings, Action Steps
April 3 -Action Steps continued
April 5 - Dead Zones, Salt Domes, Spoil Bank Succession
April 12 - Spring Break - Studying Cloud Movement in Florida : )
April 17 -Miscellaneous Aspects
April 19 - EXAM II : )
April 24 - Lake Pontchartrain
April 26 -Representative Fauna
May 1 -Representative Fauna
May 3 -Fauna continued; Review, Exam III
May 8 -Off Dead Day
May 14 -FINAL EXAM: 9:00-11:00 am : )

Course Document List