ENVIRONMENTAL BIOPHYSICS

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: ( BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130 , ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY/BOTANY 152 , or BIOCORE 381 ) and ( MATH 211 , 217, or 221 ) and ( PHYSICS 103 , 201 , 207 , or 247 ), or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness Breadth - Physical Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Apply numerical models that describe radiation fluxes in natural environments and account for latitude and longitude, time of day and year, sun angle, direct and diffuse solar radiation, and radiative properties of natural surfaces Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Apply numerical models that describe how soil and air temperatures vary across a continuum of temporal scales (from hourly to annual) and are impacted by varied physical environments Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Calculate growing degree-days using different numerical models and demonstrate knowledge about phenological development of plants and insects Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Apply numerical models that represent wind speed within and above vegetative canopies and account for atmospheric turbulence Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Calculate heat and mass (water, carbon dioxide) transport between organisms, soils, plant canopies, and the atmosphere using numerical models that represent conductance, diffusion, convective transport of heat, infiltration of water and drainage in soil, evaporation, and transpiration Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Apply numerical modeling to calculate transmission and interception of direct, diffuse, and scattered solar radiation in plant canopies Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Demonstrate knowledge about different numerical approaches to calculate evapotranspiration and photosynthesis of plants from the leaf to canopy level Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 8. Demonstrate basic knowledge about environmental biophysics through application of numerical equations and/or a model to a scientific question developed in close collaboration with the course instructor Audience: Undergraduate 9. Demonstrate advanced knowledge about environmental biophysics through the independent development of a research project that produces new information Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Apply numerical models that describe radiation fluxes in natural environments and account for latitude and longitude, time of day and year, sun angle, direct and diffuse solar radiation, and radiative properties of natural surfaces Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Apply numerical models that describe how soil and air temperatures vary across a continuum of temporal scales (from hourly to annual) and are impacted by varied physical environments Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Calculate growing degree-days using different numerical models and demonstrate knowledge about phenological development of plants and insects Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Apply numerical models that represent wind speed within and above vegetative canopies and account for atmospheric turbulence Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Calculate heat and mass (water, carbon dioxide) transport between organisms, soils, plant canopies, and the atmosphere using numerical models that represent conductance, diffusion, convective transport of heat, infiltration of water and drainage in soil, evaporation, and transpiration Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Apply numerical modeling to calculate transmission and interception of direct, diffuse, and scattered solar radiation in plant canopies Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Demonstrate knowledge about different numerical approaches to calculate evapotranspiration and photosynthesis of plants from the leaf to canopy level Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 8. Demonstrate basic knowledge about environmental biophysics through application of numerical equations and/or a model to a scientific question developed in close collaboration with the course instructor Audience: Undergraduate 9. Demonstrate advanced knowledge about environmental biophysics through the independent development of a research project that produces new information Audience: Graduate