Courses

Sustainable management of water (Studium Generale)

Block course, 2 SWS, winter term

Contents:

  • Discusses fundamentals of water science including hydrological processes, quantitative figures of water use and concepts related to the socio-hydrological cycle
  • Approaches water-related challenges and water-human relations from scientific, technical, historic, socio-economic and political perspectives
  • Explores solution strategies through the lens of water ethics, including principles of water justice, water rights and water-related responsibility ethics

Lecturer: Dr. Jonas Schaper

Modelling in Geo- and Environmental Sciences (B. Sc.)

Lecture + exercise, 4 SWS, summer term

Contents:

  • Model development
  • Growth models
  • Steady state
  • Stability, sensitivity, uncertainty

Lecturer(s): Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl, Dr. Rebecca Peters, Matthias Böckmann

Matlab course (B. Sc.)

Exercise, 1 SWS, summer and winter term

Contents:

  • the basics of matlab
  • editor and plots
  • matrix operations
  • loops
  • functions
  • differential equations

Lecturer(s): Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl, Matthias Böckmann

Ökologie und Kulturgeschichte (Studium Generale)

Block course, 3 SWS, winter and summer term

Contents:

  • Überblick über grundlegende ökologische Konzepte und die Geschichte der Mensch-Natur Beziehungen aus umweltnaturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive.
  • Bedeutung der naturwissenschaftlichen Ökologie innerhalb der Kultur- und Globalgeschichte

Lecturer: Dr. Jonas Schaper

Aquatic and Environmental Chemistry (M. Sc.)

Lecture + exercise, 4 SWS, winter term

Contents:

  • Distribution of pollutants in the environment
  • Sorption behaviour of non-polar and polar compounds
  • Non-linear sorption
  • Diffusion and transport of pollutants in different media
  • Bioaccumulation

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl (together with Prof. Dr. P. GrathwohlProf. Dr. S. Haderlein)

Data Analysis and Modeling Methods (Introduction Scientific Programming, Matlab) (M. Sc.)

Block course, 2 SWS, winter term

Contents:

  • reading, writing, manipulating and plotting data
  • matrix algebra, solving linear equation systems and linear regression
  • programming loops and conditional statements and writing functions
  • solving simple differential equations and parameter inference

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl, Dr. Jonas Schaper

Data Analysis and Modeling Methods (Geographic Information Systems) (M. Sc.)

Block course, 2 SWS, summer term

Contents:

This course provides an introduction into spatial data analysis with GIS, specifically using the software ArcGIS. Contents include:

  • GIS: definitions, vector (vs. raster) data, projections
  • Tools for spatial data analysis for vector data
  • Data compilation, data pre-processing
  • Data representation, map design

The course is a combination of lecture and hands-on exercises from georeferenced data acquisition to poster presentation. The final assignment includes the preparation and presentation of a poster.
Note that the course is intended for GIS beginners.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl & Dr. Rebecca Peters

Modeling for Sustainable River Management (M. Sc.)

Lecture + exercise, 4 SWS, summer term

Contents:

  • Introduction into different mathematical modelling approaches to describe environmental processes with a specific focus on freshwater ecosystems (including differential systems but beyond), parameter estimation techniques and uncertainty analysis
  • Understanding interdependent environmental system dynamics within the (socio-)hydrological cycle across scales and system boundaries
  • Application of models to environmental challenges
  • Models as tools for decision/discussion support/ sustainable water management

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl, Dr. Jonas Schaper