Teaching
Dr. Weber offers the following courses at the University of Rochester.
EES 105: Introduction to Climate Change
This course explores the Earth’s dynamic climate system through lectures, computer based activities and problem-solving. The course is designed to be accessible to all majors. The main focus of the course is the science of the global climate, and factors that drive climate change. We will use examples from Earth’s history to understand climate sensitivity and apply those lessons to explore recent and future warming related to fossil fuel combustion. We will also touch on issues related to policy and economics, e.g. energy efficiency and alternative fuels. The class applies some basic mathematics (e.g. algebra), but calculus is not required.
EES 232/432: Seminar in Ocean Biogeochemistry
The “biological pump” is the suite of biogeochemical processes that lead to carbon sequestration in the deep ocean, out of contact with the atmosphere, and is an important regulator of global climate. This seminar explores the primary literature in a topic of active research related to the biological pump. Students are responsible for presenting research articles and leading discussions and debates about their findings. Previous focus topics have included quantification of organic carbon fluxes, and the marine iron cycle.
EES 233/433: Ocean Carbon Cycle and Ecosystem Modeling
Numerical biogeochemical models provide new insights into the marine carbon cycle, its contribution to past climate change, and its responses to current climate warming. In this practical class, students build biogeochemical models – ranging from box models of marine microbial ecosystems to three-dimensional nutrient cycling models – and design experiments to address climate change hypotheses. They are also taught to analyze output from state-of-the-art climate models. No prior computing experience is required: an extensive grounding will be provided in the MATLAB programming language that will be used throughout the course. By participating, students not only gain a deep intuition of the ocean carbon cycle, but also learn invaluable programming skills.
EES 235/435: Physical Oceanography
The physical circulation of the ocean controls the uptake and redistribution of heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so is a critical regulator of global climate. This course provides a comprehensive and quantitative treatment of the physics that underlie ocean circulation. The dynamical equations that govern fluid flow are derived and applied to understand the force balances that explain the major circulation regimes of the ocean: surface wind-driven circulation, gyres and western boundary currents, and the deep thermohaline circulation. The course explores how these circulation regimes shape the biology of the ocean, and interact with atmospheric circulation and the global climate system. The course requires previous experience with differential equations, but no previous oceanography knowledge is assumed.