Aline Frossard: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2023 |
| Name | Dr. Aline Frossard |
| Address | WSL Zürcherstrasse 111 8903 Birmensdorf ZH SWITZERLAND |
| Telephone | 0447392807 |
| frossard@usys.ethz.ch | |
| Department | Environmental Systems Science |
| Relationship | Lecturer |
| Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 061-0101-00L | Climate / Water / Soil   | 2 credits | 3G | H. Joos, R. Kretzschmar, R. Weingartner, A. Carminati, S. Dötterl, M. G. Fellin, A. Frossard, T. Galí-Izard, N. Gruber, V. Picotti, S. Schemm, J. Schwaab, C. Steger, H. Wernli | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Lectures, exercises and excursions serve as an introduction to atmospheric sciences, soil science and hydrology. Students gain a broad vision of the cutting edge topics that are being researched and studied at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH, Eawag, WSL a.o. This will be the base for a future dialog between the field of landscape architecture and the field of sciences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students acquire basic knowledge in atmospheric sciences, hydrology and soil science: - Understanding basic chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere that influence weather and climate - Fundamentals about the classification of soils, soil-forming processes, physical and chemical soil properties, soil biology and ecology, soil degradation and protection - Knowledge of water balance, principles of integral water management and climatic factors in the field of hydrology Students develop an understanding of the relevance of these topics in the field of landscape architecture. Temporal and physical scale, research methods, units of measurement, lexicon, modes of representation and critical literature form the framework for the joint discourse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The course unit consists of the three courses "Climate", "Soil" and "Water", which are organized in modules. Module 1 “Climate”, 25.–28.09.2023 - Atmospheric dynamics: weather conditions, precipitation formation, weather forecast - Carbon Cycle: atmospheric CO2 concentrations and its interaction with the physical climate system - Land-climate dynamics: interaction between the land surface and the climate system - Hydrology and water cycle: extreme precipitation, influence of climate change on the cryosphere - Introduction to geology: formation of rocks, geologic times, structural geology Module 2 “Soil”, 2.10.–5.10.23 - Introduction to soils: definition, function, formation, classification and mapping - Soil physics: soil texture, soil structure, soil water potentials, hydraulic conductivity - Soil chemistry and fertility: clay minerals and oxides, cation exange capacity, soil pH, essential plant nutrients - Soil biology and ecology: soil fauna and microflora, fungi, bacteria, food web, organic matter - Soil degradation and threats to soil resources: erosion, compactation, sealing, contamination, salinization Module 3 “Water”, 09.10.–12.10.2023 Basics: - Water supply: water balance, groundwater, water quality (water protection) - River restoration - Flooding, evapotranspiration/cooling of landscapes - Hydropower (everything is managed - lake levels, water flows, pumping) - hydrology in the anthropocene - Water management and storage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | Course material will be provided. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | The course material includes a reading list. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | The courses "Climate", "Water" and "Soil" are organized with the Fundamental Studio I as joint one-week modules. The weekly schedules will be provided with the course materials. Module 1 "Climate", 25.–28.09.2023 Module 2 "Soil", 2.10.–5.10.23 Module 3 "Water", 09.10.–12.10.2023 - The courses are held in English - The written session examination covers all three courses "Climate", "Soil" and "Water". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Competencies |
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| 701-1411-00L | Environmental DNA - Concepts and Applications for Biodiversity Monitoring at the Landscape Scale | 3 credits | 3G | L. Pellissier, K. Deiner, A. Frossard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Environmental DNA (eDNA) allows the detection of organisms from traces of their DNA sampled from water, air or soil. Sampling eDNA instead of organisms makes monitoring fast, non-invasive, scalable and inexpensive. In this lecture, students will learn about eDNA and how it can be sampled, sequenced and analysed for biodiversity discovery and monitoring. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | At the end of this course, participants should be able to: - describe what eDNA is and how to harness the information in eDNA to turn it into a survey method for biodiversity - describe the eDNA analytical steps, from the sampling, laboratory, data analysis and interpretation. - summarise the common software and analytical tools for analysing eDNA data and be able to interpret the results. - apply eDNA methods to design programs for monitoring in conservation and restoration through case studies. Additionally, participants should be able to: - provide constructive feedback to peers and learn from feedback, - integrate concepts within and among disciplines of science. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The course is consisting of two pillars: Pillar 1: Theoretical background. The first pillar offers generals theoretical knowledge about the nature of eDNA and its use in biodiversity science. It is structured into theoretical blocks with video content about sampling design, laboratory and data processing, which offer fundamental knowledge to solve the practical case studies of pillar 2. Pillar 2: Data application on applied Case Studies. Each theory block will be associated with an exercise in which students are challenged to apply their knowledge from the theory. Students will collaborate on planning eDNA sampling design, visit the laboratory, run eDNA analysis (in R) following the best guidelines and interpret the results of analyses. These exercises will happen in person in the classroom. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | - Basic understanding of genetics and molecular analyses. - Basic knowledge of R and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). - The analytic part of the lecture will rely on skills from “Environmental Systems Data Science” | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||