Environmental Dynamics

Stephen Boss

Program Director

113 OZARK

479-575-6603

E-mail: endy@mail.uark.edu

Web: http://www.endy-ua.org/

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty:
     • Assistant Professor Popp
     • Instructor Hipp
Anthropology Faculty:
     • University Professor Limp 
     • Professors Rose, Sabo 
     • Associate Professors Kay, Kvamme, Mainfort, Ungar
Arkansas Archeological Survey Faculty: 
     • Director Green
Geosciences Faculty: 
     • Professors Brahana, Cleaveland, Dixon, Guccione, Hehr,
          Jansma, Paradise, Stahle, Steele 
     • Associate Professors Boss, Davidson, Davis, Mattioli 
     • Adjunct Professor Hays
Anthropology, Cooperating Faculty: 
     • Professor Schneider
Archeological Survey, Cooperating Faculty: 
     • Professors Rolingson, Schambach 
     • Associate Professors Early, House, Jeter, Mitchem, Stewart-
           Abernathy
     • Assistant Professor Morrow
Biological Engineering Faculty:
     • Assistant Professors Chaubey, Matlock
Biological Sciences, Cooperating Faculty:
      • Professors James, Smith
      • Associate Professors Beaupre, Brown, Evans, Sagers, Spiegel
      • Assistant Professor Ziegler
Chemistry/Biochemistry, Cooperating Faculty:
       • Professors Bobbitt, Durham
Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences Cooperating Faculty:
       • Professor Rutledge
       • Associate Professor Miller
Environmental Sciences Cooperating Faculty:
       • Assistant Professor Savin
Geosciences, Cooperating Faculty: 
       • Professor Zachry
History, Cooperating Faculty:
        • Distinguished Professor West
Landscape Architecture, Cooperating Faculty: 
        • Professor Crone
Psychology, Cooperating Faculty:
        • Professors Knowles, Schroeder
Rural Sociology, Cooperating Faculty: 
        • Professors Farmer, Voth

Degree Conferred:

Ph.D. (ENDY)

Environmental Dynamics is the study of complex interactions between natural systems and human activity. It requires an interdisciplinary research approach and integration with the power, efficiency, and economy of advanced computer-based technologies. Emphasis is placed upon the identification and interpretation of short-term and long-term cycles that underlie Earth-climate-human interactions over time. Primarily, the program is staffed by faculty from the departments of anthropology and geosciences and associated research institutes and laboratories including: the Archeo-Imaging Laboratory, the Arkansas Archeological Survey, the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC), the Bio-archeology Laboratory, the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, the Earth Visualization Laboratory, Research Vessel Ozark Traveler, the Tree-Ring Laboratory, and the Water Quality Laboratory. Faculty from eleven additional departments across three colleges also share an interest in human and natural ecology and participate in the program.

Primary Areas of Faculty Research: Interdisciplinary research activities among faculty participating in the ENDY program are very broad, though particular areas of strength are found in dendrochronology and paleoclimatology; watershed and water resource sciences; geosciences (geomorphology, geodynamics, geodesy, geospatial applications); anthropology; soil sciences; and ecology. In addition, many research activities involve strong components of social sciences and economics. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact the ENDY program or participating faculty to obtain additional information related to specific research projects and possible participation.

Requirements for Admission: Applicants should hold a master’s degree in an environmental field such as anthropology, geography, geology, biological sciences, crop, soil, and environmental sciences, or environmental engineering, or in a social science field with an environmental focus (e.g. environmental economics, environmental policy, environmental sociology). Further, these students will be required to have at least a 3.20 GPA in graduate courses. Applicants without the master’s degree but with exceptionally strong qualifications may be admitted directly into the ENDY program but must complete the master’s requirements. Admission into the program will be by committee evaluation. In addition to fulfilling the requirements for admission to the Graduate School, applicants must also supply the following materials:

1. Three recommendations from individuals familiar with the applicant’s academic or work history who can give candid assessments of the applicant’s ability to perform at the Ph.D. level.

2. A three-page statement outlining the applicant’s plans for an ENDY degree program, relevance of previous academic or work experience, current research interests or employment that bear on degrees, special skills, fieldwork experience, familiarity with interdisciplinary work (if any), and future career goals.

3. An example of the applicant’s writing such as a publication reprint, report, major term paper, undergraduate honors thesis, chapter from M.A./M.S. thesis, or similar document that demonstrates the applicant’s organizational skills, research ability, familiarity with a body of literature, ability to report clearly on an academic topic, and/or general writing skills.

4. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and TSE (Test of Spoken English) scores for international students whose native language is not English.

5. GRE scores and other relevant information that would assist the Admissions Committee in selecting applicants to the program.

Requirements for the Degree: During the first semester of study, all students will be assigned an advisory committee to determine the student’s particular program of study. Students are required to integrate components of a human dimension into their Ph.D. program. The advisory committee will determine the courses required and assist the student in balancing courses among disciplines.

Students become candidates for the doctorate only upon passing written and oral comprehensive exams. The examination must be passed at least nine months before graduation.

Each candidate must complete a doctoral dissertation on a topic determined through collaboration with a major professor and dissertation committee. This dissertation must be a scholarly and significant original contribution to knowledge within the field of Environmental Dynamics.

A final oral examination is required and must be taken at least two weeks before graduation. The examination will be concerned primarily with the candidate’s dissertation but may include other aspects of the graduate work.

Individually tailored programs of study will be designed with the expectation that the student will complete a minimum of 24 hours of course work beyond the master’s level, to include three required courses (ENDY 5113 Global Change, ENDY 6013 Environmental Dynamics, and ENDY/ANTH/GEOL 5053 Quarternary Environments). In addition, 18 hours of dissertation research are required.

ENDY4043 Water Resource Issues (SP)  Human impact on the quantity and quality of water resources including impact of agriculture, industrial, and municipal uses, and a comparitive policies and water resource development, past and present.

ENDY5023 Digital Remote Sensing (SP)  Theoretical and applied aspects of the manipulation and interpretation of environmental phenomena recorded by digital remote sensing instruments. Emphasis is on techniques of digital image enhancement and transformation, image geocoding & supervised & unsupervised classification of multispectral image data from Earth-orbiting platforms. Prerequisite: GEOL 4413 or equivalent.

ENDY5033 Advanced Geographic Information Systems (SP)  Advanced vector operations and analysis. Topics will include topological analysis, network analysis, geocoding, conflation, implications of source and product map scale, map generalization, error mapping, and cartographic production. Prerequisite: (ANTH 4563 or GEOL 4563) or equivalent.

ENDY5043 GIS Analysis and Modeling  (SP, Odd years)  Advanced raster topics are examined with a theoretical and methodoligcal review of Tomlin’s cartograhic modeling principles. Topics vary and include fourier methods, image processing, kriging, spatial statistics, principal components, fuzzy and regression modeling, and multi-criteria decision models. Several raster GIS programs are examined with links to statistical analysis software. Prerequisite: (ANTH 4553 or GEOG 4553) or equivalent.

ENDY5053 Quaternary Environments (FA)  An interdisciplinary study of the Quaternary Period including dating methods, deposits soils, climates, tectonics and human adaptations.

ENDY5063 Paleoclimatology (SP)  The earth’s climate history over the last 2 million years and the influence various factors have had on it; compilation and paleoclimatic histories and methods of dating climatic effects. Prerequisite: GEOG 4363 or equivalent.

ENDY5113 Global Change (FA)  Examines central issues of global change including natural and human induced climate change, air pollution, deforestation, desertification, wetland loss urbanization, and the biodiversity crisis. The U.S. Global Change Research Program is also examined. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

ENDY5153 Environmental Site Assessment (IR)  Principles, problems, and methods related to conducting an environmental site assessment. An applied course covering field site assessment, regulatory documentation, and report preparation. Prerequisite: GEOL 4033.

ENDY5533 Marine Geology (SP)  Geological principles as applied to the study of the world’s ocean basins. Course includes basic theories of ocean basin evolution, continental margin evolution, coastal geologic processes, and methods of study of deep sea records of global change and paleoceanography. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

ENDY6013 Environmental Dynamics (IR)  Required course for ENDY doctoral candidates. Overview of Earth Systems: Lithosphere; Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere, Cryosphere, and human interaction across Earth systems. Emphasis on understanding of processes within Earth systems and interactions across Earth Systems as they pertain to global self-regulation, secular variation, climate stability, development and sustainability of human societies. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

ENDY6023 Seminar in Environmental Dynamics (IR)  Seminar examining specific contemporary topic of topics in Environmental Dynamics. Topics will change with each offering. May be repeated for 6 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing.

ENDY689V Special Problems in Environmental Dynamics (1-6) (FA, SP, SU)  Independent study of a topic related to environmental dynamics under the guidance of tan ENDY faculty member. May be repeated for 6 hours.

ENDY6991 Environmental Dynamics Colloquium (FA, SP)  Weekly meetings for discussion of current research in environmental dynamics. Graduate students must register for colloquium each semester. Colloquium credit does not count towards minimum hours required for the doctorate. Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for 6 hours.

ENDY700V Doctoral Dissertation (1-18) (FA, SP, SU)  May be repeated for 18 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing.