This is a undergraduate-level course designed by Prof.Brendan Meade. I worked as a teaching fellow for this course in the fall of year 2021. I was responsible for laboratory sessions, grading homeworks and exams, and holding office hours. The course covers a wide range of topics in natural hazards, including earthquakes, hurricanes, and pandemics. The course is designed to be accessible to students with no prior knowledge of earth science. The course is also designed to be hands-on, with a focus on the use of GIS technology to measure, map, and anticipate the impacts of natural disasters.

Course Description

Natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, and pandemics, claim thousands of lives and cause tens of billions of dollars in damage each year. Moreover, changes in Earth’s climate are modulating sea level, changing precipitation patterns, putting more of our global population at risk. In this course, we develop an understanding of these natural hazards from an earth science perspective and examine several case studies to assess their catastrophic impacts. Given our scientific understanding of these phenomena, we examine ways to assess and forecast future natural disasters and to mitigate the adverse impacts on our societies. Laboratories are focused on the hands-on use of GIS technology to measure, map, and anticipate the impacts of natural disasters.

Course textbook

Nature Natural Disasters by Patrick Abbott