GGE announces new course - Surviving on Planet Earth Surviving on Planet Earth (or How to Succeed on a Constantly Changing Earth) will be offered in spring 2007, Geol 105, Call# 18347; three credits; Wednesday, 5 to 7 p.m. (course materials will be downloaded.) Earth's geologic history is all about dynamic global change. There are more than six billion people on Earth, soon to be seven billion. All of us rely on the same Earth's resources to sustain our lives. Increasing demand for ultimately limited resources (on different parts of Earth) has led to major conflicts throughout human history. The future of energy resources, in particular, is still unsolved, but is far from our only concern. Resources used by humans affect Earth's climate, atmosphere, water, and life. What are these consequences? What do we know? How do we make informed decisions? The big question is: what sort of future are we going to have? This is your opportunity to ultimately become part of an effective process. Learn about surviving on Planet Earth. To provide students (of any age) the best opportunity to succeed on planet Earth, the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering is offering a new course that examines both active present geologic processes that affect our daily lives and those geologic events that have shaped our current global resource landscape on a realistic, scientific basis. Students will actively interact with a number of the geology faculty throughout the semester to bring faculty expertise to each of the core topics to the student in a meaningful way. Surviving on Planet Earth covers strategies concerning our Dynamic Earth (Earth’s cycles, hazards), Life on Earth (terra forming, extinction), Water Supply (too much, too little, and what is in it), and Energy and Global Change (resource use to changing needs). Each strategy concerns the events and topics that shape our daily lives by providing modern, historic, and critical geologic examples. Know why things happen or are the way they are and why battles are fought and floods destroy cities, and sea level rises and falls. As an active learning environment, students will come away with a means to interpret the daily news, understand critical resources issues like water and energy, and have input into their future. -- Joseph Hartman, Associate Professor, Geology and Geological Engineering, joseph_hartman@und.edu, 701-777-5055