2021 Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate major in Civil Engineering
Aquatic Environmental Science
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Civil Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Chihiro Yoshimura
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Mon / 5-6 Thu
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- CVE.G401
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course provides the fundamental knowledge and techniques to understand, assess, and manage aquatic ecosystems. It covers aquatic chemistry, biogeochemistry, and aquatic ecology while the applied aspects emphasize ecosystem managements taking rivers and lakes as examples.
Aquatic ecosystems have close relation to human activities, including flood control, water use, water environment, fishery, and so forth. Therefore, it is critically important to understand how aquatic ecosystems are complex, dynamic, and vulnerable from the physical, chemical and biological perspectives in order to properly assess and conserve aquatic ecosystems in relation to human activities. This lecture aims to provide such fundamental knowledge as well as techniques for practical applications so that students can obtain the overview of ecosystem management.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Explain basics of biogeochemical process and water quality formation process in water environment.
2. Describe key components of the aquatic ecosystem and major ecological processes.
3. Present the concepts and techniques that are useful for environmental management, based on the hydraulic characteristics of each body of water including rivers , lakes, and coastal areas.
Keywords
Water Chemistry, Microbiology, Trophic Relations, Aquatic Ecosystem, Water Environmental Management
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Basically, one of key components/processes of aquatic environment will be described in each class. About 80 minutes of lectures including exercises will be allocated, and about 20 minutes will be allocated to subsequent quizzes and questions. In addition, report assignments will be given in the middle and end of the term.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Guidance including state of aquatic environments | Understand lecture outline in relation to the state of aquatic environments. |
| Class 2 | Watershed hydrology | Understand watershed hydrology and work on its exercise. |
| Class 3 | Sediment and habitat dynamics | Understand sediment and habitat dynamics and work on its exercise. |
| Class 4 | pH and redox potential | Understand pH and redox potential and work on its exercise. |
| Class 5 | Dissolution and kinetics | Understand dissolution and kinetics and work on its exercise. |
| Class 6 | Particle and adsorption | Understand particle and adsorption and work on its exercise. |
| Class 7 | Mid-term exercise | Summarize the first part and work on its exercise. |
| Class 8 | Primary production | Understand primary production and work on its exercise. |
| Class 9 | Nutrient cycle | Understand nutrient cycle in water environments and work on its exercise. |
| Class 10 | Microbes and carbon dynamics | Understand ｍicrobes and carbon dynamics and work on its exercise. |
| Class 11 | Species and biodiversity | Understand species and biodiversity and work on its exercise. |
| Class 12 | Fate and transport of pollutants | Understand fate and transport of pollutants and work on its exercise. |
| Class 13 | Exercises on aquatic ecosystems | Work on exercises on aquatic ecosystems and deepen understanding through dicussion. |
| Class 14 | Water treatment and water environment management | Understand the basics of water treatment and water environment management, and then work on exercises |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 40 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Not specified
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Aquatic Environmental Chemistry (Oxford, 1998)
Principles and Applications of Aquatic Chemistry (Wiley, 1993)
Stream Ecology: Structure and function of running waters (Springer, 2007)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Exercise/Discussion 50%, Exam 50%
More than 9 times of attendance are required for the credit.
Related courses
- CVE.G402 ： Environmental Statistics
- CVE.G310 ： Water Environmental Engineering
- CVE.G230 ： Environmental Planning Project
Prerequisites
No prerequisites