Year 1

Course Descriptions

ESCI 601 Soil, Water and Air Quality
Properties of various classes of pollutants and processes determining the fate of pollutants. Treatment of industrial waste and sewage. Hydrological concepts and their impact on water quality. Soil characteristics and biological activities in soil and chemical degradation in soil, including monitoring and rehabilitation of chemically and physically degraded sites. 

ESCI 602 Environmental Economics
A study of the application of economic theory to the problems of ecology. Topics include the interplay of supply and demand and the notion of the market, cost- benefit analysis and social decision-making, and sustainable development. 

ESCI 603 Human Population And Urbanization 
A study of the structure of human population, population regulation factors and the relationships between human population growth, resource use, technology and the ecosystem. Urbanization with special reference to land-use slum and squatter settlements. 

ESCI 604 Environmental Law
Regulatory mechanisms that address environmental problems related to development including constitutional responsibilities and powers with respect to environmental planning and management. 

ESCI 605 Remote Sensing
The principles and application of remote sensing for use in geographic, geological, hydrological and environmental studies, and in meteorological monitoring. 

ESCI 606 Environmental Impact Assessment
The identification and assessment of environmental impacts of development and their implication in overall decision-making process. The mitigation of the impacts on physical, social and biological systems. Environmental Impact Assessment as a tool for achieving sustainable development. 

ESCI 607 Environmental Chemistry
The course covers the chemical nature of the key pollutants of air, soils and freshwater and marine bodies, the effects of the pollutants in the environment and management of the pollutants. The chemistry of the major industries, and their problems in relation to the environment and the alternatives. 

ESCI 608 Atmospheric and Environmental Physics
The course deals with the important aspects of meteorology and characteristic of the Earth systems - the atmosphere, oceans and solid earth and the effect of land forms on climate and environment. The role of ozone, carbon dioxide, minor constituents and aerosols. 

ESCI 609 Water Resource Management
The course deals with the determination of the biological status and quality of river systems and coastal waters, and studies on the effects of pollutants on aquatic ecosystems. Monitoring strategies and standards of pollution control. Integrated coastal Management. Fisheries exploitation and management. 

ESCI 610 Environmental Geology
The course covers aspects of geochemistry related to the environment, and the supply, conservation and quality of groundwater and surface water and water resource management. Other major areas of the course include the nature and effects of geologic hazards (e.g. minerals, mining and mineral extraction processes and attendant human health and environmental hazards, and technologies for minimizing the hazards. 

ESCI 612 Forest Resources Management
The course covers climate, soil and plant-growth interrelationships on the structure, composition and functioning of plant communities of the different vegetation types in West Africa. Other areas of the course include forest dynamics and the study of both temporal and spatial changes, animal-plant interactions, forest and wildlife management, and agricultural systems and soil conservation.