Environmental Chemistry

In this course, Environmental Chemistry, you will learn about the Earth systems that collectively make up our environment, including the atmosphere, oceans, weather, and climate. You will investigate human influences on Earth systems and think about past, present, and future changes in the context of sustainability.

Chemistry in the environment, including chemical species and processes, are often key to understanding Earth systems at a range of scales. Environmental chemistry integrate knowledge from many traditional chemistry topics. During this course, you will gain an increased understanding of chemical processes and reactions which take place in and are important for the natural world. The course places particular emphasis on aquatic chemistry, atmospheric chemistry and environmental biochemistry.

The course is aimed at you, if you are interested in how your basic chemistry knowledge applies in the context of the Earth’s environment. In particular, if you want to understand how basic chemistry leads to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the climate(s) we live in. The course also provides a knowledge base for topics related to environmental chemistry in the context of teaching and for further studies in the field.

Teaching

The course contains lectures, a group-work project, and a laboratory component. During the laboratory, you will collect and analyse environmental data from sites around Gothenburg. Throughout these course components, we emphasize using physical intuition to achieve a deeper understanding of observable environmental phenomena.