Schedule: Four Mondays, Oct. 7, 14, 21, and 28; 7-9 p.m.

Tuition: $40 before Sept. 30, $45 after

Enrollment: 10 min./30 max.

Science has shown that Earth is unique among the 4000-plus extra-solar planets discovered so far. Our planet’s biosphere evolved over billions of years, creating the vast web of life we know today. Although humans arrived late on the scene, in the past few hundred years we and our technologies have endangered much of that web, putting future generations and the planet at risk, primarily through climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, all driven by growing economies and population. In religious and cultural traditions we have long celebrated ourselves as stewards of the Earth. Sustainable solutions to our environmental crises are possible, but only by understanding and applying science to planetary stewardship.

This course explores these issues in four classes:

 Earth as Eden examines the origin and evolution of the biosphere.

 Earth Today summarizes the current issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

 Earth Tomorrow employs studies of the current environment to project future consequences and solutions.

 Restoring Earth will address mitigation and remediation of the global environment. Back by popular demand, David Young shares his brilliant—and urgent—insights into this topic.

Early in his career David Young fought forest fires in Oregon to pay for college. This led him to take up mountaineering and marathons and contributed to his abiding interest in nature. A Woodrow Wilson Fellowship gained him entry to Rice University and a Ph.D. in Space Science. His passion for teaching led to tenured professorships at the University of Bern, Switzerland and the University of Michigan. At Los Alamos National Laboratory and Southwest Research Institute he led international teams developing instruments for NASA missions to investigate the space environments of Saturn, comets, and the Earth. Dr. Young is the author or co-author of over 200 scientific publications and holds patents for Earth-based applications of his instruments. He retired as Director of Research and Development in Space Science at Southwest Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and recipient of the $25,000 Greinacher Foundation Prize awarded by the International Space Science Institute.

Register here.