Teaching
Land Use and Environment: Planning and Policy
70 students (undergraduate).
Course catalog description: Environmental factors involved in land use planning and development, including topography, soils, geologic hazards, flooding and stormwater management, ecological features, and visual quality. Techniques used in conducting environmental land inventories and land suitability analyses. Policies and programs to protect environmental quality in land use planning and development.
Topics in Transport Policy: Planning for cyclists and pedestrians
10 students (graduate).
Course catalog description: This course will focus on strategies used to plan for bicycles and pedestrians. The course will include both a classroom (i.e., lecture) component and a project-based component to create a development plan for target study areas in Blacksburg and Roanoke. During the classroom component of the course we will discuss topics such as bicycle and pedestrian master plans, traffic counts, modeling traffic flows, design strategies, and small area plans. For the project component, students will be divided into groups and assigned study areas in Blacksburg and Roanoke (sites will be at the neighborhood scale); students will be tasked with creating a development plan for the area that enhances bicycle and pedestrian features while accounting for current development plans, land use code, and community preferences.
Computer Applications in Urban Planning and Management
15 students (graduate).
Course catalog description: An examination of a wide range of computer-based techniques that are of value in analyzing urban and regional planning and management problems. Techniques include linear programming, goal programming; modeling of complex systems; and decision modeling. May be repeated with different content for a maximum of 12 credits.
Pollution Control Planning and Policy
35 students (undergraduate).
Course catalog description: Planning and policy aspects of managing residuals and environmental contaminants and their effects on human health and environmental quality. Technical and economic factors involved in management of water quality, air quality, solid and hazardous wastes, toxic substances, and noise. Implementation of pollution control legislation, policies, and programs at federal, state, and local levels.
Active Transportation for a Healthy, Sustainable Planet
40 students (undergraduate). Co-taught with Janet Rankin (Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise).
Course catalog description: At least half of the US population is physically inactive, a primary contributor to development of non-communicable diseases with devastating personal and societal costs. Global warming, caused by the accumulation of green house gass emissions, impacts weather, the food supply, and infectious disease. This class will discuss the connection among these major global challenges and develop justification for a common partial solution -- encouraging the use of active transportation to increase physical activity, reduce green house gas emissions, and reduce health care costs. The course will emphasize the importance of collaboration among scientists and experts from fields such as community design and planning, transportation, economics, climate change, behavior change, and health care.