Continuing & Professional Education

Environmental Studies

The course will introduce the practice of hydrogeology as generally applied in Alberta. Three areas of hydrogeology will be explored, with emphasis on conditions in Alberta. These areas include:(1) Hydrogeological Site Assessment, (2) Groundwater Resource Evaluation and Management, and (3) Groundwater Monitoring. Topics will include principles and practices of contaminated site assessment, regulatory considerations, conceptual models, environmental risk management, and groundwater remediation. Methods of characterizing regional baseline hydrogeology, groundwater resource quantity and quality, and groundwater vulnerability will be covered, along with discussion of issues such as groundwater modelling, watershed management, groundwater-surface water interaction, and implications of climate change. Also considered will be the key elements of designing an effective groundwater monitoring program both on a local and a regional scale.

This course is an introduction to common practices within the management of contaminated sites in Alberta. The three part approach for the assessment management of contaminated sites will be covered including: Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment, Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment, and Risk Management Plans. Alberta Site Assessment standards and the Alberta Tier 1 and 2 soil and Groundwater Remediation Guidelines will also be covered. Additional topics will include differences between risk management and site remediation with examination of cost considerations within various site remediation components. Case studies will be used to provide a focus on contamination sources, characterization, transportation, and environmental fate in the environment.

This course will provide the key points associated with remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater utilizing different remediation technologies. The main processes within remediation (engineering, physical, chemical, biological, and thermal) will be covered. Decision-making factors for choosing the appropriate remediation technology for each site is a focal point in this course. Descriptions, applicability, advantages, limitations, time frames, potential health and safety issues, and cost of various technologies will also be studied. Case studies of contaminated sites with special emphasis on remediation technologies currently available for handling such sites in Alberta will be explored.

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of applied soil physics, with an emphasis on the quantitative aspects. Basic physical aspects of both the solid and liquid phases of soils as well as how water is held by soils and how it moves through soils, will be covered. The course will examine the link between the soil water regime and processes within the hydrologic cycle, with emphasis on infiltration and the soil physical properties affecting this key hydrologic process. Soil management challenges that involve soil physics and how to manipulate soils to enhance their physical properties will also be examined.

This course will introduce students to the soil principal reactive chemical constituents and their processes. Topics will include an introduction to the soil solid and liquid components (chemical composition, mineralogy, organic matter and soil solution); and description of important soil chemical processes and their relevance to environmental and agricultural applications (mineral stability and weathering, oxidation-reduction, surface adsorption and exchange, colloidal behaviour and soil acidity and salinity).