The Sustainable Energy Systems program has named Heather Bedle, Ph.D., as the inaugural director.
Bedle, an expert in advanced data science and machine learning applications in seismic analysis, will lead the new program that combines fundamental coursework with flexible elective options, allowing students to specialize in areas of interest. The program integrates perspectives from a range of disciplines, including engineering, Earth sciences, social sciences, business, humanities, data science, education, law and journalism.
The SES certificate is a 15 credit-hour multidisciplinary curriculum that draws from a range of perspectives to equip students with vital knowledge and skills needed to address complex and pressing challenges in a dynamic energy landscape. The curriculum is structured to provide a common core of fundamental knowledge, while at the same time provide the flexibility to specialize in topics of interests though elective course options.
Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
Coordinator of the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education
Sarkeys Energy Center, 510C
jgreene@ou.edu
The SES undergraduate certificate is a 15-hour program having two required core courses (6 hours) and three elective courses (9 hours), which are selected from the approved SES elective course list. The SES undergraduate certificate is open to all undergraduate majors at OU.
Core Courses:
- Broad, Leveling, Multidisciplinary
- Framework for the program
| Core Courses | ||
|---|---|---|
| SES 2113 | Fundamentals of Earth Systems, Energy, & Sustainability | 3 |
| SES 2123 | Energy in Society: A Systems Perspective on Energy Transitions | 3 |
Elective Courses:
- Provides depth in selected topics
- Areas of specialization
| Elective Courses | ||
|---|---|---|
| Elective 1 | 3 | |
| Elective 2 | 3 | |
| Elective 3 | 3 |
The required 6-hour core of the SES undergraduate certificate curriculum is designed to provide all students with a systems perspective relative to both technical and societal aspects of energy systems. Core technical areas include energy fundamentals, carbon cycle, climate change, and environmental sustainability (SES 2113). The core societal aspect areas are covered based on the concept that energy production and consumption can be viewed as a complex system, influenced by histories of the environmental, economic, political, and even cultural structures of which we are a part (SES 2123). The course SES 2123 is approved for general education credit Type III-Social Science.
With the strong common core serving as the foundation, students in the SES program select 9 hours of elective courses from various tracks and content areas including subsurface energy and storage, life cycle analysis, carbon management, engineering and technology, strategic communications, historical and social aspects, legal, economic, and policy aspects, and energy markets and business.
The next two sections provide detailed information about the required core courses and elective courses for the SES certificate.
Course Number | Course Title | Core Domains |
|---|---|---|
| SES 2113 | Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, and Environmental Sustainability; Fundamentals of Energy | |
SES 2123 | Energy in Society: A Systems Perspective on Energy Transitions [III-SS] | Historical, Societal, and Economic Impacts of Energy; Systems Modeling, Analysis, and Tradeoffs |
Students must complete three elective courses from the list of courses provided below. Depending on the student’s degree major and interests, one or more of the SES elective courses may also count for credit toward the degree requirements of the student’s major. Also, note that approximately 25% of the SES elective courses also satisfy OU’s General Education requirements. Each elective course is categorized based on its primary content topic, listed in the rightmost column of the interactive course list table, and one or more of the following course areas.
Elective Course Areas:
To sort, click column heading.
| Course Number | Course Title | GenEd Type | Elective Area | Content Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHi 4623/5623 | Contemporary Art and the Environment | None | 4,5,6 | Historical, Ethical, Artistic Perspectives |
| AME 4393/5393 | Renewable Energy Systems and Control | None | 2 | Technology & Engineering |
| AME 4970 | Advanced Energy Systems | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| AME 5410 | Energy efficient and grid-interactive building design | None | 2 | Technology & Engineering |
| AME G4653 | Air Conditioning Systems | None | 2 | Technology & Engineering |
| ARCH 5863 | Methods VIII Building Performance Analytics | None | 2,5 | Technology & Engineering |
| ARCH 5970 | Resilient Futures | None | 1,4,5 | Historical & Ethical |
| CAS 1553 | Gateway to Science | None | 1 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| CEE 1513 | Towards Just and Responsible Energy Engineering | V-FYE | 4,5 | Intro Course At most one intro course allowed for elective credit. |
| CEES 3243 | Water and Wastewater Treatment Design | None | 2,3 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| CEES 4114/5114 | Aquatic Chemistry | None | 1,2,3 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| CEES 4324/5324 | Environmental Biology and Ecology | None | 1 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| CEES 5123 | Climate Change and Impacts on Water-Energy-Food Nexus | |||
| CEES 5153 | Water Innovation: Technology, Policy, and Organizational Issues | None | 1,2,,4 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| CEES 5883 | Environmental Modeling | None | 1,2 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| CEES 5933 | Climate Change and Water Sustainability | None | Sustainability & the Environment | |
| CH E 4323 | Chemical Process Sustainability | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| CH E 5133 | Water Sustainability | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| CH E 5163 | Heterogeneous Catalysis | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| CH E 5223 | Refining Principles | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| CH E 5453 | Polymer Science and Engineering | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| CH E 5533 | Materials Design for Energy Application | None | 1,2 | Technology & Engineering |
| CNS 5970 | Constr. Analytics & Innovation | None | 2 | Technology & Engineering |
| ECE 3113 | Energy Conversion I | None | 2,3 | Technology & Engineering |
| ECE 5973 | Power Systems and Market Operations | None | 2,3 | Technology & Engineering |
| ECE 5973 | Power Systems Protection | None | 2,3 | Technology & Engineering |
| ECE 5973 | Energy Propagation in Electrical Systems | None | 2,3 | Technology & Engineering |
| ECE G4113 | Analysis of Electrical Transmission | None | 2,3 | Technology & Engineering |
| ECON 3213 | Environmental Economics | None | 2,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| EDSC 3233 | Environmental Issues in the Community | None | 4,5 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| EDSC 5970 | Special Topics | |||
| EMGT 3113 | Energy Production and Markets | None | 1,2,4,6 | Energy Business Markets |
| EMGT 3513 | Sustainable Policy and Regulations | None | 1,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| EMGT 3523 | Gas Marketing and Power Trading | None | 2,4,6 | Energy Business Markets |
| EMGT 3533 | Commercial Applications in Power Markets | None | 2,4,6 | Energy Business Markets |
| EMGT 3603 | Energy Law I | None | 2,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| ENGR 4513 | Introduction to Sustainable Engineering | None | 1,4,5 | Life Cycle Analyses |
| ENST 3213 | Law and the Environment | None | 1,2,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| ENST 3303a | Food, Agriculture, and Environment | None | 1,2,3,4 | Climate |
| ENST 3503a | Energy Use, Climate Change, and the Environment | None | 1,2,3,4 | Climate |
| G E 4613 | Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage | None | 2,3 | Carbon Management |
| G E 4623 | Energy Conversion and Storage | None | 3 | Technology & Engineering |
| G E 4633 | Hydrogen Energy Systems | None | 1,2,3 | Technology & Engineering |
| GEOG 3233 | Principles of Sustainability | None | 2,4,5,6 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| GEOG 3443 | Environment and Society | III-SS | 2,4,5,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| GEOG 3523/METR 3523 | Managing for a Changing Climate | II-NL | 1,2,6 | Climate |
| GEOG 4333/5333 | Corporate Environmental Strategy | None | 2,4,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| GEOG 4343/5343 | Climate, History, and Society | II-NL | 1,4,5,6 | Climate |
| GEOG 4493/5493 | Systems Thinking and Knowledge Integration | None | 2,4,6 | Systems Perspectives |
| GEOG 4523/5523 | Life Cycle Analysis | None | 1,2,4,5,6 | Life Cycle Analyses |
| GEOG 4583/5583 | Energy Systems and Sustainability | None | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Systems Perspectives |
| GEOG 4970/5970 | Climate CO2 Removal Strategies | None | 1,2,3,4,6 | Carbon Management |
| GEOG/GEOL 4970/51500 | Monitoring, Measuring, and Modeling Methods for Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon-Cycle Science (PDF) | None | 1,2,3,4,6 | Carbon Management |
| GEOL 1033 | Earth, Energy, Environment | II-NS | 1,3,2,5 | Intro Course At most one intro course allowed for elective credit. |
| GEOL 2014 | The Earth System | II-NSL | 1,3 | Systems Perspectives |
| GEOL 3033 | Earth Resources and the Environment | II-NL | 3,4,5 | Sustainability & the Environment |
| GEOL/METR 4533/5533 | Earth's Past Climate | None | 1,3 | Climate |
| HON 2973 | Energy in U.S. History | IV-WC | 1,2 | Historical, Ethical, Artistic Perspectives |
| HSTM 3343/PE 3343 | Revolution in Power: The Evolution of Energy Systems from Fossil Fuels to Renewables | IV-WC | 1,2,3,4,5 | Historical, Ethical, Artistic Perspectives |
| ID 5970 | Adv. Topic in Net Zero | None | 1,3 | Life Cycle Analyses |
| JMC 3453 | Public Relations & Society | None | 3 | Communications |
| JMC 4213-001 | Innovators in Journalism | |||
| JMC 4970/5970 | Special Topics: Strategic Communication about Sustainable Energy Systems | None | 3 | Communications |
| JMC 4970/5970 | Special Topics: Strategic Communication for STEM majors | |||
| LA 5970 | Sustainable Stormwater Design | None | 1,2,6 | Sustainability & the Environment, Technology & Engineering, Systems Perspective |
| LAW 5232 | Introduction to Real Property Law in Oil, Natural Gas, and Renewable Energies | None | 1,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| LAW 5970 | Energy Law & Electricity Regulation | None | 1,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| LAW 6573 | Energy Development on Public Lands | None | 1,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| METR 4553/5553 | Climate and Renewable Energy | None | 1,2, 5 | Climate |
| NAS 4423/5433 | Issues in Native American Environment & Sustainability | None | 1,4,5 | Historical, Ethical, Artistic Perspectives |
| P SC 3233 | Environmental Policy and Administration | None | 2,4,5,6 | Energy & Environmental Law, Policy & Economics |
| PE 3712 | Petroleum Economics | None | 2,4,6 | Energy Business Markets |
| PE 4711 | Project Evaluation | None | 2,3,4,6 | Subsurface, Energy Storage and Transport |
| PE 4553 / 5553 | Integrated Reservoir Management | None | 2,3,4,6 | Subsurface, Energy Business Markets |
| PE 5723 | Environmental Sustainability | None | ||
| PE 5753 | Low Carbon Energy Markets | |||
| PHIL 3293 | Environmental Ethics | IV-WC | 4,5 | Historical, Ethical, Artistic Perspectives |
| RCPL 5263 | Infrastructure Planning | None | 1,2,6 | Sustainability & the Environment, Technology & Engineering, Systems Perspective |
| RCPL 5753 | Transportation Geography and Planning | None | 2,6 | Sustainability & the Environment, Technology & Engineering, Systems Perspective |
| RCPL 5813 | Environmental Planning Methods | None | 1,2,6 | Sustainability & the Environment, Systems Perspectives |
| SOC 3893 | Environment, Ecology, and Society | None | 1,4,5 | Climate |
| SOC 4373/5373 | Sociology of Climate Change | None | 1,4,5 | Climate |
a Either ENST 3303 or ENST 3503 may be counted as an SES elective, but not both.
