D-Lab: Water, Climate Change, and Health
Now on MIT OpenCourseWare!
Instructors: Susan Murcott, D-Lab, and Juliet Simpson, MIT Sea Grant Coastal Ecologist
MIT Course Number: EC.719 / EC.789 (as taught in Spring 2019)
THE COURSE
D-Lab: Water, Climate Change, and Health is a project-based, experiential, and transdisciplinary course. Together with peers and experts, we will explore the vitally important interface of water, climate change, and health. This course addresses mitigation and adaptation to climate change as it pertains to water and health. Water-borne illness, malnutrition, and vector-borne diseases represent the top three causes of morbidity and mortality in regions of our focus.
CONTACT US
“Quote from Julie or Susan? Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum”
– Juliet Simpson, Instructor, MIT Sea Grant Coastal Ecologist
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS
- Project-based, experiential learning and close mentoring
- Transdisciplinary approaches
- Human and planetary health foci
- Co-creation principles applied in designing Term Project solutions
- Seminars, discussions and guest lectures
- Selected water/climate/health film series
- Field trips: Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, MWRA storm water management infrastructure, Hull Wind energy system, City Nature Challenge, and a low-carbon home visit
TERM PROJECT
In an Oyster Nutshell
Pim Jular (MCP Urban Studies and Planning ’18) and Carla Li-Carrillo (MS Mechanical Eng; BS Management ’17)
This documentary investigates the challenges to the oyster industry in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Those major challenges include ocean acidification, caused by climate change, and coastal pollution, caused by development stresses.
A shorter version of the documentary is also available, titled Local Water.
TERM PROJECT
1001 Stories
Devi Lockwood (MS Science Writing ’19)
Devi Lockwood, a student in the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing, worked with MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow Jeff DelViscio, digital media designer Anna Chung, and Boston-based multimedia storyteller Samia Bouzid. She spent four years before coming to MIT recording audio stories about water and climate change. Her goal is to collect 1,001 total stories from around the world.
