CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF A MAJOR’S COURSE IN GEOLOGY AND HUMAN HEALTH

We are in the process of developing a truly inter-disciplinary course as part of the majors program in both the departments of Health and Nutrition Sciences and Geology at Brooklyn College. The goals of “Geology and Human Health” are to have students appreciate the important links between the disciplines, and to internalize reasoning processes inherent to each other’s specialty. Accordingly, content of the course is limited to a set of key examples that demonstrate important concepts. Three elemental toxicants will be studied: Hg and As are metals that are toxic in low doses, but differ greatly in regard to their main sources in the environment, and their mode of transport and accumulation. In contrast iodine is an element that is essential to human health and deficiencies arise where the immediate environment has naturally low concentrations. Investigation of occupational and environmental occurrence of illnesses such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, and silicosis serves to introduce the health effects of various mineral particulate. Scientific studies of asbestos minerals and their toxicity will be contrasted with laws surrounding these materials in order to introduce the concept of risk analysis, and public perception of risk. Discussion of removal/remediation alternatives will serve both to reinforce understanding of geological mechanisms of mobilization and transport, as well as provide concrete examples of interdisciplinary studies leading to environmental improvement. Potential health effects of global warming due to changes in pathogen vectors will be the capstone topic. This topic demonstrates that both disciplines, geology and public health, are needed to evaluate the likelihood of catastrophe, and to formulate decisions aimed at preventing foreseeable health problems. Half of the course contact time will involve problem-solving within mixed groups of health and geology students. Multi-week, open-ended exercises will have students investigate concepts related to exposure, monitoring, toxicant dispersion, risk assessment, and action decisions, and will lead to better understanding of the difference between causation and correlation, the necessity of basing decisions on incomplete data sets, and that all actions (or inactions) have consequences.