 Global climate change, population growth, land use, changes, degradation and desertification, loss and fragmentation of habitats and biodiversity, surface and groundwater contamination and depletion, energy security, long-term waste and hazardous waste disposal, poverty, lack of food security and health services. The complexity of these problems is only parallel by our overwhelming need to address them. Welcome to Sustainable Systems. As the name of this class indicates, we're going to discuss methods to understand and begin to solve some of these problems and the crisis that may arise from them. Behind me is the FIPS Conservatory. It was built in Victorian times and in some ways it reflect mentality of the time, a time when we are starting to dwell between the idea of preservation and conservation. The conservatory served not only as a heaven of peace amid the chaos of a growing city, but also a model for the goals to be accomplished. It is only fitting that over 100 years later, the conservatory also houses a center of sustainable landscapes. Also, more than 100 years later, we're still contending with the unpredictability of nature. Although we have again a great deal of insights on how natural systems behave, we're still at the mercy of increasingly devastating natural disasters. Some of these disasters, in fact, are the legacy of industrial and post-industrial revolution philosophies and their philosophies of management. My name is Neda Breu. I'm an earth science faculty and my research focuses in geochemistry and neurology. I am also a resident of Central Pennsylvania, a state that has witnessed a wide variety of different extractive processes, such as the extraction of raw material, clear cutting of vast amounts of forest, frantic periods of industrialization, mining, and population growth, with also deindustrialization, urban decay, and extensive environment degradation that has followed after that. In other words, Pennsylvania, with its large cities, rural countryside, and large environmental capital, is a natural laboratory for our class, and we will be taking virtual field trips across the state.