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Sarah Zhou Rosengard

Assistant Professor

Contact

Bio

Education: PhD (2017), Chemical Oceanography, MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA; BSc (2011), Environmental Science, Brown University, Providence, RI. Publications: Biogeosciences, Limnology and Oceanography Methods, Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin, Group on Earth Observations blog, Oceanus Magazine. Exhibitions: Science World in Vancouver, BC. Awards: The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship; ASLO Global Outreach Initiative Award; UBC Ocean Leaders Postdoctoral Fellowship; MEOPAR Postdoctoral Fellowship; Mitacs Postdoctoral Elevate Award.

Personal Statement

I am an Assistant Professor of environmental chemistry at the SAIC department of Liberal Arts. My coursework explores human impacts on the environment, the powerful tools that chemistry provides in detecting human impact, the inequities of human-driven environmental change, and the complex role of scientists as advocates for sustainability.

Originally from Queens NY, I have a science background in oceanography. I have had the privilege to learn and grow from researchers and community leaders spanning New England to Vancouver, and the Amazon River Basin to the Canadian Arctic. After my PhD in Woods Hole, where I studied organic carbon chemistry in the Southern Ocean and the Amazon River Basin, I accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of British Columbia to pursue my deeper interests in community engagement and research. At UBC, I learned applications of ocean optics and remote sensing to marine resource management issues (e.g., Pacific salmon production), which led to a partnership with the Arctic Eider Society, an Inuit-charity based in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. Since 2018, I continue to work with the Arctic Eider Society and our community partners on SIKU.org, the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network and mapping platform.

Because environmental change is not equally distributed across the planet, we need researchers, educators and decision-makers from all communities to lead sustainability efforts. I am thrilled to join the SAIC community, where I can work with faculty and students to broaden access to marine science and chemistry, and delve into the joint roles of science and art in making research and sustainability both equitable and just.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary field of science that focuses on the existence of life beyond Earth. It leans heavily on understanding the habitability of life on Earth as a basis for understanding the probability and physiology of extraterrestrial life in the universe. Unsurprisingly, astrobiology has inspired generations of scientists, artists, and designers to envision not only alien life, but also the future of human life on Earth in the Anthropocene and on other planets. Set in AT/SP¿s Bio Art facility, this course blends concepts and methods of creative studies such as speculative design, futurism, and semiotics with fundamentals in natural science (biology, geochemistry, and astronomy) to imagine what life will look like beyond our current existence.
The artistic concepts will be explored via written material by Paola Antonelli, Anthony Dunn, Fiona Ray, etc.. We will focus on discussions of speculative design, bioart, and various lenses of futurism while mantinaining a harmony with scientific understanding of key concepts about life, ecology, and environmental chemistry.
At the same time, scientific readings and podcasts in this course will focus on the works of past Chicago scientists Enrico Fermi and Frank Drake who postulated the probability of extraterrestrial life, and several researchers doing active research on life in extreme Earth analog environments and other celestial bodies in our solar system (e.g., scientists at the Biosphere 2 facility and SETI Institute).
Students will consider various media ranging from scientific papers to short films and artistic dialogues to show a firm grasp on astrobiology and its philosophical implications. Hands-on experiments in the Bio Art lab will provide opportunities to practice various astrobiology research techniques. The final project will challenge student teams to imagine a potential future or extraterrestrial ecology and use that to design and create a potential gallery piece.

Class Number

2187

Credits

3

Description

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary field of science that focuses on the existence of life beyond Earth. It leans heavily on understanding the habitability of life on Earth as a basis for understanding the probability and physiology of extraterrestrial life in the universe. Unsurprisingly, astrobiology has inspired generations of scientists, artists, and designers to envision not only alien life, but also the future of human life on Earth in the Anthropocene and on other planets. Set in AT/SP¿s Bio Art facility, this course blends concepts and methods of creative studies such as speculative design, futurism, and semiotics with fundamentals in natural science (biology, geochemistry, and astronomy) to imagine what life will look like beyond our current existence.
The artistic concepts will be explored via written material by Paola Antonelli, Anthony Dunn, Fiona Ray, etc.. We will focus on discussions of speculative design, bioart, and various lenses of futurism while mantinaining a harmony with scientific understanding of key concepts about life, ecology, and environmental chemistry.
At the same time, scientific readings and podcasts in this course will focus on the works of past Chicago scientists Enrico Fermi and Frank Drake who postulated the probability of extraterrestrial life, and several researchers doing active research on life in extreme Earth analog environments and other celestial bodies in our solar system (e.g., scientists at the Biosphere 2 facility and SETI Institute).
Students will consider various media ranging from scientific papers to short films and artistic dialogues to show a firm grasp on astrobiology and its philosophical implications. Hands-on experiments in the Bio Art lab will provide opportunities to practice various astrobiology research techniques. The final project will challenge student teams to imagine a potential future or extraterrestrial ecology and use that to design and create a potential gallery piece.

Class Number

2188

Credits

3

Description

At the turn of the 21st century, scientists proposed that we have entered a new geological epoch, defined entirely by the impacts of human activities on the planet. They titled this epoch `the Anthropocene¿, and a specific working group of scholars has recently elected to mark the beginning of this period with the first detonation of the atomic bomb. How do we reconcile the realities of nuclear contamination with the popularity that nuclear energy has been gaining as a low-carbon, `clean¿ energy technology?

In this class, we study the science of radioactivity and the unstable isotopes behind the intertwined technologies of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. We will draw from current events like the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, recent advances in nuclear fusion, and Chicago¿s rich history in the development of the first atomic bomb. Through class readings, discussions, and homework assignments, we will utilize principles in isotope chemistry and radiation science to evaluate the impacts and risks of nuclear technology since the 1950s, and compare these scientific analyses to a plethora of artworks that have engaged in the same conversations. There will also be an opportunity to collaborate with a Chicago Public School and share our in-class findings and projects with a middle school science class in Chinatown.

Class Number

2177

Credits

3

Description

The Great Lakes watershed is home to ~34 million people across the United States and Canada, holding enough volume to submerge the United States under 10 feet of freshwater (Michigan Sea Grant). This course will explore the historical and contemporary Great Lakes utilizing principles in chemistry, oceanography and limnology (the study of lakes). We will identify the key ecosystem services that the Lakes provide to all communities around it and sustainability challenges that these communities face in stewarding such services. Reading material will span scientific journal publications, scholarly essays, regional news articles, book chapters and movies. Weekly topics will include carbon sequestration, algae blooms, pollutants transport, lake ice, and the spread of non-native species.
With tools in geology and chemistry, we will all become citizen scientists of the vast Great Lakes system. We will probe records of lake floor sediments to consider how these processes have changed through time in parallel with human development around the Lakes, conduct laboratory measurements to evaluate knowledge gained through classroom lectures, and create our own citizen science devices to collect and analyze environmental specimens first-hand. In addition, we will explore the role of women, gender minorities, and Indigenous people in knowledge and stewardship of the North American Great Lakes. Students will be evaluated by weekly lab assignments, a collaborative writing project (turned into a zine), and a final citizen science design project. Note that no prior experience in chemistry and math is required to take this course.

Class Number

1229

Credits

3

Description

The Great Lakes watershed is home to ~34 million people across the United States and Canada, holding enough volume to submerge the United States under 10 feet of freshwater (Michigan Sea Grant). This course will explore the historical and contemporary Great Lakes utilizing principles in chemistry, oceanography and limnology (the study of lakes). We will identify the key ecosystem services that the Lakes provide to all communities around it and sustainability challenges that these communities face in stewarding such services. Reading material will span scientific journal publications, scholarly essays, regional news articles, book chapters and movies. Weekly topics will include carbon sequestration, algae blooms, pollutants transport, lake ice, and the spread of non-native species.
With tools in geology and chemistry, we will all become citizen scientists of the vast Great Lakes system. We will probe records of lake floor sediments to consider how these processes have changed through time in parallel with human development around the Lakes, conduct laboratory measurements to evaluate knowledge gained through classroom lectures, and create our own citizen science devices to collect and analyze environmental specimens first-hand. In addition, we will explore the role of women, gender minorities, and Indigenous people in knowledge and stewardship of the North American Great Lakes. Students will be evaluated by weekly lab assignments, a collaborative writing project (turned into a zine), and a final citizen science design project. Note that no prior experience in chemistry and math is required to take this course.

Class Number

1686

Credits

3

Description

At the turn of the 21st century, scientists proposed that we have entered a new geological epoch, defined entirely by the impacts of human activities on the planet. They titled this epoch `the Anthropocene¿. Chemistry provides a unique, powerful toolbox to measure these human imprints on our soils, air, waters and biological life. But, which human impacts best define the Anthropocene? Did it begin with theIndustrial Revolution, or atomic bomb testing? With widespread conversion of forest to cropland, or dispersion of microplastics into oceans and lakes? In this course, we will learn and use chemistry to consider and debate these questions on our own. We will merge primary scientific observations and written works by Kyle Whyte, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Kathryn Yusoff and Naomi Oreskes to consider case studies on carbon emissions, radioactive debris, marine pollution, and more. We will inspect the evidence for human influence on the planet through time, and evaluate just and sustainable solutions to the racial, gender and socioeconomic inequities tied to these environmental impacts. Assignments for this course will consist of brief, weekly homework problems and readings, one open-book midterm exam, and an end-of-term Anthropocene Expo comprising the final project. Note that no prior experience in chemistry is required for this course.

Class Number

2242

Credits

3