An applied graduate-level course in mathematical modeling. Provides a foundation in the mechanics and application of linear programming, as well as introduction to simulation, dynamic systems, decision analysis, multi-criteria analysis, and dynamic programming. This wide range of decision making tools are developed under situations ranging from linear structure, single criteria, and certainty to complexity, multi-criteria, and uncertainty. Topics are presented in lecture two times per week, and then applied by a weekly computer lab or discussion section. Environmental management and policy applications are emphasized to complement the economics department's degree programs in ecological economics.
Students develop a research project of their own choosing and present the results.
To this end, labs and homework assignments stress the use of various software packages and modeling techniques.