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Course Proposal For BISC 499 Title: The Science of Sustainable Business Instructor: Dr. Anthony F. Michaels

This course proposes "The Science of Sustainable Business" to be taught by Dr. Anthony Michaels on Thursdays from 3-6 pm. The course will examine both the science behind sustainability and emerging technologies that could revolutionize business, with a focus on genomic and biological innovations. Grading will include exams, essays, presentations and participation. Guest speakers will provide practical experience in areas like alternative energy, biofuels, clean water and investing. Required reading includes books on sustainability strategies and articles on topics like algae biofuels and life cycle assessments.

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407 views

Course Proposal For BISC 499 Title: The Science of Sustainable Business Instructor: Dr. Anthony F. Michaels

This course proposes "The Science of Sustainable Business" to be taught by Dr. Anthony Michaels on Thursdays from 3-6 pm. The course will examine both the science behind sustainability and emerging technologies that could revolutionize business, with a focus on genomic and biological innovations. Grading will include exams, essays, presentations and participation. Guest speakers will provide practical experience in areas like alternative energy, biofuels, clean water and investing. Required reading includes books on sustainability strategies and articles on topics like algae biofuels and life cycle assessments.

Uploaded by

USCBISC
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Course Proposal for BISC 499

Title: The Science of Sustainable Business

Instructor: Dr. Anthony F. Michaels


230 Allan Hancock Foundation
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089 - 0371
Phone: (213) 740-3689
Office Hours: Fall Semester, 2010, Thursday 2-3 and by appointment

Course Schedule and Location: Thursday 3-6 pm, Room TBD

Brief Course Description:


Sustainability has moved from a buzz-word to a set of practical principles for the long-term
operations of our society, our businesses and our lives. A key part of this conversion is the
creation of new products that promote sustainable practices and the evolution of existing
companies to adopt these practices. Behind all of these sustainability options lies a wide range
of scientific tools, principles and discoveries. In this course, we will examine both the science
behind sustainability and the scientific discoveries that will become the next generation of
exciting new products. This course will be designed for both science majors and non-science
majors with an interest in this area. It will take a particular focus on the emerging technologies
that will create a revolution in business and that are emerging to be the basis of entrepreneurial
new companies. Many of the most promising technologies have as their base the tools of the
genomic revolution with the same scale of opportunities for sustainability as they have begun to
deliver in medicine. These biological innovations represent one of the most scalable, promising
sets of discoveries and areas of sustainability research and will be a key focus of the course. If
you are excited about this future, want to start your own company around the next great
sustainable technology or want to focus your own research to produce the discovery that will
create new markets and a new set of environmental solutions, this course will provide the
intellectual basis and practical lessons that will guide you in that direction. In addition to more
traditiona materials, the course will include guest lectures by leaders in science and business with
practical experience in every facet of this value chain.

Grading:
Mid-term #1: 20%
Mid-term #2: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Sustainability Essay: 15%
Oral Presentation: 15%
Participation: 10%

Attendance Bonus: Given the key importance of the lectures, guest lectures and discussion, there
is a special incentive for attending every class from beginning to end: Students with perfect
attendance can choose to drop one test grade (including the final). Students who have only
missed one class can choose to drop one of the take-home tests but must take the final.
Weekly Syllabus and Required Reading (speakers not all confirmed)

Course meets one day each week for 3 hours. The course will be broken into 3 blocks, each
about 45-50 minutes long with a short break in between. The typical pattern for each meeting of
the course will be:

Hour 1 – Introductory lecture by Dr. Michaels (50 minutes plus break)


Hour 2 – Guest Lecturer (sometimes two, if none, then second lecture by Michaels)
Hour 3 – Detailed Q&A of Guests, follow-up challenges for students or student led discussion on
previous weeks’ challenges

Weekly Topics:
1. Defining Sustainability
Reading for next week: Clear Advantage: Building Shareholder Value/Environment
(2004) GEMI
Reading for next week: Green to Gold, Chapters 1, 2, 3

2. The science of sustainability – science and biology primer for business


Reading for next week: Green to Gold, Chapters 4, 5

3. Alternative Energy
Guest Lecturer: Mark Bernstein, Managing Director USC Energy Institute
Reading for next week: Green to Gold, Chapters 6, 7

4. Biofuels and Green Transportation


Reading for next week: Cradle to Cradle: Chapters 1, 2, 3
Reading for next week: Collecting the Drops: A Water Sustainability Planner.

5. Clean Water and Waste Treatment


Guest Lecturer: Joe Zuback, former Chief Technology Officer, Siemens Water
Reading for next week: Cradle to Cradle: Chapters 4, 5, 6

6. Waste to energy
Guest Lecturer #1: Ken Nealson, Wrigley Chair in Geobiology at USC
Reading for next week: Green to Gold: Chapters 8, 9
Reading for next week: Life Cycle Assessment Papers
Reading for next week: Forging the Links: Enhancing Supply Chain Value Through
Environmental Excellence

7. Greening the supply chain


Guest Lecturer: Josh Newell (USC Assoc Research Professor)
Guest Lecturer: Jay Golden (Arizona State – co-Director of the Walmart Sustainability
Initiative)

8. Marketing Sustainability
Guest Lecturer #1: Philip Hagenah
Guest Lecturer #2: Jeff Wilson (Chief Sustainability Officer, Quiksilver Inc)

9. Sustainable development, ecotourism, biodiversity and conservation


Guest Lecturer #1: Ann Muscat (CEO, Catalina Island Conservancy)
Guest Lecturer #2: David Butterfield (Green Developer, former CEO Loreto Bay)
Reading for next week: Transparency: A Path to Public Trust (2004) GEMI

10. GreenTech investing


Guest Lecturer: Craig Cogut (Founder, Pegasus Capital Advisors)
Reading for next week: Investor websites from class-created list

11. Accountability and transparency


Reading for next week: Selected business plans
Reading for next week: Selected Algae Articles

12. Hot topic #1: Algae to Biofuels

13. Hot topic #2: Sustainable Seafood (King, Hedgecock)


Guest Lecturer #1: Sam King (CEO Kings Seafood)
Guest Lecturer #2: Dennis Hedgecock (Offield Professor, USC)

14. Hot topic #3: To be selected by the students

15. Student Presentations

Required Reading:

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002), William McDonough and
Michael Braungart. North Point Press. New York

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value,
and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston

Collecting the Drops: A Water Sustainability Planner. (2007) GEMI

Transparency: A Path to Public Trust (2004) GEMI

Clear Advantage: Building Shareholder Value/Environment (2004) GEMI

Forging the Links: Enhancing Supply Chain Value Through Environmental Excellence (2004)
GEMI

Algae Articles to Include:


DOE National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap (2009).
Pienkos, P and Darzins, A. (2009) The Promise and Challenges of Microalgal-Derived
Biofuels. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining (Biofpr) 3:431-440.
Lardon, L, Helia, A, Sialve, B, Steyer, JP, and Bernard, O. (2009) Life-Cycle Assessment of
Biodiesel Production from Microalgae. Environmental Science and Technology, accepted
June 2009.
Life Cycle Assessment Articles to Include:
Newell supplied papers
World Resources Institute Case Studies

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