Guidelines for ENVR S-130
Prospectus and Term Paper
Prospectus is Due: Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Term Paper Due: Wednesday, 5 August 2009

     As a major part of completing the course requirements for ENVR S-130, students are expected to submit a Term Research Paper on a particular topic that represents their best research and reflection on a selected problem of climate change. The papers should not be in excess of 10 type-written pages of text (250 w/page or 2,500 word limit), plus a supporting, annotated bibliography. This paper is to be submitted in class on Wednesday, 5 August. Those taking the course through the distance learning option will be informed on how and when to submit their papers separately.

     As part of the preparation of this Term Research Paper, students should submit on Wednesday 8 July 2009, a brief Prospectus. This Prospectus should be not more than five (5) pages, written in paragraph form, and it should contain:

• A clear statement of the selected topic (with a specific title).
• A presentation in the form of an annotated bibliography of the major sources of evidence to be cited in the paper.
• A brief indication of the line of argument to be pursued in the paper.
  and
• A short summary of the main conclusions you expect to reach.

The Prospectus is not a research paper itself, but it should serve as a succinct summary of what you intend to do presented with the sources you feel will enable you to accomplish the task.

One way to judge if you are on the right track is to keep in mind that when you complete the Term Research Paper you should be able to re-write the core of your Prospectus in such a way that it forms a kind of "Executive Summary" of the paper itself.

For complete descriptions of the Prospectus and the expectations for the standards to be used in compiling the Term Research Paper, see: Prospectus Guidelines and Final Paper Check List.

For an example of a good paper completed by a student in the past you may wish to consult and excellent student paper, submitted this past year, entitled: "Effect of Carbon Taxation Programs on Electricity Generation" The author or this paper asked that it be presented anonomously, and it should be understood that presenting the paper here is ONLY to give you an idea of the form in which your paper might be presented. There is no assumption that this should be the subject matter or the manner in which you chose to marshal and present the data. Those choices are entirely up to you and should reflect your respective topic.