For a growing class of prediction problems, big data and machine learning (ML) analyses can greatly enhance our understanding of the effectiveness of public investments and public policy. However, the outputs of many ML models are often abstract and inaccessible to policy communities or the general public. In this article, we describe a hands-on teaching case that is suitable for use in a graduate or advanced undergraduate public policy, public affairs, or environmental studies classroom. Students will engage on the use of increasingly popular ML classification algorithms and cloud-based data visualization tools to support policy and planning on the theme of electric vehicle mobility and connected infrastructure. By using these tools, students will critically evaluate and convert large and complex data sets into human understandable visualization for communication and decision making. The tools also enable user flexibility to engage with streaming data sources in a new creative design with little technical background.

Ensuring an ongoing supply of power in a low carbon economy is one of the major national and international challenges that almost every country faces. Investments in alternative and renewable energy technologies have risen steadily over the last decade, particularly since the ratification of the 2030 Paris Agreement. Although reasonable progress has been made as a result of this, even the most developed renewable energy technologies, for example, solar, wind and hydro, cannot satisfy the rapidly growing energy demand of the world. Arguably a non-renewable energy source, nuclear energy may be one clean energy answer for the future. More specifically, small-scale nuclear energy holds considerable potential. Such potential exists in the form of light water small modular reactors (LW-SMRs). These SMRs have the capability to meet the energy independence and the energy security needs of many countries while reducing capital and operating expenditure and environmental and physical footprint. The modularity aspect of this technology allows for varied application, from large towns to rural regions that currently rely on individual generators. It also creates the opportunity of cogeneration with already existing conventional power generation technology to diversify power generation and increase grid stability. LW-SMRs are not a new idea; in fact, they have been used to power U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines for almost 60 years. This case study will address the advantages and disadvantages of the LW-SMR, using the market leader NuScale as an example. NuScale in Oregon, United States, is arguably the most experienced and influential LW-SMR nuclear energy company when it comes to the factory fabrication of LW-SMRs.

Mercury pollution has detrimental effects on ecosystems and on human health. This case study describes the efforts of the South River Science Team to characterize industrial mercury pollution in the South River near Waynesboro, VA. The team studied the movement of mercury through the river ecosystem for 6 years and used their findings to help design remedial projects to reduce mercury exposure to humans and wildlife. This case study can be used to introduce concepts of mercury pollution, fate and transport, and the decisions involved in designing environmental remediation projects. Each section of the case study ends with a series of discussion questions meant to lead into the next section.

Surface water and groundwater catchments rarely align with the boundaries of cities, states, or nations. More often, water runs through, over, and under man-made sociopolitical divisions, making the governance of transboundary waters a formidable task. Although much of the public conversation regarding the availability and management of shared waters may appear to be dire (e.g., reports of “water wars”), there are transboundary basin water management strategies across the globe which offer hope. These include the efforts of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Stakeholders (ACFS) in the southeastern United States, which may serve as a useful template for future conversations around the water sharing table. The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin (ACF Basin) is a vital economic engine in the southeastern United States. The waters of the ACF are shared between three states—Alabama, Florida, and Georgia—and harbor some of the richest freshwater biodiversity in North America, including sturgeon, rock bass, madtom, sculpin, bass, darters, and the highest densities of freshwater mussels in the world. Many of these are species of concern or threatened or endangered species; therefore, water management strategies in multiple portions of the ACF must comply with habitat protection plans under the U.S. Environmental Protection Act of 1970 ( https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/en/environmental-protection-act ). The ACFS was organized in 2009 in the hopes of overcoming a decades-long stalemate between Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, regarding the use of shared waters in the ACF Basin. Despite years of litigious relationships among these three states, the ACFS managed to bring a diverse and previously contentious set of water users to the table and build consensus on a shared water management plan for the entire ACF Basin. While the ACFS holds no regulatory power, they made more progress in breaking through existing distrust and deadlock than any previous efforts in this basin to date. In the end, they developed cooperation, respect, and a sustainable and adaptive water management plan which included input and buy-in from all identified water sectors in the ACF Basin. It is, therefore, a valuable exercise to examine the ACFS model and contemplate whether it contains exportable methodologies for other catchments challenged with managing transboundary waters.

The People’s Republic of China’s creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea (SCS) represents a challenge for cartographers and geospatial scientists due to the rapid development of new geographic features in a politically opaque realm. The sudden construction of these islands enhances Chinese political control over the region at great cost to the existing environment, ecology, and natural habitat. When geospatial scientists must assess the impact of such features without direct access, creative solutions combining remote sensing, geographic information system, and environmental and social science can still provide powerful analyses. Indirect techniques are required to overcome such a data-scarce environment, as this study relies solely on the imagery of island feature construction in late 2017. The case study demonstrates a unique pedagogy of shadow analysis applied to structures on the islands, examining potential data gathering techniques for newly created features relevant to environmental impact assessments. This novel methodology is tested on radar arrays on three key islands in the SCS’s Spratly chain, examining political motivation as a driver for human interaction with the environment. While overcoming data sourcing limitations, the study quantifies tower heights and provides a method of measurement for constructed features on the islands. This study outlines the potential for geospatial science to create data where it is otherwise denied, providing narrative solution to the common problem of limited data or data access for the newest man-made geographic features.