GDEV 6400

Agent-based Modeling of People and the Environment

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Agent-based models are ideal for analyzing systems (cities, economies, roads, forests) in which the outcomes of interest (illness, traffic, land use, violence) are shaped strongly by interactions among individual ‘agents’ (drivers, farmers, spouses) with each other and their environments. This course builds skills in agent-based modeling using the NetLogo platform as a tool for analyzing complex human-environment problems. The course will emphasize the iterative model-building process– forming research questions, building conceptual and then operational models, experimenting, and then refining – to address current research problems. Students should expect to commit time outside of meetings to gain comfort with NetLogo syntax; read current research in the areas of agent-based modeling and human environment and health problems; and a team based approach to building models.

Last 4 Terms Offered (None)

Learning Outcomes

• Critique existing models through the lens of the iterative modeling process.
• Construct and operationalize computational models of human-environment problems.
• Design and conduct computational experiments to inform hypotheses.
• Communicate model assumptions and model findings to non-modelers.

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