Environmental Sciences (BS) CLAS
The major in Environmental Sciences is based in the physical and biological sciences, but also includes course work in selected areas of the social sciences. The major leads to a Bachelor of Science degree, and may be adopted by students in either the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources or the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This curriculum offers a comprehensive approach to the study of environmental problems, including not only a rigorous scientific background, but also detailed analyses of the social and economic implications of environmental issues. The complexity and interdisciplinary nature of environmental science is reflected in the core requirements of the major. These courses, assembled from several different academic departments representing two colleges, provide both breadth and depth, preparing students for careers that deal with environmental issues and for graduate study in environmental sciences and related fields.
Required Courses
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Basic (Natural) Sciences | ||
| BIOL 1107 | Principles of Biology I | 4 |
| BIOL 1108 | Principles of Biology II | 4 |
| or BIOL 1110 | Introduction to Botany | |
| Select one of the following Chemistry sequences | 8-10 | |
| Fundamentals of General Chemistry I and Fundamentals of General Chemistry II and Fundamentals of General Chemistry III | ||
| General Chemistry I and General Chemistry II | ||
| MATH 1131Q & MATH 1132Q | Calculus I and Calculus II | 8 |
| Select one of the following Physics sequences: | 8 | |
| General Physics I and General Physics II | ||
| General Physics with Calculus I and General Physics with Calculus II | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3-4 | |
| Introduction to Statistics I | ||
| Elementary Concepts of Statistics | ||
| Statistical Methods | ||
| NRE 1000E | Environmental Science | 3 |
| Sophomore Seminar Course | ||
| ENVS 2000 | Integrating Humans and the Environment | 3 |
| Capstone Course | ||
| NRE 4000W | Natural Resources Planning and Management 1 | 3 |
| Internship or Research Experience | ||
| Internship and/or research experience (must be approved by the student’s advisor) | 1-6 | |
| Total Credits | 45-53 | |
- 1
Completion of NRE 4000W Natural Resources Planning and Management satisfies the writing in the major and information literacy exit requirements.
Prerequisites
The following courses are prerequisites for several upper division course concentration options. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all prerequisites in the catalog for concentration courses have been satisfied:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ARE 1150 | Principles of Applied and Resource Economics | 3 |
| ECON 1200 | Principles of Economics (Intensive) | 4 |
| or ECON 1201 | Principles of Microeconomics | |
| ERTH 1050 | Earth's Dynamic Environment | 4 |
| GEOG 2300E | Introduction to Physical Geography | 3 |
| MARN 1002E | Introduction to Oceanography | 3 |
Students are required to complete a minimum of 36 credits of approved courses, at the 2000-level or higher. Approved courses include: ENVS 2000 Integrating Humans and the Environment, NRE 4000W Natural Resources Planning and Management, 1-6 credits of internship or research experience, and a minimum of 24-credits within a declared concentration.
Area of Concentration
All students majoring in Environmental Sciences must declare and fulfill the requirements of a concentration in a discipline associated with the program before graduation. Approved concentrations are listed below.
Sustainable Systems Concentration
The same course cannot be used to fulfill more than one knowledge competency.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Resource Management | ||
| Select at least two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Introduction to Conservation Biology | ||
| Environmental Planning and Management | ||
| Coastal Pollution and Bioremediation | ||
| Natural Resources Measurements | ||
| Introduction to Water Resources | ||
| Introduction to Fisheries and Wildlife | ||
| Global Sustainable Natural Resources | ||
| Wetlands Biology and Conservation | ||
| Watershed Hydrology | ||
| African Field Ecology and Renewable Resources Management | ||
| Wildlife Management | ||
| Wildlife Management Techniques | ||
or NRE 3345W | Wildlife Management Techniques | |
| Exurban Silviculture | ||
| Remote Sensing of the Environment | ||
| Water Quality Management | ||
| Fisheries Management | ||
NRE 4575 | ||
| Environmental Sustainability of Food Production in Developed Countries | ||
| Ecological Systems | ||
| Select at least two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Global Change Ecology | ||
| Plants in a Changing World | ||
| General Ecology | ||
or EEB 2244WE | General Ecology | |
EEB 3247 | ||
| Methods of Ecology | ||
| Marine Biology | ||
| Forest Ecology | ||
| Stream Ecology | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Built Systems | ||
| Select at least one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Environmental Health | ||
| Brownfield Redevelopment | ||
| Introduction to Sustainable Cities | ||
| Sustainable Environmental Planning and Landscape Design | ||
| Sustainable Urban Ecosystems | ||
| Urban and Community Forestry | ||
| Urban Plant Systems Construction and Maintenance | ||
| Governance and Policy | ||
| Select at least one course from the following: | 3 | |
AH 3174 | ||
| Environmental and Resource Policy | ||
ARE 2235 | ||
| Marine Fisheries Economics and Policy | ||
| Valuing the Environment | ||
| Environmental and Resource Economics | ||
| Economics of the Oceans | ||
| Climate Resilience and Adaptation: Municipal Policy and Planning | ||
| Environmental Evaluation and Assessment | ||
| Maritime Law | ||
| Human Dimensions of Natural Resources | ||
| Conservation Law Enforcement | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Global Environmental Politics | ||
| Energy, Environment, and Society | ||
or SOCI 2707W | Energy, Environment, and Society | |
| Ethics, Values, and Culture | ||
| Select at least one course from the following: | 3 | |
ANTH 3339 | ||
| Literature and the Environment | ||
| American Nature Writing | ||
| Nature Writing Workshop | ||
| Human Modifications of Natural Environments | ||
| The Environment in German Culture | ||
| History of the Ocean | ||
| Environmental History of the Americas | ||
| New England Environmental History | ||
| Environmental Journalism | ||
| The Common (Shared) Landscape of the USA: Rights, Responsibilities and Values | ||
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| Sustainable Societies | ||
| Sociology of Food | ||
| Energy, Environment, and Society | ||
or SOCI 2707W | Energy, Environment, and Society | |
| Society and Climate Change | ||
or SOCI 2709WE | Society and Climate Change | |
| Economics and Business | ||
| Select at least one course from the following: | 3 | |
ARE 2235 | ||
| Sustainable Economic Development | ||
| Valuing the Environment | ||
| Economics of Energy, Climate, and the Environment | ||
| Environmental and Resource Economics | ||
| Economics of the Oceans | ||
| Environmental Economics | ||
| Economic Development | ||
| Total Credits | 24 | |
Global Change Concentration
The same course cannot be used to fulfill more than one knowledge competency.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change and its Impacts | ||
| Select at least two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Earth History and Global Change | ||
| Paleoclimatology | ||
| Climate and Weather | ||
GEOG 4300 | ||
| The Oceans and Global Climate | ||
| Global Sustainable Natural Resources | ||
| Air Pollution | ||
| Climatology | ||
| Climate-Human-Ecosystem Interactions | ||
| Environmental Sustainability of Food Production in Developed Countries | ||
| Principles and Concepts of Agroecology | ||
| Land and Ocean Use and its Impacts | ||
| Select at least two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Global Change Ecology | ||
| Introduction to Conservation Biology | ||
| Plants in a Changing World | ||
| Earth Surface Processes | ||
| Beaches and Coasts | ||
GEOG 3310 | ||
| Human Modifications of Natural Environments | ||
| Foundations of Marine Sciences | ||
| Coastal Pollution and Bioremediation | ||
| River Influences on the Marine Environment | ||
| Introduction to Water Resources | ||
| Introduction to Fisheries and Wildlife | ||
| Global Sustainable Natural Resources | ||
| Wetlands Biology and Conservation | ||
| Air Pollution | ||
| Water Quality Management | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Introduction to Ground Water Hydrology | ||
| Natural Science | ||
| Select at least two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Environmental Chemistry - Atmosphere | ||
| Environmental Chemistry - Hydrosphere | ||
| General Ecology | ||
or EEB 2244WE | General Ecology | |
| Evolutionary Biology | ||
or EEB 2245W | Evolutionary Biology | |
EEB 3247 | ||
| Marine Biology | ||
| Paleobiology | ||
| Sedimentology and Stratigraphy | ||
| Glacial Processes and Materials | ||
| Environmental Geochemistry | ||
| Introduction to Physical Geography | ||
| Chemical Oceanography | ||
| Physical Oceanography | ||
| Models of the Ocean Carbon Cycle | ||
| Forest Ecology | ||
| Watershed Hydrology | ||
| Meteorology | ||
| Stream Ecology | ||
| Environmental Soil Science | ||
| Soil Chemistry Components | ||
| Methods | ||
| Select at least one course from the following | 3 | |
| Probability and Statistics in Civil and Environmental Engineering | ||
| Engineering and Environmental Geology | ||
| Field Herpetology | ||
| Big Data Science for Biologists | ||
| Methods of Ecology | ||
| Field Methods in Ornithology | ||
| Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry | ||
| Applied and Environmental Geophysics | ||
| Environmental Site Assessment | ||
| Modeling the Changing Atmosphere and Ocean | ||
| Introduction to Ground Water Hydrology | ||
| Geographic Data Analysis | ||
| GIS and Remote Sensing for Geoscience Applications | ||
| Remote Sensing of Marine Geography | ||
| Models of the Ocean Carbon Cycle | ||
| Introduction to Geomatics | ||
| Natural Resources Measurements | ||
| African Field Ecology and Renewable Resources Management | ||
| Wildlife Management Techniques | ||
| Remote Sensing of the Environment | ||
| Fisheries Management | ||
| Forest Management | ||
| Remote Sensing Image Processing | ||
| Land Surveying for Environmental Management and Planning | ||
NRE 4575 | ||
| Natural Resources Modeling | ||
| Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences | ||
| Introduction to Statistics II | ||
| Statistical Methods | ||
| Governance and Policy | ||
| Select at least one course from the following | 3 | |
AH 3174 | ||
ARE 2235 | ||
| Environmental and Resource Policy | ||
| Marine Fisheries Economics and Policy | ||
| Valuing the Environment | ||
| Environmental and Resource Economics | ||
| Economics of the Oceans | ||
| Climate Resilience and Adaptation: Municipal Policy and Planning | ||
| Global Environmental Politics | ||
| Environmental Evaluation and Assessment | ||
| Maritime Law | ||
| Human Dimensions of Natural Resources | ||
| Conservation Law Enforcement | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Energy, Environment, and Society | ||
or SOCI 2707W | Energy, Environment, and Society | |
| Total Credits | 24 | |
Environmental Health Concentration
Students must pass:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AH 3021 | Environment, Genetics and Cancer | 3 |
| AH 3175E | Environmental Health | 3 |
| ANSC 4341 | Food Microbiology and Safety | 3 |
| NRE 4340 | Ecotoxicology | 3 |
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| HAZWOPER | ||
| Brownfield Redevelopment | ||
| Environmental Site Assessment | ||
| Coastal Pollution and Bioremediation | ||
| Human Genetics | ||
| Air Pollution | ||
| Water Quality Management | ||
| Emerging Infectious Diseases and Pandemics | ||
| Principles of Pathobiology | ||
| Environmental Soil Science | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Health and Safety Management in the Workplace | ||
| Health Hazards in the Workplace | ||
| Health and Safety Standards in the Workplace | ||
| Ergonomics | ||
| Health Psychology | ||
| Select at least one of the following: | 3 | |
| Evolutionary Medicine | ||
| Economic Behavior and Health Policy | ||
| Health Geography: Connecting People, Place, and Health | ||
| Total Credits | 24 | |
Note
A B.S. in Environmental Sciences can also be earned through the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. For the complete requirements, refer to the Environmental Sciences description in the “College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources” section of this Catalog.
University General Education Requirements
Every student must meet a set of core requirements to earn a baccalaureate degree, in addition to those required by the student's major course of study and other requirements set by the student's school or college. For more information about these requirements, please see General Education Requirements.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Degree Requirements
Students must meet a set of requirements established by the college in addition to the University's General Education requirements. For more information, see the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section of this catalog.