Bioenvironmental Sciences - BS
Major breakthroughs are taking place locally, regionally and globally concerning environmental awareness. Environmental hazards take many forms, including microbial threats, toxic wastes and the indirect impact of man’s activities on a fragile ecosystem. As a result, there is a growing recognition that the solutions to environmental problems require innovative multi-disciplinary perspectives and technologically-intensive approaches. The Bioenvironmental Sciences curriculum (BESC) was designed in consultation with numerous industry representatives in order to comply with the most current thinking on the talents needed for tomorrow’s environmental fields. Students will be prepared for a breadth of career choices in the environmental sciences. These choices include such areas as research and development, environmental consulting, remediation of wastes, site assessment and environmental sampling, and environmental law. Graduates from BESC find employment in federal, state and municipal environmental agencies; in industries concerned with the generation and clean-up of hazardous wastes; with environmental advocacy and educational groups. In addition, the strong science base in BESC prepares students for professional and graduate schools in a variety of disciplines.
The curriculum described combines a foundation of required courses of technical and free electives to allow the student the maximum flexibility to design a personalized course of study. Students are advised to focus on an area of emphasis with those electives that come from such categories as conservation/ecology, policy/ethics/regulations, the physical environment, engineering, plant studies, genetics/biotechnology and general environmental. The Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology also supports the extracurricular activities needed to support a successful environmental professional.
First Year | ||
---|---|---|
Fall | Semester Credit Hours | |
BESC 201 | Introduction to Bioenvironmental Sciences | 3 |
BIOL 111 or BIOL 101 | Introductory Biology I or Botany | 4 |
RENR 205 | Fundamentals of Ecology | 3 |
RENR 215 | Fundamentals of Ecology--Laboratory | 1 |
Social and behavioral sciences 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 14 | |
Spring | ||
BIOL 112 or BIOL 107 | Introductory Biology II or Zoology | 4 |
Communication 1 | 3 | |
Government/Political science 1 | 3 | |
Language, philosophy and culture 1 | 3 | |
Bioenvironmental group elective 2 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Second Year | ||
Fall | ||
CHEM 119 | Fundamentals of Chemistry I | 4 |
PLPA 301 | Plant Pathology | 3 |
PLPA 303 | Plant Pathology Laboratory | 1 |
Government/Political science 1 | 3 | |
Bioenvironmental group elective 2 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 14 | |
Spring | ||
CHEM 120 | Fundamentals of Chemistry II | 4 |
American history 1 | 3 | |
Creative arts 1 | 3 | |
Bioenvironmental group elective 2 | 3 | |
Technical elective 3 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Third Year | ||
Fall | ||
Select one of the following: | 4 | |
Elements of Organic and Biological Chemistry and Elementary Organic Chemistry Laboratory | ||
Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory | ||
American history 1 | 3 | |
Mathematics 1 | 3 | |
Technical elective 3 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Spring | ||
GENE 310 or GENE 315 | Principles of Heredity or Genetics of Plants | 3 |
Mathematics 1 | 3 | |
Bioenvironmental group elective 2 | 3 | |
Technical elective 3 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Fourth Year | ||
Fall | ||
SCSC 301 | Soil Science | 4 |
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Introduction to Biometry | ||
Statistical Methods | ||
Statistical Methods | ||
Communication 1 | 3 | |
Bioenvironmental group elective 2 | 3 | |
Technical elective 3 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Spring | ||
BESC 481 | Seminar | 1 |
BESC 484 | Field Experience | 3 |
Bioenvironmental group elective 2 | 3 | |
Technical elective 3 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 13 | |
Total Semester Credit Hours | 120 |