Environmental Studies - BS
The BS degree in Environmental Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences provides students with the opportunity to learn about the major societal forces that influence environmental issues. These include political agreement supporting legal and regulatory requirements, economics and the marketplace, environmental values, and technology. Students gain technical background blended with a solid foundation in economics, political issues, environmental law, ethics, and communications. Technology and the environment are well supported in existing curricula and contribute to the multidisciplinary nature of the Environmental Studies degree. Technical courses focus on biological sciences, natural resources, and assessment of the environment and come from the Agricultural Economics; Bioenvironmental Sciences; Entomology; Forest Science; Rangeland Ecology and Management; Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences; Soil and Crop Sciences; and Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. It is the fusion of these courses with those from the Liberal Arts that make this a truly unique curriculum. This degree is housed within the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.
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 |
Social and behavioral sciences 1 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 1 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 14 | |
Spring | ||
CHEM 119 | Fundamentals of Chemistry I | 4 |
GEOG 201 | Introduction to Human Geography | 3 |
Communication 1 | 3 | |
Government/Political science 1 | 3 | |
Language, philosophy and culture 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Second Year | ||
Fall | ||
BESC 367 | U.S. Environmental Regulations | 3 |
GEOG 203 | Planet Earth | 3 |
GEOG 213 | Planet Earth Lab | 1 |
Government/Political science 1 | 3 | |
Environmental policy elective 2 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Spring | ||
ESSM 309 | Forest Ecology | 3 |
American history 1 | 3 | |
Creative arts 1 | 3 | |
Environmental policy elective 2 | 3 | |
Natural resource elective 3 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Third Year | ||
Fall | ||
GEOG 304 | Economic Geography | 3 |
RENR 375 | Conservation of Natural Resources | 3 |
American history 1 | 3 | |
Mathematics 1 | 3 | |
Natural resource elective 3 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Spring | ||
WFSC 301 | Wildlife and the Changing Environment | 3 |
Mathematics 1 | 3 | |
Environmental policy elective 2 | 3 | |
Natural resource elective 3 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Fourth Year | ||
Fall | ||
SCSC 301 | Soil Science | 4 |
STAT 303 | Statistical Methods | 3 |
RENR 405/ESSM 351 or RENR 470 | Geographic Information Systems for Resource Management or Environmental Impact Assessment | 3 |
Communication 1 | 3 | |
Environmental policy elective 2 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Spring | ||
BESC 481 | Seminar | 1 |
BESC 484 | Field Experience | 3 |
Environmental policy elective 2 | 3 | |
Natural resource elective 3 | 3 | |
General elective 1 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 13 | |
Total Semester Credit Hours | 120 |
A minimum of 120 semester hours will be required for a BS degree.