Environmental Systems Science - BS
This program embraces the disciplines of environmental systems science to give students a rigorous interdisciplinary education including issues associated with environmental policy.
The increasing demands that population growth and affluence put on the natural resources and the Earth’s environment require greater numbers of trained professionals and informed citizens. The degree trains students for employment by industry, environmental and engineering consulting firms, non-governmental organizations, and governmental regulatory agencies, among other entities. Students focus on coursework in a particular environmental theme: coastal and marine environments, water, human impact on the environment, climate change, or biosphere.
First Year | ||
---|---|---|
Fall | Semester Credit Hours | |
CHEM 119 | Fundamentals of Chemistry I | 4 |
ENSS 105 | Introduction to Environmental Systems Science | 3 |
MATH 151 or MATH 147 | Engineering Mathematics I or Calculus I for Biological Sciences | 4 |
Select one of the following: 1,2,3 | 4 | |
Weather and Climate and Weather and Climate Laboratory | ||
Planet Earth and Planet Earth Lab | ||
Principles of Geology or Introduction to the Solid Earth | ||
The Blue Planet - Our Oceans and The Blue Planet - Our Oceans Laboratory | ||
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Spring | ||
CHEM 120 | Fundamentals of Chemistry II | 4 |
ENSS 205 | Environmental Programs Cornerstone | 1 |
MATH 152 or MATH 148 | Engineering Mathematics II or Calculus II for Biological Sciences | 4 |
Select one of the following: 1,2,3 | 4 | |
Weather and Climate and Weather and Climate Laboratory | ||
Planet Earth and Planet Earth Lab | ||
Principles of Geology or Introduction to the Solid Earth | ||
The Blue Planet - Our Oceans and The Blue Planet - Our Oceans Laboratory | ||
Social and behavioral sciences 4 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Second Year | ||
Fall | ||
ATMO 210 | Climate Change | 3 |
ECCB 205 & ECCB 215 | Fundamentals of Ecology and Fundamentals of Ecology--Laboratory | 4 |
ENGL 104 | Composition and Rhetoric | 3 |
GEOL 208 | Life on a Dynamic Planet | 3 |
American history | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Spring | ||
GEOG 335 | Pattern and Process in Biogeography | 3 |
GEOG 390 | Principles of Geographic Information Systems | 4 |
Select one of the following: | 4 | |
College Physics | ||
Newtonian Mechanics for Engineering and Science and Physics of Motion Laboratory for the Sciences | ||
Language, philosophy and culture | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 14 | |
Third Year | ||
Fall | ||
POLS 206 | American National Government | 3 |
STAT 303 or STAT 211 | Statistical Methods 5 or Principles of Statistics I | 3 |
Select one of the following: 6 | 3 | |
Global Science and Policy Making | ||
Environmental Regulatory Compliance in Geoscience | ||
Resources and the Environment | ||
Environmental Ethics | ||
Communication 7 | 3 | |
General elective 8 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Spring | ||
GEOG 410/OCNG 412 | Global Change or Global Biogeochemical Cycles | 3 |
Select one of the following: 6 | 3 | |
Computer Applications in the Atmospheric Sciences | ||
Analyzing Data in Geology | ||
MATLAB Programming for Ocean Sciences | ||
Python for Geosciences | ||
Environmental theme electives 9 | 6 | |
General elective 8 | 3 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
Fourth Year | ||
Fall | ||
OCNG 470 | Data Analysis Methods in Geosciences | 4 |
American history | 3 | |
Environmental theme electives 9 | 9 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
Spring | ||
ENSS 405 | Environmental Programs Capstone | 3 |
POLS 207 | State and Local Government | 3 |
Creative arts | 3 | |
Environmental theme elective 9 | 4 | |
Semester Credit Hours | 13 | |
Total Semester Credit Hours | 120 |
- 1
Must take ATMO 201 & ATMO 202 if pursuing the Climate Change theme.
- 2
Must take GEOL 101 & GEOL 102 or GEOL 150 and GEOG 203 & GEOG 213 if pursuing the Hazards and Resilience theme and Water Systems Science theme.
- 3
Must take OCNG 251 & OCNG 252 and GEOG 203 & GEOG 213 if pursuing the Biosphere theme.
- 4
ESST 201 is recommended.
- 5
STAT 211 is required for the Environmental Modeling and Data Science theme.
- 6
Select electives in consultation with your academic advisor or faculty mentor.
- 7
ENGL 210 is recommended.
- 8
Select from any 100-499 course not used elsewhere.
- 9
Select 19 hours of theme courses in your junior and senior years in consultation with your academic advisor or faculty mentor from the list below.
Two courses in the degree plan must be writing intensive courses designated by the Environmental Programs in the schedule of classes. The graduation requirements include three hours of international and cultural diversity courses and three hours of cultural discourse courses. A course satisfying a Core category, a college/department requirement, or a free elective can be used to satisfy this requirement. See academic advisor.
Environmental Theme Electives
Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Biosphere | ||
Select from the following: | 6-8 | |
Principles of Plant Geography | ||
Biological Oceanography | ||
The Blue Frontier - Harnessing Ocean Resources for Future Sustainability | ||
Soil Science | ||
Select from the following: | 3-8 | |
Sampling and Environmental Monitoring | ||
Remote Sensing in Geosciences | ||
Interpretation of Aerial Photographs | ||
Field Geography | ||
Digital Image Processing in the Geosciences | ||
Advanced Topics in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) | ||
Ocean Observing Systems | ||
Select from the following: | 3-8 | |
Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law | ||
Conservation Biology | ||
Ecosystem Restoration and Management | ||
Fire Ecology and Natural Resource Management | ||
Prescribed Fire | ||
Ecological Restoration of Wetland and Riparian Systems | ||
Global Climatic Regions | ||
Marine Pollution | ||
Microbial Oceanography | ||
Wildlife and the Changing Environment | ||
Wildlife and Fisheries Population Dynamics | ||
Aquatic Ecosystems | ||
Total Semester Credit Hours | 19 |
Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Climate Change | ||
ATMO 444 | The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change | 3 |
GEOG 467 | Dynamic Modeling of Earth and Environmental Systems | 4 |
GEOG 442/GEOL 442 | Past Climates | 3 |
PHIL 317 | Climate Ethics | 3 |
Select from the following: | 6 | |
Geography of Energy | ||
Global Climatic Regions | ||
Geographies of Decarbonization | ||
Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Pollution | ||
Total Semester Credit Hours | 19 |
Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Environmental Modeling and Data Science | ||
GEOG 467 | Dynamic Modeling of Earth and Environmental Systems | 4 |
STAT 212 | Principles of Statistics II | 3 |
DAEN 210 | Uncertainty Modeling | 3 |
Select from the following | 9 | |
Computer Applications in the Atmospheric Sciences | ||
Quantitative Models for Statistical and Machine Learning | ||
Decision and Risk Analysis | ||
Remote Sensing in Geosciences | ||
Geodatabases | ||
Digital Image Processing in the Geosciences | ||
Ocean Observing Systems | ||
Python for Geosciences | ||
Total Semester Credit Hours | 19 |
Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Hazards and Resilience | ||
GEOG 360 | Natural Hazards | 3 |
GEOG 331 | Geomorphology | 3 |
BESC 403 | Sampling and Environmental Monitoring | 3 |
Select from the following: | 10 | |
Health Geography | ||
Remote Sensing in Geosciences | ||
Environmental Justice | ||
Hydrology and Environment | ||
Mineral Resources | ||
Geochemistry | ||
Hydrogeology | ||
Environmental Geology | ||
Marine Pollution | ||
Total Semester Credit Hours | 19 |
Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
Water Systems Science | ||
BESC 403 | Sampling and Environmental Monitoring | 3 |
GEOG 434 | Hydrology and Environment | 4 |
GEOL 351 | Geochemistry | 3 |
GEOL 410 | Hydrogeology | 3 |
GEOL 412 | Environmental Hydrogeology | 3 |
Select from the following: | 3 | |
Water and Soil Management | ||
Water and the Bioenvironmental Sciences | ||
Ecological Restoration of Wetland and Riparian Systems | ||
Global Climatic Regions | ||
Geomorphology | ||
Watershed Analysis and Planning | ||
Aquatic Ecosystems | ||
Wetland Delineation | ||
Soil and Water Microbiology | ||
Watershed, Water and Soil Quality Management | ||
Total Semester Credit Hours | 19 |