BS in Environmental Science (EVS)

The BS in environmental science provides students with a strong foundation in the natural sciences and mathematics, and a broad background in earth sciences. The program also helps students develop strong analytical, quantitative, and communication skills needed to solve problems related to Earth systems and resources.

Students in our program acquire knowledge and skills for graduate research in a variety of fields (e.g., hydrology, geochemistry, oceanography, environmental geophysics, and atmospheric science) and careers in environmental and geological consulting, environmental law, or governmental advising.

Requirements

Prerequisite Courses

Biology:

• BIOL 111: Principles of Biology II

Chemistry:

• CHEM 131: Chemical Concepts, Systems, and Practices I
• CHEM 132: Chemical Concepts, Systems, and Practices II

Mathematics:

• MATH 161: Calculus IA
• MATH 162: Calculus IIA
• MATH 165: Linear Algebra with Differential Equations

Physics:

• PHYS 113 or 121: General Physics I/Mechanics
• PHYS 114 or 122: General Physics II/Electricity and Magnetism

Core Courses

Choose one of the following introductory core courses*:

• EESC 100: Introduction to Oceanography
• EESC 101: Introduction to Earth Sciences
• EESC 103: Introduction to Environmental Science
• EESC 105: Introduction to Climate Change

*Students taking more than one 100-level core course may count the additional courses as technical electives, so long as they have not already taken an upper-level course in the same area of study.

Choose three of the following*:

• EESC 201: Evolution of the Earth
• EESC 212: A Climate Change Perspective to Chemical Oceanography [MATH 161, CHEM 131]
• EESC 213(W): Hydrology and Water Resources
• EESC 216(W): Environmental Geochemistry [MATH 141, CHEM 131, EESC 101]
• EESC 218: Atmospheric Geochemistry [MATH 161, CHEM 131, one 100-level EESC course]
• EESC 223: Earth Surface Processes: The Science of Scenery
• EESC 235: Physical Oceanography [MATH 165, PHYS 121]
• EESC 236: Physics of Climate [MATH 165, PHYS 121]

*If more than three courses are taken, the additional courses will be counted as technical elective(s).

Skills Courses

Choose two of the following*:

• CHEM 203/207: Organic Chemistry plus Lab
• CSC 161: Introduction to Programming
• EESC 214: Earth Science Data Analysis
• EESC 221: Quantitative Environmental Problem Solving
• EESC 251: Introduction to GIS
• STAT 212: Applied Statistics for the Biological and Physical Sciences

*If more than two courses are taken, the additional courses may be counted as technical electives.

Technical Electives

A minimum of 16 credit hours of technical electives are required, chosen from the courses listed below. Only one of the political science courses may be counted as a technical elective for the major. We recommend, but do not require, that the courses come from a single track. Substitutions are permitted with prior approval from the program advisors.

Closure Courses

Four credit hours are required. This requirement can be fulfilled by one of the courses chosen from the following list or by finishing a senior project with environmental content (selected in consultation with the Advising Committee). The senior project can be carried out in any department willing to offer such a project, but must have prior approval from an earth and environmental studies (EESC) faculty member.

EESC 306: Atmospheric Research
EESC 307: Advanced Seminar on Climate and Environmental Change
EESC 312(W): Research in Ocean Biogeochemistry
EESC 313(W): Research in Ocean Biogeochemistry II (2 credits)
EESC 319(W): Energy Decisions
EESC 320(W): Sustainable Systems
EESC 360: Environmental Geology in the Field and Laboratory
EESC 391(W): Independent Research
EESC 393(W): Senior Thesis
EESC 394: Internship in Environmental Sciences

Writing Requirement

Two of the courses for the major must be taken as upper-level writing courses, indicated by a “W” after the course number.

Suggested Course Sequence

Note: This is a suggested sequence only, which can readily be changed in the first two years. An alternative sequence would be, for example, to take biology in the first year and to start with the initial EESC courses in the second year.

First Year

MATH 161 and MATH 162
CHEM 131 and CHEM 132
EESC 100-level course or elective EESC 100-level course or elective
Elective, and a writing course

Second Year

MATH 165 and BIOL 111
EESC core course and PHYS 121 or 113
Skills course EESC core course
Two electives

Third Year

PHYS 122 or 114 and an EESC core course or technical elective
EESC core course or technical elective and a technical elective
Skills course and an elective
Two electives

Fourth Year

Technical elective and closure course or elective
Closure course or elective and a technical elective
Four electives

Acceptable course substitutions:

• MATH 141–142 for MATH 161 or MATH 141–143 for MATH 161–162
• CHEM 171Q and 173Q for CHEM 203 and 207

AP credit for prerequisites and the introductory core course can be found in the College Center for Advising Services Advising Handbook.

Transfer credit for required courses is accepted in accordance with rules of the department offering the course, and for technical electives on a case-by-case basis after consultation with a faculty advisor.