Departments & Centers

Environmental Science Program

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science

(Granted by Indiana University)

Degree Requirements

First-Year Experience Course  Beginning freshmen and transfer students with fewer than 18 credit hours are required to take SCI-I120 Windows in Science (1 cr.) or an equivalent first-year experience course.

Area I English Composition and Communication Skills (9 cr.) See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin. The second semester of English composition may be satisfied by ENG-W132 or ENG-W231. GEOL-G205 may partially satisfy the writing requirement in Area I.

Area II Foreign Language  No foreign language proficiency is required for a Bachelor of Science degree.

Area IIIA Humanities, Social Sciences, and Comparative World Cultures (12 cr.)  See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin.

Area IIIB Junior/Senior Integrator (3 cr.) The Junior/Senior Integrator requirement is suspended indefinitely as a School-level requirement. No junior/senior integrator course is required for environmental science majors.

Area IIIC Physical and Biological Sciences (33 cr.)  BIOL-K101 / BIOL-K103, CHEM-C105 / CHEM-C106, GEOL-G107, GEOL-G110 / GEOL-G120, PHYS-P201 / PHYS-P202. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.

Area IIID Mathematical Sciences (12 cr.)  MATH 22100 / MATH 22200; CSCI-N207 or another course approved by the program advisor; and STAT 30100, SPEA-K300, or a course in statistics approved by the program advisor. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.

Note: Computer Science CSCI-N100 level courses and CIT 10600 do not count for credit toward any degree in the School of Science. Also, CSCI-N241 and CSCI-N299 do not count in Area IIID, but may count as an elective.

Area IV Major Core and Concentration Requirements

Core Requirements Twenty-five (25) credit hours of environmental science core courses including:

  • GEOL-G306 Earth Materials
  • SPEA-H316 Environmental Science and Health
  • SPEA-E326 Math in Environmental Sciences
  • PHIL-P237 Environmental Ethics
  • GEOG-G303 Weather and Climate or GEOL-G430 Principles of Hydrology
  • BIOL-K341 Principles of Ecology and Evolution or GEOG-G307 Biogeography: Distribution of Life
  • GEOG-G338 Geographic Information Science or GEOG-G336 Remote Sensing
  • SPEA-H459 Environmental Science and Health Data Analysis or an approved field methods course

No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.

Concentration Requirements  Eighteen to nineteen (18 to 19) credit hours of courses within one of three Environmental Science concentrations. Students select one of the Environmental Science Concentrations – Earth and Water Resources, Environmental Management, or Environmental Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis.

A. Earth and Water Resources  Eighteen (18) credit hours, including:

  • CHEM-C341 Organic Chemistry I
  • GEOL-G431 Wetland Ecosystems
  • GEOL-G486 Soil Biogeochemistry
  • GEOL-G445 Applied Analytical Techniques in Geology (capstone requirement)

Water Resources option, take the following:

  • GEOL-G451 Principles of Hydrogeology
  • SPEA-E455 Limnology or SPEA-E410 Introduction to Environmental Toxicology
Earth Resources option, take the following:
  • GEOL-G406 Introduction to Geochemistry
  • BIOL-K356 Microbiology or SPEA-E410 Introduction to Environmental Toxicology

No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses in the Earth and Water Resources concentration.

B. Environmental Management  Eighteen to nineteen (18-19) credit hours, including

Required Courses (4 courses):

  • CHEM-C341 Organic Chemistry I (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-E410 Introduction to Environmental Toxicology (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-E423 Environmental Health Technology: Managing Water and Wastes (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-E451 Air Pollution and Control (3 cr.)

Elective Courses (2 courses selected from the following list):

  • SPEA-H416 Environmental Health Policy (meets capstone requirement) (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-H433 Industrial Hygiene (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-H460 Techniques in Environmental Science and Health (meets capstone requirement) (4 cr.)
  • GEOG-G438 Advanced GIS (3 cr.)
  • Other courses in Environmental Science and Health may be approved by a SPEA faculty advisor.

No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses in the Environmental Management concentration.

C. Environmental Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis  Eighteen (18) credit hours, including:

  • GEOG-G336 Introduction to Remote Sensing and Air Photo Interpretation or GEOG-G338 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
  • GEOG-G337 Computer Cartography and Graphics or INFO-I400 Programming for Geographic Information Systems or GEOL-G546 Planetary Remote Sensing
  • Three courses chosen from:
    • GEOG-G436 Advanced Remote Sensing: Digital Imaging Processing
    • GEOG-G438 Advanced Geographic Information Systems
    • *GEOG-G442 Seminar in Remote Sensing
    • GEOG-G488 Applied Spatial Statistics
    • GEOL-G436 Geological Remote Sensing
  • GEOG-G439 Seminar in Geographic Information Systems (capstone requirement)
No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses in the Environmental Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis concentration.

D. Other Requirements  See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs, Baccalaureate Degree, General Requirements” in this bulletin.

  • GEOL-G445 satisfies the School of Science capstone requirement for the Earth and Water Resources concentration.
  • SPEA-H460 satisfies the School of Science capstone requirement for the Environmental Management concentration.
  • SPEA-H416 satisfies the School of Science capstone requirement for the Environmental Management concentration.
  • GEOG G439 satisfies the capstone requirement for the Environmental Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis concentration.

Environmental Science Plans of Study

There is no single semester-by-semester plan of study for the B.S.E.S. degree because of the flexibility encouraged within the program and the three concentration options. However, one possible sequence of courses for each concentration is given below. Variations from these sample plans of study should be made in consultation with the program advisor.

Bachelor of Science Environmental Science Sample Program - Earth and Water Resources Concentration (122 hours required)

Freshman Year
First Semester
GEOL-G110 Physical Geology 3
GEOL-G120 Physical Geology Laboratory 1
CHEM-C105 Principles of Chemistry I 3
MATH 22100 Calculus for Technology I 3
ENG-W131 Elementary Composition I 3
PHIL-P237 Environmental Ethics 3
SCI-I120 Windows on Science 1
Total 17
Second Semester 
CHEM-C106 Principles of Chemistry II   3
GEOL-G107 Environmental Geology    3
MATH 22200 Calculus for Technology II   3
COMM-R110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication   3
Second Composition Course 3
Total 15
Sophomore Year
Third Semester
GEOL-G306 Earth Materials    4
BIOL-K101 Concepts of Biology I    5
CSCI-N207 Data Analysis Using Spreadsheets 3
CHEM-C341 Organic Chemistry I  3
HIST-H114 History of Western Civilization II   3
Total 18
Fourth Semester 
BIOL-K103 Concepts of Biology II   5
GEOG-G338 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems 3
GEOL-G430 Principles of Hydrology  3
SPEA-K300 Statistical Techniques 3
SPEA-H316 Environmental Science and Health  3
Total 17
Junior Year
Fifth Semester
PHYS-P201 General Physics I    5
GEOL-G431 Wetland Ecosystems  3
SPEA-E326 Math in Environmental Science 3
SPEA-H459 Environmental Science and Health Data Analysis 3
Comparative World Cultures-List C   3
Total 17
Sixth Semester  
PHYS-P202 General Physics II   5
GEOL-G451 Principles of Hydrogeology 3
GEOL-G486 Soil Biogeochemistry    3
Humanities-List H  3
Social Sciences-List S 3
Total 17
Senior Year
Seventh Semester
SPEA-E455 Limnology  3
BIOL-K341 Principles of Ecology and Evolution   3
GEOL-G445 Applied Analytical Techniques in Geology 3
Electives   3
Total 12
Eighth Semester
Electives   8
CAND 99100 Candidate for Graduation  0
Total 8

Bachelor of Science Environmental Science Sample Program - Environmental Management Concentration (122 hours required)

Freshman Year
First Semester
GEOL-G110 Physical Geology 3
GEOL-G120 Physical Geology Laboratory   1
CHEM-C105 Principles of Chemistry I 3
 MATH 22100 Calculus for Technology II 3
PHIL-P237 Enviornmental Ethics 3
ENG-W 131 Elementary Compostion I 3
SCI-I120 Windows on Science 1
Total 17
Second Semester 
CHEM-C106 Principles of Chemistry II 3
GEOL-G107 Environmental Geology 3
MATH 22200 Calculus for Technology II 3
COMM-R110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication 3
Second Composition Course 3
Total 15
Sophomore Year
Third Semester
GEOL-G306 Earth Materials    4
BIOL-K101 Concepts of Biology I   5
CHEM-C341 Organic Chemistry I 3
CSCI-N207 Data Analysis Using Spreadsheets 3
Total 15
Fourth Semester 
BIOL-K103 Concepts of Biology II 5
GEOG-G338 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems 3
GEOL-G430 Principles of Hydrology 3
SPEA-K300 Statistical Techniques  3
SPEA-H316 Environmental Science and Health 3
Total 17
Junior Year
Fifth Semester
PHYS-P201 General Physics I 5
SPEA-E326 Math Environmental Science   3
SPEA-E451 Air Pollution and Control  3
SPEA-H459 Environmental Science and Health Data Analysis  3
 Comparative World Cultures-List C 3
Total 17
Sixth Semester 
PHYS-P202 General Physics II    5
SPEA-E419 Introduction to Environmental Toxicology 3
SPEA-E423 Environmental Health Technology: Managing Water and Wastes 3
Humanities-List H 3
Social Sciences - List S  3
Total 17
Senior Year
Seventh Semester
BIOL-K341 Principles of Ecology and Evolution   3
GEOG-G438 Advanced Geographic Information Systems or Elective  3
HIST-H114 History of Western Civilization II   3
Elective    3
Total 12
Eighth Semester 
SPEA-H416 Environmental Health Policy (capstone) 3
Electives  5
CAND 99100 Candidate for Graduation 0
Total 8

Bachelor of Science Environmental Science Sample Program - Environmental Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis Concentration (122 hours required)

Freshman Year
First Semester
GEOL-G110 Physical Geology    3
GEOL-G120 Physical Geology Laboratory 1
CHEM-C105 Principles of Chemistry I    3
PHIL-P237 Environmental Ethics  3
PHIL-P237 Environmental Ethics 3
ENG-W131 Elementary Composition I  3
SCI-I120 Windows on Science   1
Total 17
Second Semester 
CHEM-C106 Principles of Chemistry II    3
GEOL-G107 Environmental Geology   3
MATH 22200 Calculus for Technology II    3
COMM-R110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication 3
Second Composition Course   3
Total 15
Sophomore Year
Third Semester
GEOL-G306 Earth Materials     4
BIOL-K101 Concepts of Biology I     5
CHEM-C341 Organic Chemistry I   3
CSCI-N 207 Data Analysis Using Spreadsheets    3
HIST-H114 History of Western Civilization II     3
Total 18
Fourth Semester  
BIOL-K103 Concepts of Biology II    5
GEOG-G338 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems  3
GEOG-G303 Weather and Climate  3
SPEA-K 300 Statistical Techniques   3
SPEA-H316 Environmental Science and Health  3
Total 17
Junior Year
Fifth Semester
PHYS-P201 General Physics I    5
GEOG-G336 Introduction to Remote Sensing   3
SPEA-E326 Math in Environmental Science    3
SPEA-H459 Environmental Science and Health Data Analysis  3
Comparative World Cultures-List C   3
Total 17
Sixth Semester
PHYS-P202 General Physics II    5
GEOG-G337 Computer Cartography and Graphics 3
GEOG-G488 Applied Spatial Statistics    3
Social Sciences-List S  3
Humanities-List H    3
Total 17
Senior Year
Seventh Semester
GEOG-G436 Advanced Remote Sensing:Digital Image Processing   3
GEOG-G307 Biogeography: The Distribution of Life   3
GEOG-G438 Advanced Geographic Information Systems    3
Elective   3
Total 12
Eighth Semester
GEOG-G439 Seminar in Geographic Information Systems (capstone)    3
Elective 5
CAND 99100 Candidate for Graduation   0
Total 8