Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (B.S.E.S.) and minor in Environmental Science are degree programs offered jointly by the College of Arts and Sciences and the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs through the Integrated Program in the Environment. The interdisciplinary B.S.E.S. program considers the environment from a scientific perspective. Students preparing for professional employment or graduate study in environmental science or in one of the traditional sciences should consider this degree.

Major requirements

• Proficiency in a single foreign language at or above the second semester of the first year of college-level coursework.

• Any student who is a candidate for a bachelor’s degree offered by the College of Arts and Sciences is required to complete one Critical Approaches to the Arts and Sciences (CAPP) course on the Bloomington campus. Students are encouraged to take this course in their first year or no later than the first semester of their second year. For a listing of all courses that can satisfy the CAPP requirement, please consult with your academic advisor.

2. BSES Foundations: Mathematics, Statistics, and Computation
    a. Calculus. One (1) of the following: 
        i. Calculus I. One (1) course from the Calculus I list.

• MATH-M 211 Calculus I (4 cr.)
• MATH-S 211 Spec CRS In Analytical Geometry & Calculus 1 (4 cr.)

• MATH-M 119 Brief Survey of Calculus I (3 cr.)
• MATH-M 120 Brief Survey of Calculus II (3 cr.)

• SPEA-K 300 Statistical Techniques (3 cr.)
• EAS-E 314 Data Analytics for Earth Science (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 488 Applied Spatial Statistics (3 cr.)
• STAT-S 303 Applied Statistical Methods for Life Sciences (3 cr.)
• STAT-S 350 Introduction to Statistical Inference (3 cr.)

• CSCI-A 110 Introduction to Computers and Computing (3 cr.)
• CSCI-A 321 Computing tools for Scientific Research (4 cr.)
• GEOG-G 250 Computing in the Geospatial Sciences (3 cr.)
• SPEA-V 261 Using IT in Public Affairs (3 cr.)

• CHEM-C 117 Fundamentals of Chemistry and Biochemistry (3 cr.)
• CHEM-H 117 Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry I, Honors  
• CHEM-J 117 Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry I for Science Majors (3 cr.)

• CHEM-C 127 Fundamentals of Chemistry and Biochemistry Laboratory (2 cr.)
• CHEM-H 127 Principles of Chemistry and Biochemistry I Laboratory, Honors  

• CHEM-C 341 Organic Chemistry I Lectures (3 cr.)
• CHEM-R 340 Survey of Organic Chemistry (3 cr.)
• CHEM-S 341 Organic Chemistry I Lectures, Honors (3 cr.)

• CHEM-A 314 Biological and Environmental Chemical Analysis (2 cr.)
• CHEM-C 342 Organic Chemistry II Lectures (3 cr.)
• CHEM-S 342 Organic Chemistry II Lectures, Honors (3 cr.)
• EAS-E 444 Methods in Analytical Geochemistry (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 464 Organic Pollutants: Environmental Chemistry and Fate (3 cr.)

• PHYS-P 201 General Physics I (5 cr.)
• PHYS-P 221 Physics I (5 cr.)
• PHYS-H 221 Honors Physics I (5 cr.)

• BIOL-E 111 Basic Biology by Examination I (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 111 Foundations of Biology: Diversity, Evolution, and Ecology (4 cr.)

• BIOL-E 112 Basic Biology by Examination II (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 112 Foundations of Biology: Biological Mechanisms (4 cr.)

 6. BSES Foundations.

• ENG-W 231 Professional Writing Skills (3 cr.)
• ENG-W 240 Community Service Writing (3 cr.)
• ENG-W 270 Argumentative Writing (3 cr.)

• COLL-P 155 Public Oral Communication (3 cr.)
• SPEA-V 436 Communication for Government and Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr.)

     c. An additional course to satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences Intensive Writing Requirement (see academic  advisor for approved courses).

7. BSES Foundations: Diversity in the United States

a. One (1) of the following courses:

• ANTH-E 444 People and Protected Areas: Theories of Conservation (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 313 Place and Politics (3 cr.)
• SPEA-V 424 Environmental Law, Justice, and Politics (3 cr.)

    a. Introductory Course. One (1) course from the Introductory Course list.

• EAS-E 118 Sustainability: Water Resources (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 107 Physical Systems of the Environment (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 208 Environment and Society (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 272 Introduction to Environmental Science (3 cr.)

    b. Electives. 24 credit hours from the Electives list

• BIOL-B 300 Vascular Plants (4 cr.)
• BIOL-B 371 Ecological Plant Physiology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 211 Molecular Biology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 307 Biodiversity (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 311 Genetics (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 318 Evolution (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 319 Genetics Laboratory (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 326 Biodiverse City (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 328 Disease Ecology and Evolution (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 350 Environmental Biology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 376 Biology of Birds (4 cr.)
• BIOL-L 402 Ecosystem Ecology and Global Change (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 472 Microbial Ecology (3 cr.
• BIOL-L 473 Ecology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-L 474 Field and Laboratory Ecology (2 cr.)
• BIOL-M 250 Microbiology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-M 315 Microbiology Laboratory (2 cr.)
• BIOL-M 465 Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (3 cr.)
• BIOL-Z 373 Entomology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-Z 374 Invertebrate Zoology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-Z 375 Invertebrate Zoology Laboratory (2 cr.)
• BIOL-Z 406 Vertebrate Zoology (5 cr.)
• BIOL-Z 476 Biology of Fishes (3 cr.)
• CHEM-A 314 Biological and Environmental Chemical Analysis (2 cr.)
• CHEM-A 315 Chemical Measurements Laboratory (2 cr.)
• CHEM-A 316 Bioanalytical Chemistry Laboratory (2 cr.)
• CHEM-C 317 Equilibria and Electrochemistry (2 cr.)
• CHEM-C 318 Spectrochemistry and Separations (2 cr.)
  
• EAS-A 315 Climate Engineering (3 cr.)
• EAS-A 332 Atmospheric Thermodynamics (3 cr.)
• EAS-A 339 Weather Analysis and Forecasting (3 cr.)
• EAS-A 347 Atmospheric Instrumentation (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-A 364 Dynamic Meteorology I (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-A 437 Advanced Meteorology and Climatology (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-A 474 Current and Future Trends in Extremes (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-A 476 Climate Change Science (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 225 Earth Materials (4 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 226 Earth Processes (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 227 Earth Climate and History (3 cr.)
  EAS-E 316 Mineral Resources (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 330 Human Impacts on Earth Systems: Quantifying Impacts, Designing Solutions (3 cr.)
• EAS-E 333 Sedimentary and Tectonic Processes (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 334 Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (3-4 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 341 Natural History of Coral Reefs (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 351 Elements of Hydrology (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 406 Introduction to Geochemistry (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 411 Invertebrate Paleontology (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 412 Vertebrate Paleontology (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 415 Principles of Geomorphology (3-4 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 423 Methods in Applied Geophysics (3-4 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 444 Methods in Analytical Geochemistry (3 cr.)
  
• EAS-E 451 Principles of Hydrogeology (2-4 cr.)
• EAS-X 329 Field Methods in Environmental Geology (3 cr.)
• EAS-X 420 Regional Geology Field Trip (3 cr.)
• EAS-X 479 Geology, Hydrology and Geochemistry in the Rocky Mountains (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 304 Physical Meteorology and Climatology (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 307 Biogeography: The Distribution of Life (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 315 Environmental Conservation (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 336 Environmental Remote Sensing (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 338 Geographic Information Science (3 cr.) or SPEA-E 418 Vector-based GIS (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 341 Ecological Restoration: Science and Politics (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 350 Field Methods in Physical Geography (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 368 Water in the Midwest (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 405 Ecological Climatology (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 436 Advanced Remote Sensing: Digital Image Processing (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 438 Advanced Geographic Information Science (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 439 GIS and Environmental Analysis (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 444 Climate Change Impacts (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 451 Physical Hydrology (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 452 Tree Ring Science (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 453 Water and Society (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 481 Terrestrial Ecosystem Modeling (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 488 Applied Spatial Statistics (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 489 Advanced Geospatial Data Analysis (3 cr.)
• PHYS-P 310 Environmental Physics (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 260 Introduction to Water Resources (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 332 Introduction to Applied Ecology (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 355 Introduction to Limnology ((3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 375 Techniques in Environmental Science (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 400 Topics in Environmental Studies (1-3 cr.) (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
• SPEA-E 402 Water Quality Modeling (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 410 Introduction to Environmental Toxicology (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 417 Fundamentals of Sustainable Agriculture (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 426 Applied Math for Environmental Science (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 429 Application of GIS (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 431 Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 440 Wetlands Ecology and Management (4 cr.) (P: SPEA-E 272)
• SPEA-E 442 Habitat Analysis—Terrestrial (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 443 Habitat Analysis—Aquatic (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 444 Hazardous Materials (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 450 Soil Science and Management (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 451 Air Pollution and Control (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 455 Limnology (4 cr.)
• SPEA-E 456 Lake and Watershed Management (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 457 Introduction to Conservation Biology (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 460 Fisheries and Wildlife Management (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 461 Wildlife Techniques (3 cr.) (P: SPEA-E 272 or H 316 or any biology course)
• SPEA-E 464 Organic Pollutants: Environmental Chemistry and Fate (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 470 Elements of Fluid Mechanics (3 cr.)
• SPEA-V 413 Food Systems and Community Resilience (3 cr.)

Up to six (6) credit hours (combined total) of any of the following:

• BIOL-X 490 Individual Study (1-12 cr.)
• EAS-X 498 Undergraduate Research in Geology (1-6 cr.)
• GEOG-X 490 Undergraduate Readings and Research in Geography (1-3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 490 Directed Research in Environmental Science (1-4 cr.)

*Courses used to satisfy the Foundations requirements cannot be used to satisfy any other degree requirement.

9. Field Experience*.
    a. Single-Course Option. One (1) course from the Single-Course Option list.

• EAS-X 329 Field Methods in Environmental Geology (3 cr.)
• EAS-X 479 Geology, Hydrology and Geochemistry in the Rocky Mountains (6 cr.)

• EAS-X 420 Regional Geology Field Trip (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 350 Field Methods in Physical Geography (3 cr.)
• GEOG-G 452 Tree-Ring Service (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 375 Techniques of Environmental Science (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 400 (approved topics only; see academic advisor) (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 422 Urban Forest Management (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 440 Wetlands Ecology and Management (4 cr.)
• SPEA-E 442 Habitat Analysis - Terrestrial (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 443 Habitat Analysis - Aquatic (3 cr.)
• SPEA-E 455 Limnology (4 cr.)
• SPEA-E 482 (approved topics only; see academic advisor)