Environmental Science
Faculty
Introduction
Major in Environmental Science—B.S.
Faculty
Director
Bruce Douglas (Geological Sciences)
Chancellor's Professor
George Ewing (Chemistry)
Distinguished Professors
Gary Hieftje (Chemistry), Ronald Hites (Chemistry, Public and Environmental Affairs)
Professors
Bennet Brabson (Physics), Simon Brassell (Geological Sciences), Keith Clay (Biology), Hendrick Haitjema (Public and Environmental Affairs), Erle Kauffman (Geological Sciences), Noel Krothe (Geological Sciences), Theodore Miller (Public and Environmental Affairs), Emilio Moran (Anthropology), David Parkhurst (Public and Environmental Affairs), Lisa Pratt (Geological Sciences), J.C. Randolph (Public and Environmental Affairs), Lee Suttner (Geological Sciences), Jeffery White (Public and Environmental Affairs), Donald Whitehead (Emeritus, Biology), Daniel Willard (Emeritus, Public and Environmental Affairs)
Associate Professors
Debera Backhus (Public and Environmental Affairs), C. Susan Grimmond (Geography), Diane Henshel (Public and Environmental Affairs), Greg Olyphant (Geological Sciences), Flynn Picardal (Public and Environmental Affairs), Sara Pryor (Geography), Scott Robeson (Geography)
Assistant Professors
Claudia Johnson (Geological Sciences), Vicki J. Meretsky (Public and Environmental Affairs), Hans Peter Schmid (Geography), Phillip Stevens (Public and Environmental Affairs)
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Introduction
The B.S. in Environmental Science (B.S.E.S.) is a joint degree program between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The B.S.E.S. program is an interdisciplinary degree program that specifically considers the environment as a scientific entity. Students preparing for employment as professionals in environmental science or preparing for graduate study in environmental science or in one of the traditional sciences should consider this degree.
While it is possible to divide environmental science into numerous sub-disciplines or systems such as the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere, these sub-systems are interdependent components of a single large system. It follows that the problems encountered in the environmental sciences are inherently interdisciplinary; hence a scientist working in this field is required to possess both a breadth of knowledge and a specific set of skills and expertise. The overall organization of the B.S.E.S. degree program reflects this philosophy with a broad core curriculum, a concentration area, and a senior research project providing advanced hands-on experience. The B.S.E.S. degree program is intended to instill an appreciation of the integrated nature of the discipline and supply a level of expertise in one area.
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Major in Environmental Science—B.S.
Students must complete a set of fundamental skills and distribution requirements, a core curriculum, and a concentration in a particular branch of environmental science.
Fundamental Skills and Distribution
(variable credit hours depending on course selection)
- Writing: English Composition (ENG W231) and Intensive Writing, major fulfills IW requirement
- Mathematics, major fulfills requirement
- Public Speaking, select one course from CMCL C121, C122, C205, C223, C225, C228, C229, or THTR T115 or T120
- Foreign Language: student must complete the study of a single foreign language through the second semester of the first year of college-level course work (8 credit hours). All or part of the requirement may be fulfilled by performance on placement examinations
- Arts and humanities: one course from the COAS Bulletin "Table of Approved Distribution Courses by Department"
- A COAS E103 course in the Arts and Humanities
- A COAS E104 course in the Social and Historical Studies
- Social and Historical studies with emphasis on economics or political science and one course selected from ECON E201, ECON E202, ECON E364, POLS Y103, or POLS Y313
- Social and Historical studies with emphasis on public policy; one course selected from SPEA V263, SPEA V371, SPEA V376, SPEA V449, or SPEA V472
- Natural and mathematical sciences, major fulfills requirement.
Core Requirements (61-63 credit hours)
- BIOL L111 and L473
- CHEM C105, C125, C106, C126, and C341. Students who did not earn at least a B- in high-school chemistry should contact the B.S.E.S. Program Director and the Chemistry Department Undergraduate Placement Office to determine the appropriate starting course
- CSCI A202, or GEOG G250, or SPEA E325. Any one of these three courses may be selected
- SPEA E2XY. Contact B.S.E.S. Program Director for course number.
- GEOG G304
- GEOL G225 and G329. G329 is offered only at the I.U. Geological Field Station in Montana and should be taken during the summer following the fourth semester of enrollment. Students electing certain concentrations emphasizing the biological sciences can substitute two of the following: BIOL L465, also a summer field course, SPEA E442 Habitat Analysis-Terrestrial, and SPEA E443 Habitat Analysis-Aquatic, for G329.
- MATH M211, M212, and M343. Pending enrollments, a special section of M343 for environmental sciences may be offered
- PHYS P221 and P222
- Statistics: MATH K300 or GEOG G488 or MATH M365
- Environmental Science Senior Research. Guided by a faculty member, each student undertakes a project closely related to his or her concentration (see below). Completion of oral and written reports provides valuable experience and fulfills the university's intensive writing requirement. Students should enroll in the appropriate course within the faculty supervisor's department.
Concentration
(minimum of 18 credit hours)
Whereas the core curriculum provides each student with a solid background in the basic subjects pertinent to the environmental sciences, the concentration is aimed at preparing students for graduate study or professional employment in specific fields. A partial list of the available topics includes atmospheric sciences, applied ecology, earth-system science, energy production, environmental toxicology, global environmental change, surface-groundwater systems, numerical modeling, and oceanic sciences. Additional or alternative topics can be defined in order to fit specific needs or opportunities. Programs include 18 credits of course work selected by students in consultation with a faculty advisor, active in the field in which they have chosen to concentrate, and two additional faculty members. Each program is then approved by the BSES Program Committee.
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