Departments & Programs

Environmental Science

Environmental Science—B.S.

Purpose

The B.S. in Environmental Science (BSES) is designed to provide a scientific background with both breadth and depth to prepare students for professional science-related employment and for advanced study at the graduate level. Students must complete a set of Foundations, Intensive Writing, Foreign Language, Breadth of Inquiry, and Public Oral Communication requirements, a core curriculum, and a field experience requirement.

Required Courses

I. General Education and College of Arts and Sciences Requirements (29-30 credit hours)

  1. English Composition: one course (3 cr.) from the approved list; BSES students are encouraged to take ENG-W131 Elementary Composition (3 cr.)
  2. Mathematical Modeling: satisfied by either MATH-M211 or MATH-M119 (required below)
  3. Natural and Mathematical Sciences: satisfied by the requirements below
  4. World Languages and Cultures: a minimum of 6 credit hours of General Education-approved foreign language courses or demonstrated proficiency in an approved foreign language.
  5. Arts and Humanities: 6 credit hours of General Education-approved A&H courses. 
  6. Social and Historical Studies: 6 credit hours of General Education-approved courses.  BSES students are encouraged to consider the following courses: SPEA-V220 Law and Public Affairs (3 cr.), CMCL-C212 Communicating Sustainability (3 cr.), ECON-E201 Introduction to Microeconomics (3 cr.), and ECON-E202 Introduction to Macroeconomics (3 cr.).
  7. Critical Approaches: 3 credit hours. 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 use the CASE Designations search tool in this Bulletin.
  8. Public Oral Communication: 3 credit hours, satisfied by completing COLL-P 155 (required below).

II. BSES Foundation Courses

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computation (12-15 credit hours, depending on course selections)

  1. MATH-M211 Calculus I (4 cr.), or MATH-M119 Brief Survey of Calculus I (3 cr.) and MATH-M120 Brief Survey of Calculus II (3 cr.)
  2. SPEA-K300 Statistical Techniques (3 cr.) or STAT-K310 Statistical Techniques (3 cr.) or MATH-K310 Statistical Techniques (3 cr.)
  3. GEOG-G250 Computing in the Geospatial Sciences (3 cr.) or SPEA-E325 Computing for Environmental Scientists (2 cr.)
  4. Select at least one course from the following list:
    • MATH-M212 Calculus II (4 cr.)
    • MATH-M343 Introduction to Differential Equations with Applications I (3 cr.)
    • MATH-M365 Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E426 Applied Math for Environmental Science (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G488 Applied Spatial Statistics (3 cr.)
    • CSCI-A321 Computing Tools for Scientific Research (4 cr.)

Note: Students interested in physical sciences, such as hydrology or atmospheric modeling, should take both MATH-M212 and MATH-M343.

Chemistry (10-11 cr.)

  1. CHEM-C 117 Fundamentals of Chemistry and Biochemistry (3 cr.) and CHEM-C 127 Fundamentals of Chemistry and Biochemistry Laboratory (2 cr.)
  2. CHEM-C 341 Organic Chemistry I Lectures (3 cr.) or CHEM-R 340 Survey of Organic Chemistry. Note: Students considering a minor in chemistry should take CHEM-C 341.
  3. Select one of the following:
    • CHEM-A 314 Biological and Environmental Chemical Analysis (2 cr.)
    • CHEM-C 342 Organic Chemistry II Lectures (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 464 Organic Pollutants: Environmental Chemistry and Fate (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 444 Methods in Analytical Geochemistry (2 cr.)

Biology (6 cr.)

  1. BIOL-L 111 Foundations of Biology: Evolution and Diversity (3 cr.)
  2. BIOL-L 112 Foundations of Biology: Biological Mechanisms (3 cr.)

Physics (10 cr.)

Select one of the following sequences:
  1. PHYS-P 201 General Physics I (5 cr.) and PHYS-P 202 General Physics II (5 cr.)
  2. PHYS-P 221 Physics I (5 cr.) and PHYS-P 222 Physics II (5 cr.)

Communication (9 cr.)

  1. ENG-W 231 Professional Writing Skills (3 cr.) or ENG-W 240 Community Service Writing (3 cr.) or ENG-W 270 Argumentative Writing (3 cr.)
  2. COLL-P 155 Public Oral Communication (3 cr.)
  3. An additional course to satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences Intensive Writing Requirement. This requirement applies to all BSES students. For a current list of Intensive Writing courses, use the CASE Designations search tool.

III. Environmental Science Courses (30 cr.)

  1. One of the following courses:
    • BIOL-L 222 The City as Ecosystem (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 107 Physical Systems of the Environment (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 208 Environment and Society (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 171 Environmental Geology (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 272 Introduction to Environmental Science (3 cr.)
  2. Additional courses from the following list that total at least 27 credit hours.  Students are strongly encouraged to select courses in consultation with an academic advisor or environmental science faculty member.
    • 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 376 Biology of Birds (4 cr.)
    • BIOL-L 465 Advanced Field Biology (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 374 Invertebrate Zoology (3 cr.)
    • BIOL-Z 375 Invertebrate Zoology Laboratory (2 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.)
    • GEOG-G 304 Physical Climatology (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 305 Environmental Change – Nature and Impact (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 307 Biogeography: The Distribution of Life (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 336 Environmental Remote Sensing (3 cr.) or SPEA-E 419 Applied Remote Sensing of the Environment (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 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 444 Climate Change Impacts (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 451 Water Resources (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 477 Topics in Climatology (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 488 Applied Spatial Statistics (3 cr.)
    • GEOG-G 489 Advanced Geospatial Data Analysis (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 225 Earth Materials (4 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 316 Mineral Fuels and Materials (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 328 Energy, Resources, and the Environment (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 334 Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (4 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 339 Weather Analysis and Forecasting (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 341 Natural History of Coral Reefs (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 347 Instrumentation for Atmospheric Science (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 351 Elements of Hydrology (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 364 Dynamic Meteorology: Boundary-Layer Meteorology (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 406 Introduction to Geochemistry (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 413 Introduction to Geophysics (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 415 Principles of Geomorphology (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 423 Methods in Applied Geophysics (4 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 438 Air Pollution Meteorology (3 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 444 Methods in Analytical Geochemistry (1-2 cr.)
    • GEOL-G 451 Principles of Hydrogeology (3 cr.)
    • PHYS-P 310 Environmental Physics (3 cr.)
    • PHYS-P 317 Signals and Information Processing in Living Systems (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 400 Topics in Environmental Studies (Approved topic: Plants and Plant Communities) (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 410 Introduction to Environmental Toxicology (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 411 Introduction to Groundwater Hydrology (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 426 Applied Math for Environmental Science (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 431 Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 440 Wetlands: Biology and Regulation (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 442 Habitat Analysis—Terrestrial (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 443 Habitat Analysis—Aquatic (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 451 Air Pollution and Control (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 455 Limnology (4 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 457 Introduction to Conservation Biology (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 460 Fisheries and Wildlife Management (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 461 Fisheries and Wildlife Management Laboratory (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 464 Organic Pollutants: Environmental Chemistry and Fate (3 cr.)
    • SPEA-E 490 Directed Research in Environmental Science (1-4 cr.) or BIOL-L 490 Individual Study (1-4 cr.) or GEOG-G 450 Undergraduate Research in Geography (1-3 cr.), or GEOL-G 410 Undergraduate Research in Geology (1-6 cr.). BSES students are encouraged to pursue independent research, however no more than 6 credits total of SPEA-E490, BIOL-L490, GEOG-G450, or GEOL-G410 may be used to satisfy the 27 credit hours of environmental science course work
    • Or other courses in environmental science approved by the BSES Program Chair

IV. Field Experience Requirement (5-6 cr.)

Select one of the following options:

1. GEOL-G 329 Introductory Field Experience in Environmental Science (6 cr.), or GEOL-G 433 Geology, Hydrology, and Geochemistry (6 cr.),  or comparable course work at an approved biological field station

Note that GEOL-G 329 and GEOL-G 433 are held at the Geologic Field Station in Montana and are typically taken after the sophomore or junior year. Students interested in attending a biological field station should consult the BSES Program Chair prior to attending the field station.

2. Two of the following courses:

  • BIOL-L 465 Advanced Field Biology (3 cr.)
  • GEOG-G 350 Field Methods in Physical Geography (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-E 400 Topics in Environmental Studies (Approved topic: Plants and Plant Communities) (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-E 442 Habitat Analysis-Terrestrial (3 cr.)
  • SPEA-E 443 Habitat Analysis-Aquatic (3 cr.)

Courses used to satisfy the Field Experience Requirement cannot be used to satisfy any other degree requirement.

V. Electives

Sufficient additional courses to reach a total of 120 credit hours. Students are encouraged to pursue a minor, certificate, or second major in a biological, physical, or social science field that complements the interdisciplinary training provided by the B.S. in Environmental Science.