Environmental Studies is an accepted field of study at more than 200 colleges and universities across the country and is characterized by its breadth as well as its interdisciplinary approach. These programs are generally designed to introduce the student to the various disparate disciplines that interplay with respect to environmental problems and their solutions. These disciplines include sociology, ethics, economics, public administration as well as the natural sciences. Students completing a program in environmental studies are prepared for careers with national, state and local governmental agencies, private environmental organizations, as well as environmental consulting firms.

The Environmental Studies Major is designed so that a student specializes in one of the following areas of emphasis or Options: Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Geography and Planning, or Environmental Chemistry. Each Option is designed so that the student develops enough depth in that discipline so that the student could continue on to graduate school in that discipline. The courses required in each Option, however, are also chosen with the intent that a student with a Bachelor's degree is competitive in the environmental job market.

The Life Sciences Option is designed to prepare a student for jobs in environmental biology which have something to do with the impact of modern technology and change on life forms. These include working as pollution technicians for various public agencies such as county and state health departments, as well as state and national environmental protection agencies; students may also find themselves attracted to jobs with local, regional and national nature conservation agencies, both public and private. These jobs may involve monitoring of endangered species, making inventories of wildlife, or interpreting nature as a ranger in a public or private environmental education center. If you wish more information about the Life Sciences Option, please see Dr. Ken Geluso or Dr. Roger Sharpe in the Biology Department.

The Earth Sciences Option is designed to prepare students for a career in environmental geology. Today many environmental problems are associated with the earth and our use of it. Thus, contamination of surface and underground waters, pollution of the soil and construction of dams and other large structures all require earth science environmental problems during project development. Many public and private agencies, including engineering and construction firms, have jobs for people trained in this area. Dr. Harmon Maher or Dr. Bob Shuster of the Geography/Geology Department can provide more information about a career in this specialty.

The Geography and Planning Option is primarily designed to produce local and regional planning specialists who have a good understanding of environmental problems. Anytime we humans change the nature of the landscape by constructing new housing developments, highways, shopping centers, etc. a potential negative environmental impact to the natural landscape exists. Today planners who are environmentally sensitive are in great demand to avoid the common confrontations that develop between developers and those groups that are affected by the project. Either Dr. Charles Gildersleeve or Dr. Jeff Peake of the Geography/Geology Department would be happy to answer additional questions about a career in planning.

The Analytic Option is designed to produce chemists who are particularly interested in the chemical pollutants that are being dumped into the air, earth and water environments of our planet. They may find jobs with local and state health departments, state and national environmental protection agencies, local testing laboratories, as well as in the private chemical-producing industries. Typically, graduates work as laboratory and field technicians who sample and analyze chemical pollutants. Dr. Jim Carroll or Dr. Dan Sullivan of the Chemistry Department can provide additional information about this subject field.

All Environmental Studies majors, no matter which option they choose, are required to take the same core of courses which provide breadth, environmental values, and a fundamental understanding of our social/legal processes. Some of the courses in the Core Curriculum may be used to fulfill divisional requirements. Note that some required course areas in the core curriculum may be fulfilled by several options. Your counselor will help you decide which option is best for you. Any one of the above-mentioned professors would be available for counseling. In the event that you clearly know which Option is your choice of specialty, it is in your best interest to contact one of those individuals named for the Option for formal counseling. Students are encouraged to identify an Option by the end of their first thirty hours of coursework.

University and College Requirements

Fundamental Competencies and General Understanding:

English 6
Third Writing Course 3
Public Speaking 3
Mathematics (listed under Option Cognates) 0
World Civilizations 6
(Subtotal Competencies) 18

Distribution Requirements:

Humanities and Fine Arts (include 0-3 Cultural Diversity) 9
(12 credits required by College; 3 completed under Core Cognates)

Social Sciences (include 0-3 Cultural Diversity) 3
(12 credits required by College; 6 completed under Core Cognates
and 3 under Option Cognates)

Natural Sciences (8 University, 12 College; all completed under Option 0
Requirements and Cognates)
(Subtotal Distribution) 12

TOTAL University and College Requirements 30

TOTAL Program (28 + 72 + 30) 130

Note: All currently recognized prerequisites to required courses have been included in the program, and the "single exception" has not been applied, so there is nothing hidden in this program that would increase the requirement in practice above 130 credits.

Required courses:

_____ BIOL 1330 Environmental Biology 3

_____ CHEM 1010 & 1014 Environmental Chemistry or Chem 3030 4

_____ GEOL 1010 Environmental Geology 3

_____ ECON 2200 Microeconomics 3
(ECON 2010 waived for majors)

_____ BIOL/CHEM/GEOG/GEOL 4610 3
Environmental Field Methods

_____ BIOL/CHEM/GEOG/GEOL 4800 3
Internship in Environmental Science

_____ An approved course in statistics 3

One of the following courses:

_____ GEOG 1030 Intro. Earth & Env. Science 5

_____ GEOG 1060 Phys. Geog.: Climate & Hydro 4

_____ GEOG 1070 Phys. Geog.: Land & Soils 4

One of the following courses:

_____ LAWS 3230 Business Law 3

_____ PA 2170 Intro to Public Administration 3

_____ ECON 4320 Natural Resource Economics 3

One of the following courses:

_____ PHIL 2030 Intro to Ethics 3

_____ PHIL 3180 Environmental Ethics 3

One of the following courses:

_____ SOC 4750 Social Change 3

_____ SOC 3850 Society, Environment & Resource Conservation 3
or an appropriate course determined by the advisor and student

BIOL 1450 Biology I 5
BIOL 1750 Biology II 5
BIOL 2140 Genetics 4
BIOL 2440 Microbiology 4
BIOL 3340 Ecology 4
BIOL 3530 Flora of the Great Plains 3
BIOL 4120 Ecosystem Management 3

PLUS a minimum of additional upper division hours in biology (note that 6 hours from the Environmental Studies Core apply to the 18 hour upper division rule)

PLUS one of the following chemistry sequences:

Sequence I
CHEM 1010, 1044 Inorganic Chemistry 5
CHEM 2210, 2214 Organic Chemistry 5
CHEM 3650, 3654 Biochemistry 4
or
Sequence II
CHEM 1180, 1184 Inorganic Chemistry 8
1190. 1194
CHEM 2250, 2260 Organic Chemistry 8
2274

PLUS one of the following physics sequences:

Sequence I
PHYS 1050, 1054 Intro Physics 5
or
Sequence II
PHYS 1110, 1154 Intro Physics 10
1120, 1164

TOTAL HOURS - Life Science Option 49-56

Mathematics 3
Public Speaking 3
Additional Humanities 9
Third Writing Course 3
English 6
Additional Social Sciences 6
World Civilizations 6
(Humanities or Social Sciences must include 3 hours U.S.
Minority Culture)
TOTAL CORE HOURS, General Education Requirements 120-128

MINIMUM DEGREE REQUIREMENTS 125

Two courses are required, totaling 7 hours (in bold below). An additional 29 hours are required to be chosen from the following selection below. Note that some of these courses have prerequisites that must be taken into account when planning course selection. A selection should have some coherence. For example Geol 118, 345, 426, and Geog 458 are complimentary, as are Geog 458 are complimentary, as are Geog 351, 410 and 432. A student's individual selection should be done in conjunction with their advisor.

___ GEOL 1170 Physical Geology (required) 4
no prerequisites
___ GEOL 1180 Historical Geology 4
no prerequisites
___ GEOL 2500 Special Topics 1
no prerequisites, can be repeated, not all sections applicable
toward 26 credits - consult advisor
___ GEOL 2600 Geohydrology 3
prerequisite (Geol 1170)
___ GEOL 2750/4 Mineralogy Lecture/Lab 4
prerequisite (Geol 1170)
___ GEOL 2760/4 Petrology Lecture/Lab 4
prerequisite (Geol 2750/4)
___ GEOL 3300/10 Structural Geology Lecture/Lab 4
prerequisites (Geol 2760 or permission of instructor)
___ GEOL 3400 Sedimentary Geology 3
prerequisite (Geol 1170, 1180, 2750/4)
___ GEOG 3510 Meteorology 3
prerequisites (junior/senior standing; Geog 1030, 1060
recommended)
___ GEOG 4010 Conservation of Natural Resources 3
prerequisite (3 Geog credits)
___ GEOG 4100 Biogeography 3
prerequisites (Biol 1750 or Geol 3100 or permission
of instructor)
___ GEOL 4260 Process Geomorphology (required) 3
prerequisite (Geol 1170)
___ Geol 4300 Geophysics 3
prerequisites (Geol 1170, Phys 2110 or permission of
instructor)
___ GEOG 4320 Climatology 3
prerequisites (Geog 1060 or Geog 3510)
___ GEOL 4540 Geochemistry 3
prerequisites (Geol 1170, Chem 1190/4 or permission of instructor)
___ GEOG 4580 Soils 3
prerequisites (Geog 1030 or 1070 or permission of instructor)
___ GEOG 4630 Environmental Remote Sensing 3
prerequisites (junior/senior standing)

IN ADDITION TO 36 CREDITS ABOVE, THE FOLLOWING CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS ARE REQUIRED.
One of the following two chemistry sequences:

Sequence I
___ CHEM 1140/44 Inorganic Chemistry Lecture/Lab 5
___ CHEM 2210/14 Organic Chemistry Lecture/Lab 5
___ CHEM 3650/54 Biochemistry Lecture/Lab 4
Total 14

Sequence II
___ CHEM 1180/84 General Chemistry I 4
___ CHEM 1190/94 General Chemistry II 4
___ CHEM 2210/14 Organic Chemistry Lecture/Lab 5
Total 13

One of the following course selections:

___ PHYS 1050/54 Introduction to Physics Lecture/Lab 5
___ PHYS 1110/54 General Physics Lecture/Lab 5
___ PHYS 2110 General Physics Calculus Level 4
prerequisite (Math 1950)
note that this is a prerequisite for Geol 4300

TOTAL HOURS, Earth Science Option 42-45

**see other checklist form

Mathematics 3
note: Geol 2600, 3600, 4300, 4550 require Math 1950
Oral Communication 3
Additional Humanities 9
English 9
note: this includes third writing course
Additional Social Sciences 6
World Civilization 6
note: Humanities or Social Science must include 3 hours of
U.S. minority culture

GEOG 1000 Fundamentals of Geography 3
or
GEOG 1020 Introduction to Human Geography 3
UBNS 1010 Introduction to Urban Studies 3
CRP 4000 Introduction to Planning 3
or
GEOG 4120 Urban Geography 3
Total 9

(9 hours of the following)

GEOG 3510 Meteorology 3
GEOG 4100 Biogeography 3
GEOG 4250 Landform Studies I 3
GEOG 4260 Landform Studies II 3
GEOG 4320 Climatology 3
GEOG 4330 Soils 3
or
GEOG 4340 Soil Genesis 3

(6 hours of the following)

GEOG 3130 Economic Geography 3
GEOG 3930 Political Geography 3
GEOG 4010 Conservation of Natural Resources 3
GEOG 4120 Urban Geography 3
GEOG 4820 Introduction to Environmental Law and Regulation 3

(at least 4 of the following)

GEOG 4610 Field Methods in Geography/Geology 3
GEOG 4020 Quantitative Methods* 3
GEOG 4030 Computer Mapping 3
GEOG 4050 Geographic Information Systems 3
GEOG 3530 Cartography 2
GEOG 3540 Cartographic Drafting 2
GEOG 4630 Environmental Remote Sensing 3
Total 24
*may also count for statistics requirement

TOTAL HOURS, Geography and Planning Option 33

BIOL 1450 Biology I 5
BIOL 3340 Ecology 4
BIOL 3530 Flora of the Great Plains 3
BIOL 4120 Ecosystem Management 3
BIOL 4180 Limnology 3
BIOL 4210 Fire Ecology 3
Total 6-7
*or other biology course in consultation with advises

Chemistry - must take:

CHEM 1040/1044 College Chemistry and lab 5
or
CHEM 1180/1184 General Chemistry and Qualitative 4
Analysis and lab
Total 4-5
Physics - must take:

PHYS 1050/1054 Introduction to Physics and lab 5
or
PHYS 1110/1154 General Physics and lab 5
Total 5
Computer Science - must take:

CSCI 1610 Introduction to Computer Science I 3
and
CSCI 1620 Introduction to Computer Science II 3
or
CSCI 1800 Fortran Programming 3
or
CSCI 1820 Introducing PL/1 3
or
CSCI 1840 "C" Programming 3

Total 6

The Core Curriculum

The curriculum includes a core of required courses which provide breadth, environmental values and a fundamental understanding of our social/legal processes. All Environmental Studies majors will take the core courses and develop a specialty by choosing an Option. The Option typically provides sufficient depth to allow a student to continue into graduate studies in a traditional specialty department. The core is common to all options within the Environmental Studies program: Analytic, Earth Science, Life Science and Planning.

Introductory Classes:
BIOL 1330 Populations, Resources and the Environment 3

CHEM 1010 Chemistry in the Environment and Society 3

A physical geography class to be chosen from: 4-5
GEOG 1030 Introduction to Earth and Environmental Science
GEOG 1060 Physical Geography: Climate and Soils
GEOG 1070 Physical Geography: Land and Waters

Geol 1010 Environmental Geology 3
Subtotal Core Introductory 13-14

Core Cognate Courses:
ECON 2020 Microeconomics 3
PHIL 3180 Environmental Ethics, OR
PHIL 2030 Introduction to Ethics 3

A public policy course to be chosen from:
LAWS 3230 Business Law I
PA 2170 Introduction to Public Administration
ECON 4320 Natural Resource Economics

An appropriate course in social change:
SOC 4750 Social Change 3

An approved course in statistics 3
Subtotal Core Cognate 15

TOTAL CORE 28 (29)

Classes Composing the Analytic Option

Chemistry:
CHEM 1180/4 and 1190/4 General Chemistry 8
CHEM 2210/2214 Elementary Organic Chemistry 5
(2250/2260/2274 Organic Chemistry may be substituted)
CHEM 2400/4 Quantitative Analysis 4
CHEM 2500 Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry 3
CHEM 3350/4 Physical Chemistry I 4
CHEM 3414 Instrumental Methods 1
CHEM 3650/4 Biochemistry 4
CHEM 3700/4 Radiochemistry 3

Subtotal Base Chemistry 32

Field Courses Crosslisted with Other Departments:
CHEM 4610 Environmental Field Methods 3
(crosslisted as Biol 4610, Geog 4610, and Geol 4610)
CHEM 4800 Internship in Environmental Management 3
and Planning
(crosslisted as Biol 4800, Geog 4800, and Geol 4800)

Subtotal Field Courses 6

Option Cognates:
BIOL 2440 Biology of Microorganisms 4
CSCI An approved course in computing 3
GEOG 4010 Conservation of Natural Resources 3

One course selected from: 3-4
GEOG 2620 Aerial Photographic Interpretation
GEOG 3510 Introduction to Meteorology
GEOG 4630 Environmental Remote Sensing
GEOL 1170 Introduction to Physical Geology
GEOL 2600 Geohydrology

MATH 1950, 1960 Calculus I, II 10
PHYS 2110/1154 and 2120/1164 General Physics - Calculus Level 10

Subtotal Option Cognates 34

TOTAL HOURS, Analytic Option 72