Environmental Science / Bachelor of Science
Total Credit Hours: 128
Ecology Track Major Credit Hours: 68
Sustainability Track Major Credit Hours: 66
A grade of “C-” or better must be earned in a prerequisite course in order to advance to the next course in the sequence.
Environmental Science majors may take a Biology class only two times. If a student has not achieved a minimum of “C-” after the second attempt, the student may not repeat the class.
It is the policy of the Environmental Science program to support with letters of recommendation for graduate schools only those students who have achieved a minimum cumulative and science GPA of 3.0 by the time they complete the first semester of their junior year. If there is a required exam for the program to which the student is applying, the student must supply an official copy of the scores to the faculty before the letters can be written. In the event that a student has his/her request for letters of recommendation denied, he/she has the right to petition for reconsideration with the understanding that there is no guarantee that the petition will be successful. Acceptance into any graduate school is solely determined by the admission committee of that school. All faculty members have the right to decline a request to write a letter of recommendation for any student.
All Environmental Science majors must take the program’s core courses (48 credit hours). Environmental Science majors enrolled in the Ecology Track must complete an additional 20 credit hours for a total of 68 credit hours as specified below. Environmental Science majors enrolled in the Sustainability Track must complete an additional 18 credit hours for a total of 66 credit hours as specified below.
Degree Requirements
I. Core Courses (48)
| 02-110 | General Biology I | 4 |
| 02-111 | General Biology I Lab | 1 |
| 02-115 | General Biology II | 4 |
| 02-116 | General Biology II Lab | 1 |
| 02-222 | Earth Science | 4 |
| 02-233 | Principles of Environmental Science | 4 |
| 02-315 | General Ecology and Evolution | 3 |
| 02-316 | General Ecology Lab | 1 |
| 02-320 | Biostatistics | 3 |
| 02-375 | Issues in Environmental Science | 3 |
| 02-383 | Ecology Journal Club | 1 |
| 02-496 | Biology Senior Thesis | 2 |
| 03-110 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| 03-111 | General Chemistry I Lab | 1 |
| 03-115 | General Chemistry II | 4 |
| 03-116 | General Chemistry II Lab | 1 |
| 03-120 | Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| 13-200 | Calculus I | 4 |
-
| OR | |
| 13-211 | Calculus for the Life Sciences | 4 |
II. Ecology Track (20)
A. Required Courses
B. Majors taking the Ecology Track chose 8 credit hours from the following:
| 02-312 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| 02-322 | Environmental Microbiology | 2 |
-
| AND | |
| 02-323 | Environmental Microbiology Lab | 1 |
| 02-405 | Invertebrate Zoology | 4 |
| 02-416 | Conservation Biology | 3 |
-
| AND | |
| 02-417 | Conservation Biology Lab | 1 |
| 02-418 | Limnology | 3 |
-
| AND | |
| 02-419 | Limnology Lab | 1 |
| 02-420 | Botany | 3 |
-
| AND | |
| 02-421 | Botany Lab | 1 |
III. Sustainability Track (18)
| 02-243 | Principles of Sustainability | 4 |
| 02-373 | Renewable Energy Technologies | 4 |
| 02-363 | Biomimicry and Whole Systems Thinking | 3 |
| 02-393 | Green Building & LEED Rating Systems | 3 |
| 02-416 | Conservation Biology | 3 |
| 02-417 | Conservation Biology Lab | 1 |
IV. The advanced writing requirement of the General Education curriculum is satisfied by successful completion of the following courses which contain strong writing components: 02-111 and 02-116, General Biology Labs I and II, 02-226 General Microbiology Lab, and 02-496 Biology Senior Thesis.