Environmental Science, B.A.

Requirements for Major in Environmental Science

The interdisciplinary ten-unit environmental science major provides broad exposure to environmental sciences at the introductory level, focused work in science at the upper level and a set of cognates designed to show the social and humanistic context in which scientists work.

Core Courses:

Five units of science and mathematics, consisting of:

BIOL 195: Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity (1 Unit)
CHEM 152: Principles of Chemistry (1 Unit)
E&E 133: Geography and GIS (1 Unit)
E&E 151: Introduction to Geology (1 Unit)
AND
MATH 141: Calculus of a Single Variable I (1 Unit)
OR
MATH 209: An Introduction to Statistics (1 Unit)

Area of Focus:

Five units of focused work in science chosen from the list below. Courses must be at the 200-level or higher, no more than three courses can be in one department, and at least one 300-level course must be included. Before mid- semester of the second semester of the student’s sophomore year, students must meet with a departmental faculty member to develop and submit a plan for the five units comprising the area of focus.

BIOL 216: Vascular Plants (1 Unit)
BIOL 225: Invertebrate Zoology (1 Unit)
BIOL 227: Vertebrate Zoology (1 Unit)
BIOL 237: Ecology (1 Unit)
BIOL 240: Conservation Biology (1 Unit)
BIOL 245: Marine Biology (1 unit)
BIOL 248: Ornithology (1 Unit)
BIOL 309: Vertebrate Paleontology (1 Unit)
BIOL 332: Microbiology (1 Unit)
BIOL 365: Environmental Microbiology (1 Unit)
CHEM 206: Chemical Analysis (1 Unit)
CHEM 212: Organic Reactions and Mechanism (1 Unit)
CHEM 327: Advanced Physical and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (1 Unit)
CHEM 337: Biochemistry (1 Unit)
E&E 315: Ground Water (1 Unit)
E&E 333: Advanced GIS (1 Unit)
E&E 233: Remote Sensing and GIS (1 Unit)
E&E 202: Geomorphology (1 Unit)
E&E 205: Sedimentation and Stratigraphy (1 Unit)
E&E 306: Glaciers and Climate Change (1 Unit)
E&E 308: Isotope Geochemistry (1 Unit)
E&E 309: Vertebrate Paleontology (1 Unit)
MATH 209: An Introduction to Statistics (1 Unit)

Two Cognate Courses, Including:

● One course selected from the “Society and Culture” list in the environmental studies major.

● One course selected from the “Language, Idea and Image” list in the environmental studies major.

Experiential Requirements:

● An environmental research project, service project, or internship. Students should have prior approval of the department chair, and must make a presentation in the colloquium and submit a reflection summarizing the experience based on departmental guidelines.

● All environmental science majors must satisfy an environmental experience requirement equivalent to one-half unit of study. This requirement may be fulfilled by summer research, internship or work experiences, academic year directed studies, completion of E&E 272 or ESP 318, or other suitable experiences approved by the faculty.

● Departmental Colloquia: All environmental science majors are required to attend departmental colloquia regularly. In these, students who completed research projects, service projects, internships or field experiences the previous semester will report on them, and other items of general interest, such as graduate schools and careers, will be discussed.

Notes:

● The core courses, area of focus units, and cognate courses must be taken for a numerical grade.

● A maximum of two courses at the 200-level or higher used to fulfill the requirements of any other Albion College major or minor may be counted towards the environmental science major.

● This major may not be elected by environmental studies majors, or environmental studies or environmental geology minors