About the Minor
Director: Sara Webb, Professor of Biology
The interdisciplinary minor in environmental studies is available to both science and non-science majors. The minor examines environmental problems from diverse disciplinary perspectives: biology, economics, anthropology, chemistry, political science, history, and religion. Environmental studies can complement the major to help prepare students for careers in, for example, environmental law, environmental management, and ecology; or the minor can be pursued out of general interest in environmental issues. A disciplinary major in biology or chemistry is generally required for a research career in the environmental sciences.
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Requirements for the Minor (24 credits; 28 credits for biology majors)
The general structure of the minor has three parts. First, all minors take a set of four core courses. Second, students choose one course from a menu of upper-level courses in environmental science. Third, students choose at least one course from a menu of relevant social science and humanities courses; Biology majors must take two courses from this list.
Students are strongly urged to take additional courses from the lists below. Also highly recommended are courses in statistics and computer science. Students must plan their minors with flexibility, since many courses have prerequisites, enrollment limits, or are scheduled in alternate years. Off-campus programs such as those of the School for Field Studies often can be applied toward the minor; such exposure to international environmental problems is strongly encouraged. Independent study or honors research on appropriate projects may be applied to the minor for at most four (4) credits with the approval of the Environmental Studies Program Director. (Additional courses offered irregularly may also be applicable to the minor requirements upon approval of the Director of Environmental Studies.)
I. Required Core Courses (16 credits)
BIOL 3/Environmental Biology (4) OR BIOL 177/Advanced Environmental Science (4)
BIOL 7/Ecology and Evolution (4)
ECON 5/Economic Principles: Microeconomics (4)
CHEM 3/Chemistry and the Environment (4) OR CHEM 6/Principles of Chemistry I (4)
II. Environmental Science (4 credits)
BIOL 162/Ornithology (4)
BIOL 167/Animal Behavior (4)
BIOL 169/Conservation Biology (4)
BIOL 171/Plant Morphology and Identification (2-4)
BIOL 173/Forest Ecology (4)
BIOL 178/Biogeography (3)
BIOL 179/Laboratory in Biogeography (1-2)
BIOL 182/Oceanography (4)
BIOL 183/Marine Ecology I: Tropical Habitats (4)
BIOL 184/Marine Ecology II: Temperate Habitats (4)
BIOL 186/Freshwater Ecology (4)
ENVST 100/Special Topics in Environmental Science (science emphasis) (4) (offered occasionally)
III. Environmental Economics, Ethics and Society(4 credits; 8 credits for biology majors)
ANTH 11/Cultural Ecology (4)
ECON 45/Environmental Economics (4)
ECON 47/Economics of Business and Sustainability (4)
ECON 145/Sustainable Development (4)
PSCI 141/Seminar on Public Policy. (Counts toward the minor only when topic is environmental policy) (4)
REL 152/Environmental Ethics (4)
ENVST 101/Special Topics in Environmental Studies (non-science emphasis) (4) (offered occasionally)
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