ENVS Program

All students take the same core of courses in math, geology, chemistry, biology, and environmental science. You select which area (chemsitry, geology, biology) you wihs to concentration in, which will dictate the rest of the courses needed to obtain the B.S. in Environmental Science.  These courses are integrated in three ENVS courses that you take your freshman,junior, and senior year.  The gateway course to the major is ENVS100 Introduction to Environmental Science followed by ENVS391-393, the junior seminar series.  You are also required to take the ENVS capstone course, ENVS490.

The curriculum has been purposely designed such that you can obtain a double major in your science area with 1-2 quarters of additional work (or less if you work closely with your advisor from the outset).  By doing so, you can leave EWU with a B.S. in Environmental Science along with a B.S. in Biology, Chemistry, or Geology. This will increase your competitiveness, your employment and graduate education opportunites.  For additional information, go to the Double Major menu item.

Note that you must petition for formal admission to the program before enrolling in the Junior seminar series; criteria for acceptance are based on grades in previous science courses.  See your advisor for more information.

Degree program requirements:

  Environmental Science Required Courses (88)

    ENVS 100 Introduction to Environmental Science (5)
    GEOL 120 Physical Geology – The Solid Earth (5)
    GEOL 121 Physical Geology-Surficial processes (5)
    CHEM 151 General Chemistry (5)
    CHEM 152 General Chemistry (5)
    CHEM 153 General Chemistry (5)
    MATH 161 Calculus I (5)

    BIOL 171 Biology I (4)
    BIOL 172 Biology II (4)
    BIOL 173 Biology III (4)
    GEOL 220 Environmental Geology (4)
    BIOL 270 Biological Investigation (3)
    CHEM 316 Environmental Chemistry (5)
    DSCI 245 Applications of Statistics I (4)
    DSCI 346 Applications of Statistics II (4)
    ENVS 391-393 Environmental Science Seminar I, II, and III (3, 1 each to be taken junior year - taught on alternate years only)
    BIOL 440 Ecology (4)
    GEOL 470 Hydrogeology (4)
    ENVS 496 Environmental Regulatory Framework (3) (taught on alternate years only)
    GEOG 323 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (3)
    ENVS 490 Environmental Studies Sr. Capstone (4)*

    *: For program assessment purposes, students in the Environmental Science program will be required to take the Environmental Science capstone. Exceptions will only be made for students pursuing a double major but prior written approval of the Program Director will be required. This exception will insure that students are not required to take two capstone courses.

     

   Environmental Emphases (44-49)    

 Students must satisfy course requirements in any one of the following three  subject areas:

 Biology (44-46)      

    a. General Biological Knowledge (26):
    Any two of the following: (10)
    BIOL 301 Microbiology (5)
    BIOL 302 Botany (5)
    BIOL 303 Invertebrate Zoology (5)
    BIOL 304 Vertebrate Zoology (5)

    All of the following: (16)
    BIOL 410 Genetics (5)
    BIOL 423 Evolution (5)
    BIOL 441 Ecology Lab (2)
    BIOL 444 Field Ecology (4)

    b. Organism- and/or Habitat-Specific Knowledge; Any three (15):
    BIOL 311 Field Botany (5)
    BIOL 324 Entomology (5)
    BIOL 405 Limnology (5)
    BIOL 407 Aquatic Plants (5)
    BIOL 409 Mycology (5)
    BIOL 450 Mammalogy (5)
    BIOL 452 Parasitology (5)
    BIOL 454 Ornithology (5)
    BIOL 462 Ichthyology (5)
    BIOL 481 Freshwater Invertebrates (5)

    c. Applied Biology and Management; Any one (3-5):
    BIOL 406 Water Pollution Biology (3)
    BIOL 442 Conservation Biology (4)
    BIOL 443 Wildlife Management (4)
    BIOL 463 Fisheries Biology & Management (5)
     

 Chemistry (47-49)

    a. Supporting Courses, all required (16-17):

    PHYS 151 General Physics I (4)
    PHYS 152 General Physics II (4)
    PHYS 153 General Physics III (4)
    Select one: (4-5)
    CSCD 225 Programming Principles (5)
    CSCD 230 Scientific Programming in Fortran (5)
    CSCD 335 C Programming Language (4)

    b. General Chemistry Courses, all required (26):
    CHEM 304 Quantitative Analysis (6)
    CHEM 319 Modern Inorganic Chemistry (5)
    CHEM 351 Organic Chemistry I (4)
    CHEM 352 Organic Chemistry II (4)
    CHEM 416 Advanced Environmental Chemistry (3)
    CHEM 421 Physical Chemistry I (4)

    c.     Chemistry Elective, select one (5-6):
    CHEM 353 Organic Chemistry III (3) and
    CHEM 372 Organic Chemistry Lab (3    )

    CHEM 418 Modern Analytical Chemistry (5)

    CHEM 422 Physical Chemistry II (3) and
    CHEM 431 Physical Chemistry Lab I (1)

    CHEM 480 Biochemistry (5)

Geology (47-48)

    GEOL 122 Historical Geology (5)
    GEOL 211 Mineralogy I (4)
    GEOL 212 Mineralogy II (4)
    GEOL 213 Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology (4)
    GEOL 330 Structural Geology I (4)
    GEOL 331 Structural Geology II (4)
    GEOL 411 Stratigraphy (4)
    GEOL 463 Environmental Geochemistry (5)
    GEOL 475 Engineering Geology & Soils (4)
    Select any two: (9-10)
           GEOL 360 Geological Hazards (4)
       GEOL 462 Principles of Geochemistry (5)
      GEOL 465 Analysis of Metals in the Environmental Samples (5)