BS in Environmental Studies, Sustainability, and Sciences

This course focuses on conservation science theories, models, experiments and fieldwork. We will examine ecological and genetic aspects of conservation of biological diversity at gene, population, species, ecosystem, landscape, and global levels. This course provides a detailed examination of the discipline including the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss, established and emerging conservation approaches and strategies, and the ecological and evolutionary theory that underlies these approaches.

In this course students will learn how to examine complex issues through different theoretical frameworks. Students will reflect on how these frameworks can empower them to confront issues in their personal or professional lives. Students will identify current and applicable social research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods) to address issues and questions, whether local or global, especially in relation to development of future academic pursuits, such as the senior project. Beginning with productive questions, students will formulate hypotheses, identify appropriate research strategies for data collection, discuss reliability and validity issues, and observe ethical protocols. The course will culminate in each student designing and proposing a research project (abstract, introduction/background, literature review, methodology/design, etc.) that reflects standards of academic scholarship.

This course introduces students to a variety of cultures from around the world, and focuses on how each developed in relation to its natural environment. The course also examines historical and economic changes that have resulted from environmental changes, population and demographic shifts, and interactions between cultural groups. 

Students are introduced to how philosophical assumptions and worldviews permeate our orientations to the natural world. We also examine our duties to preserve natural resources, conserve biodiversity, and expand our conceptions of rights to include those of future generations, other species, and terrestrial and aquatic habitats. 

This course focuses on understanding macroeconomic theories and the reliance that market mechanisms have historically had on cheap resource availability and cheap energy. The course additionally addresses our understanding of the health and ecological benefits that diverse ecosystems provide, and for finding ways to internalize these values inside of market mechanisms. 

In this course, students explore fundamental environmental justice issues and effective means of advocacy. Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Environmental justice is achieved when everyone – regardless of race, color, national origin, or income – has the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process. Students will gain awareness of environmental justice issues and examine case studies from around the world.

This course is designed to introduce students to emerging trends in the natural sciences concerning the environment. Several issues will be addressed, including: biomes; biological communities; species interactions; biodiversity; environmental health and toxicology; land use; water, air and solid waste; energy conservation; climate; natural preservation; resource depletion and management; human population growth; food; urbanization; scarcity; and sustainability.

This course focuses on understanding public health in relation to environmental factors such as air pollution, water pollution, and solid and hazardous waste disposal. It also addresses public health concerns raised by risks due to food supplies in a global marketplace, the spread of infectious diseases, and the apparatuses necessary to deliver health care services to poor and under-serviced populations. 

This course is designed to give students an interdisciplinary perspective of ocean science focusing on marine ecosystems, ocean currents, adaptations of marine organisms, and environmental problems, such as ocean acidification. The ecology of several oceanic organisms will be covered including: microbes, algae, invertebrates, fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals. As the largest ecosystem on Earth, students will learn about various marine habitats including coral reefs, mangroves, estuaries, sandy beaches, rocky shores, the open ocean and the deep sea.

This course will focus on factors that have led to the alarming rate of growth in the world’s population. It will focus on the demographics of population growth and disparities in wealth distribution. It will also examine methods of curbing global population growth, some of which use laws and public policies, some of which use market mechanisms and some of which use the development and health and educational networks. 

This course is an introduction to system and other concepts related to Systems Thinking. It explores the axiological principles of sustainability in addition to introducing such concepts as complexity and emergence. Systems thinking is also approached in terms of interdisciplinary perspectives such as the principles of ecology, consumption patterns of energy and natural resources, cultural sustainability, environmental politics, social justice, ethics, sustainable architecture, and engineering.