BS in Environmental Sciences
The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences requires a minimum of 120 hours including a minor. Students in this degree program take a broad, interdisciplinary approach that combines science with social science and humanities courses. Students are required to minor in a science to develop a deeper understanding of a specialized scientific field. Students with this degree are prepared for graduate school and career opportunities federal and state regulatory agencies; wildlife ranges and zoological parks; environmental consulting firms; state, county and city parks; state natural resource agencies; university and secondary schools; and nonprofit and non-government organizations (NGOs)
The completion of the Environmental Sciences Major requires a minor approved by your advisor. Common minors include Environmental Biology, and Geology. Other possible minors include the Minor in Renewable Energy or Minor Green Chemistry and Engineering.
Students also are required to complete a 100-hr environment-related internship (EEES 4940 for 1credit hour) in an agency, corporation, university laboratory or other approved location.
With the exception of EEES 4940, students may not take any courses required in the major as P/NC.
NOTE: Students pursuing a BS in Environmental Sciences cannot double major in a BS in Biology with a Concentration in Ecology and Organismal Biology nor BS in Environmental Geology.
For the Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences (ENSC) The following courses must be included:
EEES 1020 Introductory Geology Laboratory
EEES 2020 Introduction to the Environment: Energy and Climate
EEES 2030 Introduction to the Environment: Land-use and Water
EEES 2100 Fundamentals Of Geology
EEES 2150 Biodiversity
EEES 2160 Biodiversity Laboratory
EEES 2500 Computer Applications In Environmental Sciences
EEES 2510 Advanced Computer Applications
One of the following:
EEES 2760 Field Methods or EEES 2600 Analytical Methods
EEES 3050 General Ecology
EEES 3060 General Ecology Lab
One of the following:
EEES 2400 Oceanography and Water Resources or EEES 3100 Surficial Processes or EEES 4240 Soil Science
EEES 3900 Literature And Communications In The Environmental Sciences
EEES 4940 Internship
EEES 4970 Environmental Capstone
EEES 4960 Senior Seminar
One advanced EEES laboratory course
The following RELATED courses are also required:
MATH 2640 Statistics for Applied Science
Calculus I and II: (MATH 1750 and MATH 1760, or MATH 1850 and MATH 1860)
CHEM 1230 General Chemistry I
CHEM 1280 General Chemistry Lab I
CHEM 1240 General Chemistry II
CHEM 1290 General Chemistry Lab II
Four of following RELATED courses, including at least 1 in each of the social sciences and humanities groups:
Social Science group:
GEPL 3900 Environmental Planning
PSC 4340 Environmental Policy
ECON 3240 Environmental Economics
ECON 3270 Natural Resource Economics
Humanities group
REL 2980 Religion and Environment
PHIL 3180 Environmental Ethics
PJS 2500 Peace Education
Combined bachelor's to master's-Environmental Sciences Pipeline Program
Undergraduate students accepted to the Environmental Sciences Pipeline Program will be admitted to the MS Environmental Sciences Non-thesis program and allowed to complete up to nine credits of graduate level classes during their final academic year of undergraduate studies. Students admitted into the pipeline program must apply for admission to the College of Graduate Studies for the semester that they intend to matriculate. They will then continue in to the graduate program upon completion of the undergraduate degree requirements. The graduate coursework (up to nine hours) may be applied to completion of both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. It will be the joint responsibility of the faculty and administrators in the undergraduate and graduate programs to supervise students admitted to the combined program option, to ensure that the limit of nine hours taken as an undergraduate is strictly enforced, and to request that the College of Graduate Studies change their matriculation from Undergraduate to Graduate when they meet all undergraduate degree requirements.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
UT undergraduate students must 1) be majoring in either Biology with a Concentration in Ecology and Organismal Biology or Environmental Sciences, 2) have a minimum of 3.2 cumulative undergraduate grade point average that will include undergraduate credits earned at other institutions and transferred to UT, and 3) have approval of their advisor and department chair.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Students holding a junior standing should apply by March 31 of that year. Application to this early pipeline program must contain 1) a letter of interest, 2) a completed graduate admission application, and 3) at least 3 letter(s) of recommendation from faculty members.
Pipeline B.S. to M.S. COURSES
The following provisions apply for classes taken for graduate credit: 1) graduate classes taken at The University of Toledo only after the student is accepted in the program, 2) EEES 6250 Graduate Launch and EEES 6300 Integrated Environmental & Earth Systems must be taken in the last two semesters of their undergraduate program, 3) Any other EEES course at the 5000 or 6000 level may be included in the approved nine semester hours of graduate credit taken as an undergraduate.
Below is a sample plan of study (for the Environmental Biology Minor1). Consult your advisor and the degree audit for your program requirements.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Term | Hours | |
| NSM 1000 | Foundations of Academic Success for Science and Math Majors | 2 |
| EEES 2020 | Introduction to the Environment: Energy and Climate | 3 |
| CHEM 1230 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| CHEM 1280 | General Chemistry Lab I | 1 |
| ENGL 1110 | College Composition I (Arts/Humanities Core) | 3 |
| Arts/Humanities Core | 3 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Second Term | ||
| EEES 2030 | Introduction to the Environment Land-Use and Water | 3 |
| EEES 2100 | Fundamentals Of Geology | 4 |
| EEES 1020 | Introductory Geology Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM 1240 | General Chemistry II | 4 |
| CHEM 1290 | General Chemistry Lab II | 1 |
| Social Science Core | 3 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Third Term | ||
| EEES 2150 | Biodiversity | 4 |
| EEES 2160 | Biodiversity Laboratory | 1 |
| ENGL 1130 | College Composition II: Academic Disciplines And Discourse | 3 |
| MATH 1750 or MATH 1850 | Calculus For The Life Sciences With Applications I or Single Variable Calculus I | 4 |
| EEES 2500 | Computer Applications In Environmental Sciences | 1 |
| EEES 2760 or EEES 3100 | Methods for Environmental Sciences or Surficial Processes | 3 |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Fourth Term | ||
| EEES 2600 or EEES 2400 | Methods for Environmental Sciences or Oceanography And Water Resources | 3 |
| EEES 2510 | Advanced Computer Applications | 2 |
| US Diversity Core | 3 | |
| MATH 1760 or MATH 1860 | Calculus For The Life Sciences With Applications II or Single Variable Calculus II | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Hours | 14 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fifth Term | ||
| EEES 3050 | General Ecology | 3 |
| EEES 3060 | General Ecology Laboratory | 1 |
| MATH 2640 | Statistics for Applied Science | 3 |
| Social Science Core | 3 | |
| PHIL 3180 | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| Non-US Diversity | 3 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Sixth Term | ||
| EEES 3900 | Literature And Communications In The Environmental Sciences | 3 |
| GEPL 3900 | Environmental Planning | 3 |
| Environmental Biology Minor | 4 | |
| Elective | 5 | |
| Hours | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Seventh Term | ||
| EEES 4940 | Internship | 1 |
| EEES 4970 | Senior Environmental Capstone | 3 |
| PSC 4340 | Environmental Policy | 3 |
| Environmental Biology Minor | 3 | |
| Advanced Lab | 1 | |
| Arts/Humanities Core | 3 | |
| Hours | 14 | |
| Eighth Term | ||
| ECON 3240 | Environmental Economics | 3 |
| EEES 4960 | Senior Seminar | 1 |
| Environmental Biology Minor | 6 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Hours | 13 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
- PLO A1. Environmental Science requires a basic understanding of geology, including an understanding of earth materials and landforms. A1. Students will be able to identify and classify minerals, rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic), and common fossils.
- PLO A2. Environmental Science requires a basic understanding of geology, including an understanding of earth materials and landforms. A2. Students will be able to identify landforms and interpret formative processes of landforms from maps and digital elevation models.
- PLO B. Environmental Science uses the principles of biology to understand how organisms are affected by the environment. B1. Students will be able to explain how both abiotic factors, such as climate and pollution, and biotic factors, such as competition and disease, affect organisms, communities, and ecosystems.
- PLO C. Environmental Scientists interact with Social Scientists to understand the human context in which environmental problems exist. C1. Students will be able to propose and discuss public policy and planning options for improving or managing factors that impact the environment.
- PLO D. Environmental Scientists provide the science to address the impacts and solutions of environmental problems. D1. Students will be able to analyze the major environmental problems that are affecting our earth and well-being, including climate change, pollution, and resource management.
- PLO E. Environmental Science is a field-oriented science conducted, in part, through field investigations, which requires expertise in collecting field-based data. 1. Students will be able to organize and conduct data collection for a field-based investigation.
- PLO F1. Environmental Scientists require technical skills, including computing, statistics, and communication. 1. Students will be able to analyze data both graphically and statistically.
- PLO F2. Environmental Scientists require technical skills, including computing, statistics, and communication. 2. Students will be able to interpret and report results of a research project, in both audio-visual and written forms, using appropriate technology.
- PLO G1. Environmental Science is multi-disciplinary, but our students must have an area of concentration, such as Biology, Geology, or Chemistry (within Environmental Science). Students should be able to describe and explain examples of the linkages among their area of concentration and the other areas of Environmental Science.