ENV 1500.20 Introduction to Environmental Science 

3 Credits. Fall (Gen Ed Core VI)  
Physical, biological, and cultural dimensions of environmental problems. The course surveys the historical roots of these problems and then considers components such as population pressure, air and water pollution, land use planning, energy and other earth resources, and public health. Topics are presented in an ecological framework.

ENV 1500.10 Introduction to Environmental Science - Disc.

1 Credit. Fall
In depth discussion of topics covered in lecture.  Three additional 3-hour field trips required.  Required of Environmental Studies and Science majors.

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ENV/POL 2080 Environmental Justice

4 Credits. Special Topic Offered Irregularly 
An introduction to the impact of environmental laws and policies on the fair treatment of people of different races and incomes in the U.S.  Global climate change, nuclear energy, and public responsibility for the environment constitute the center of a political and legal analysis of the relationship of citizens and government to the environment.

ENV 2165 Culture, Consumption, and the City

3 Credits. Alternate years
An introduction to the development of consumer society and consumer culture, with emphasis on the city as a landscape of consumption. Topics include: commodification; materialism; large-scale changes in cities and industries; the street as a site for identity; neighborhoods as contest spaces; and the environmental and social consequences of consumerism.

ENV 2245  Society and Nature


3 Credits. Alt. Spring  
This course brings a sociological perspective to environmental issues, both past and present.  Who is civilized?  Who is savage?  What is nature?  The course addresses questions of how human societies, animals, and the land have shaped each other.  Focus is placed on the root causes and consequences of today's environmental crises.  Topics include world hunger, water, and environmental equity.

ENV/ECO 2280  Environmental Economics

4 Credits  Special topic alternate years (Spring)
Economics can help define, address, and solve many environmental problems. This course provides students with a set of conceptual tools that are useful in addressing environmental issues like pollution and pollution abatement, the conservation of natural resources, environmental regulation, and the political economy of environmentalism.

Prerequisite: LWR 1110; ECO 1510 (effective Fall 2006)

ENV/LIT 2440  Environmental Literature

4 Credits  Special topic offered irregularly (Fall)
The history of writing about nature and the environment in the U.S. from the beginnings of European colonization to the recently proclaimed death of “Nature.” Authors include Bartram, Jefferson, Emerson, Thoreau, Cather, Abbey, Dillard, DeLillo, and Le Guin. Recommended for environmental science and literature majors, as well as anyone interested in the intersection of these two fields of inquiry.

ENV/POL 2510 Environmental Policy

4 Credits.  Spring, alternate years
The environment has become increasingly significant in national and international politics. This course presents the key concepts and actors, the concerns and issues of environmental policy, with the goal of understanding the relationships among natural, political, economic, and social systems that shape environmental policy.  Topics addressed include: population growth, natural resource use, energy and global climate change, endangered species, air and water pollution, and environmental justice.

Prerequisite: ENV 1500

ENV 2700  Energy and Natural Resources

4 Credits  Spring, alternate years
Principles associated with the development and management of of natural resources, including fossil fuels.  Discussion of sustainability, environmental and social implications of exploiting the natural environment, and current and future of renewable resources.

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 or POI

ENV/ECO 2610  Looking at Cities: Jane Jacobs and Beyond

4 Credits.  Special topic, offered irregularly
Jane Jacobs is perhaps the most important intellectual figure and influence in urban planning in the second half of the 20th century. This course examines her writings on urban theory, ethics, and economics to help frame and understand contemporary urban issues.

Prerequisite: An economics course

ENV/POL 3020 Law, Energy, and the Environment

3 Credits. Fall, Alternate Years 
This course investigates the interactions between the legal system and the environment that occur as the result of society's energy use.  Class projects, including campus energy use surveys, form an important part of the curriculum. 

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 or permission of instructor

ENV 3045 Environmental Impact Assessment 

4 Credits. Spring, Alternate Years 
This course prepares students to participate on conservation advisory councils, environmental management councils, and planning boards, and to work with consulting firms. Students use topographic and soil maps, aerial photographs, and identification manuals, and conduct field surveys of soils and vegetation. Students pay for some laboratory supplies. 

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 or permission of instructor

ENV 3110.20 Geology 

3 Credits. Fall, Alternate Years
Energetics and interaction among the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Integration of the student's background in biology and chemistry with the physical sciences permits the study of earth materials and processes, the oceans, geologic hazards, and climate change. 

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 or permission of instructor 

ENV 3110.10 Geology Laboratory 

1 Credit. Fall, Alternate Years
Introduction to rock and mineral identification, topographic and geologic maps, structural geology, and landform analysis.  

Co-requisite: ENV 3110

ENV 3120 General Ecology 

5 Credits. Fall 
A rigorous examination of classical and emerging concepts of ecology.  Topics include:  life histories, population growth, competition, sexual selection, symbiosis, predation, disturbance and succession, energy flow and material cycling, biogeography and conservation ecology.  Includes weekly laboratory work and four field trips.   

Prerequisite: BIO 1560

ENV 3150 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 

4 Credits.  Fall
Introduces the widely used technology for the storage, display, and analysis of spatially mapped data in the environmental and social sciences.  This digital tool is used in land use and resource planning, conservation biology, wildlife management, anthropological and sociological analyses, and pollution monitoring.  Students learn to use the ArcView system with a variety of data.

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 (or permission of instructor) and working knowledge of Windows  

ENV 3155 Advanced Spatial Analysis with GIS 

4 Credits.  Special topic, offered irregularly
Includes practical methods used in environmental, social, and technical disciplines to define spatial patterns, detect temporal changes, and make predictions.  The course uses case studies from hydrological modeling and environmental and groundwater risk assessment.  Topics include GIS data gathering and compilation, principles of spatial analysis and geoprocessing, 3-D modeling, preparation of maps an GIS reports. 

Prerequisite: ENV 3150

ENV 3200 Environment & Health

3 Credits. Offered irregularly (Spring) 
A general overview, including: a) an introduction to the principles of toxicology, animal metabolism and public health, b) a survey of toxic substance problems in the environment, and c) an examination of their scientific basis and of public policy for their remediation.
 
Prerequisite: BIO 1550, or CHE 1550, or ENV 1500, or permission of instructor

ENV 3240 Environmental Education

4 Credits.  Fall, alternate years
Prepares students to become communicators and teachers of environmental values, concepts, and issues.  Topics include: environmental and educational philosophies; basic components of environmental literacy; teaching methods; cognitive development; effective practices for the classroom and nature center; reviews of local environmental education programs.

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 or permission of the instructor

ENV 3300 Environmental Regulations 

4 Credits. Fall, alternate years
This course acquaints students and environmental professionals with basic domestic and international environmental regulations and policies as used in enforcement/regulatory agencies and donor/lender institutions. Specific federal acts discussed include NEPA, Clean Air, Clean Water, RCRA, Superfund/CERCLA, TSCA, and FIFRA. 

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 and junior-level standing (or permission of instructor)

ENV 3720 Aquatic Pollution 

4 Credits. Alt. Spring  
This course examines the sources and impacts of pollution in freshwater and marine environments, including eutrophication, pathogens, pesticides, heat, heavy metals, oil, acid rain, and plastics.  The effects are examined through the lens of ecology.  Two field trips are included.

Prerequisite: ENV 1500 or BIO 1560 or permission of instructor plus sophomore standing

ENV 3800 Human Ecology 

3 Credits. Fall 
An interdisciplinary review of the reciprocal relationships between culture and environment in both traditional and complex societies.  Past human-induced environmental degradation provide lessons applicable to current problems.  Topics include the Green Revolution; cultural change and population trends; traditional vs. industrial food production; impact of global change, concepts of sustainability and the commons. 

Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor

ENV 3805 Conservation Biology

4 Credits. Spring, alternate years
The decline in biodiversity is a serious threat to the biosphere.  This course covers concepts and questions in a new synthetic discipline, which focuses on biodiversity protection.  Beginning with the origin, patterns, and maintenance of biodiversity, the class explores the values of biodiversity, the nature of the threats to biodiversity, the demography and genetics of small populations, strategies to protect biodiversity, and ethical and legal bases of conservation efforts.

Prerequisite: BIO 1550 and 1560, plus one upper-level BIO or ENV elective.

ENV 3820 Animal Behavior

5 Credits. Spring, alternate years
An evolutionary approach that addresses questions about the development, physiological basis, functional value, and evolutionary history of behaviors.  Topics include foraging and anti-predator behaviors, reproductive strategies of males and females, communication, habitat relationships, and sociobiology.  Las, files, and field trips illustrate concepts and research methods.  one weekend field trip required.  Students pay for some lab expenses. 

Prerequisite: BIO 1550 and 1560, or PSY 1530

ENV 3880 Junior Seminar in Environmental Studies 

2 Credits. Spring 
A seminar course to prepare students for conducting research in environmental science. Presentation of faculty research, analysis of research papers and proposals, and guest lecturers accompany student development of a senior project research proposal. Required of all environmental science majors. 

Prerequisite: Junior status

ENV 3900 Independent Study

1-3 Credits. Every semester  
Students with special interests may work independently under the sponsorship of a qualified faculty member.  Independent study generally involves laboratory and/or field projects, often leading to Senior Project research.  Independent study may be substituted for one lab study or for one 4000 level course required by the board of study with the permission of the department chair. Workload of four hours per week per credit is required.

Prerequisite: Junior status

ENV 4460 Marine Ecology  

5 Credits. Offered irregularly (Fall)
An advanced course that examines the biotic and abiotic factors controlling the abundance and distribution of marine organisms.  Shallow and deep benthic, intertidal, estuarine, coastal and open ocean systems are examined in detail.  The course emphasizes the reading of primary literature.  Field trips stress experimentation, data collection, and analysis.

Prerequisite: BIO 1560 (ENV 3120 strongly recommended)

ENV 4750 Applied Terrestrial Ecology 

5 Credits. Offered irregularly  (Fall)
Advanced work on application of ecological principles to management problems in terrestrial systems. Lectures, seminars, lab and weekend field trips address problems in forestry, wildlife management, endangered species, habitat restoration, pest management, and agriculture. Students pay for some laboratory supplies. 

Prerequisite: ENV 3120 (may be taken contemporaneously) or upper division students who have completed ENV 1520, or permission of instructor

ENV 4900 Tutorial 

1-3 Credits. Every semester  
Tutorials are permitted if the board of study offers no formal course covering the material.  Tutors meet with individuals or small groups to discuss readings or other assignments.  Each credit assumes 50 minutes meeting time and two hours outside work per week.  Permission of program chair required for freshman and sophomores. 

Prerequisite: Junior status

ENV 4990 
Senior Project 

8 Credits. Every semester 
Two semester, eight-credit independent study leading to a baccalaureate thesis.  Students may join in the faculty sponsor's research, pursuing an identifiable problem in that context, or choose a relevant environmental problem for experimental and review. Students with a special interest, not represented by a member of the environmental science faculty, can sometimes find research project supervisors at other institutions; such external projects must be pre-approved. 

Prerequisite: 90 credits, ENV 3880