Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science
The main objective of the Environmental Science degree program is to produce graduates who are well educated in the processes and interactions that occur in and between the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. To achieve this, the curriculum draws from a number of disciplines. Students have the opportunity to be trained in basic mathematical and scientific methods and the application of these methods in examining the relationships between natural processes and human endeavors.
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS (2012-2013 CATALOG)
UAS students must fulfill all UAS General Education Requirements (GERs), and ENVS major requirements, breadth requirements, and upper-division electives for a minimum of 120 credit hours. Courses in a degree program may be applied to only one type of degree requirement. For instance, courses used to fulfill the major requirements cannot be used to fulfill the GERs. Specific recommendations for the GERs in Environmental Science are listed below. 48 of the 120 credits hours must be at the upper-division level (300 or above). 24 of the upper-division courses must be completed at UAS.
| Minimum Credit Hours | 120 | ||
| General Education Requirements | 36 | ||
| Students should consult with an advisor and select courses that satisfy prerequisites required in this degree program. | |||
| Must include: | |||
| ENVS | S102 | Earth and Environment | 4 |
| GEOL | S104 | Physical Geology | 4 |
| MATH | S200 | Calculus I | 4 |
| Major Requirements | 48 | ||
Dept. | Course # | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIOL | S105 | Fundamentals of Biology I | 4 |
| CHEM | S105 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| CHEM | S106 | General Chemistry II | 4 |
| ENVS | S338 | Introduction to GIS | 3 |
| ENVS | S420 | Atmospheric Science | 3 |
| GEOL | S301 | Geomorphology | 4 |
| GEOL | S302 | Hydrology | 4 |
| MATH | S201 | Calculus II | 4 |
| Select one from the following (4 credits): | |||
| CHEM | S341 | Organic and Biologic Chemistry I | 4 |
| CHEM | S350 | Environmental Chemistry | 4 |
| Select one from the following (4 credits): | |||
| BIOL | S271 | Ecology | 4 |
| GEOL | S271 | Earth Materials | 4 |
| select both | |||
| PHYS | S103 | College Physics I | 4 |
| PHYS | S104 | College Physics II | 4 |
| or both | |||
| PHYS | S211 | General Physics I | 4 |
| PHYS | S212 | General Physics II | 4 |
| Captone Courses | |||
| ENVS | S492 | ENVS Seminar* | 1 |
| Select at least one from the following (2 credit): | |||
| ENVS | S491 | Environmental Science Internship | 1-4 |
| ENVS | S498 | Directed Research | 1-6 |
| **May be repeated once for a total of 2 credits; not a substitute for ENVS S491 or S498 | |||
| Breadth Requirements | 20 | ||
| Select from the following (20 credits total): | |||
| ENVS | S110 | Intro to Geographic Information Systems | 1 |
| ENVS | S111 | Intro to Differential Global Positioning Systems | 1 |
| ENVS | S200 | Hazardous Materials Management | 3 |
| ENVS | S301 | Soil Sciences | 4 |
| ENVS | S311 | Technical Writing for Science Majors | 3 |
| ENVS | S402 | Limnology | 4 |
| ENVS | S406 | Remote Sensing | 3 |
| ENVS | S407 | Snow Hydrology | 4 |
| ENVS | S410 | Advanced Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| ENVS | S414 | Biogeochemistry | 3 |
| ENVS | S491 | Internship in ENVS Field | 1-4 |
| ENVS | S492 | Environmental Science Seminar* | 1 |
| ENVS | S498 | Research in Environmental Science | 1-6 |
| GEOL | S300 | Geology of Alaska | 3 |
| GEOL | S310 | Glaciation and Climate Change | 3 |
| GEOL | S315 | Glacier Surveying* | 3 |
| ___ | S__ | Juneau Icefield Program courses** | 3-9 |
| *May be repeated once | |||
| **Juneau Icefield Research Program Courses are offered only in the summer |  | ||
Icefield Courses and Academic Credit: Students are generally registered for a minimum of 3 credits through the UAS. Six credits comprise a full load. Additional credits (up to 9 per summer session) are available with cost borne by the participant. Courses are in Earth Systems Field Science, emphasizing geological, glacial, periglacial, geophysical, arctic ecological, and glacio-atmospheric systems. Directed Studies in Mountain and Arctic Earth Systems Sciences can be arranged with concentration on selected topics. | |||
| Additional Natural Sciences Department Breadth courses for ENVS Majors | |||
| BIOL | S271 | Ecology | 4 |
| BIOL | S382 | Wetland Ecology | 4 |
| BIOL | S480 | Aquatic Pollution | 3 |
| BIOL | S481 | Marine Ecology | 4 |
| MATH | S202 | Calculus III | 4 |
| MATH | S302 | Differential Equations | 3 |
| MATH | S305 | Geometry | 3 |
| MATH | S311 | Modern Algebra | 3 |
| MATH | S314 | Linear Algebra | 3 |
| MATH | S460 | Mathematical Modeling | 3 |
| STAT | S273 | Elementary Statistics | 3 |
| STAT | S373 | Probability and Statistics | 3 |
| STAT | S401 | Regression and Analysis of Variance | 4 |
| Electives | 16 | ||
| Must include a minimum of 12 credits at the upper division level. | |||
Minor in Environmental Science
Minimum Credit Hours 18
A minor in Environmental Science will enable non majors to begin to develop an acquaintance with Earth Systems science, expand their awareness of human impacts to these systems, and receive recognition on their transcripts for their efforts. The minor will also provide opportunities for Humanities, Social Science, Business, Education and Career Education majors who would like to broaden their knowledge of physical and biological science without majoring in a Natural Sciences Department degree program. Please contact your advisor or an Environmental Sciences faculty member for specific requirements.
MINOR REQUIREMENTS (2012-2013 CATALOG)
| Minimum Credit Hours | 18 | ||
| ENVS | S102 | Earth and Environment | 4 |
| Select one from the following (4 credits): | |||
| CHEM | S105 | General Chemistry | 4 |
| GEOL | S104 | Physical Geology | 4 |
| PHYS | S103 | College Physics | 4 |
| PHYS | S211 | Gneral Physics | 4 |
| Select 10 credits from the following* | |||
| ENVS | S110 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | 1 |
| ENVS | S111 | Introduction to Differential Global Positioning Systems | 1 |
| ENVS | S301 | Introduction to Soil Science | 4 |
| ENVS | S338 | Introduction to GIS | 3 |
| ENVS | S402 | Limnology | 4 |
| ENVS | S406 | Remote Sensing | 3 |
| ENVS | S407 | Snow Hydrology | 3 |
| ENVS | S414 | Biogeochemistry | 3 |
| ENVS | S410 | Advanced GIS | 3 |
| ENVS | S420 | Atmospheric Science | 3 |
| ENVS | S341 | Organic and Biological Chemistry 1 | 4 |
| ENVS | S350 | Environmental Chemistry | 4 |
| GEOL | S271 | Earth Materials | 4 |
| GEOL | S300 | Geology of Alaska | 3 |
| GEOL | S301 | Geomorphology | 4 |
| GEOL | S302 | Hydrology | 4 |
| GEOL | S310 | Glaciation & Climate Change | 3 |
| GEOL | S315 | Glacier Surveying | 3 |
| *Additional prerequisites are required for upper division courses. | |||
Courses
Courses for Environmental Sciences Majors could include some of the following courses, though specific classes should be selected and arranged with your program advisor. Click on the below links for current course offerings.
The Environmental Sciences 6 year plan for course offerings can be found here (PDF) or (Excel).
Astronomy
ASTR S225 General Astronomy (3 cr)
Biology
BIOL S105 Fundamentals of Biology I (4 cr)
BIOL S271 Ecology (4 cr)
BIOL S382 Wetland Ecology (4 cr)
BIOL S480 Aquatic Pollution (3 cr)
BIOL S481 Marine Ecology (4 cr)
Chemistry
CHEM S105 General Chemistry I (4 cr)
CHEM S106 General Chemistry II (4 cr)
CHEM S341 Organic and Biologic Chemistry I (4 cr)
CHEM S450 Environmental Chemistry (4 cr)
Environmental Science
ENVS S101 Introduction to Environmental Science (4 cr)
ENVS S110 Intro to Geographic Information Systems (1 cr)
ENVS S111 Intro to Differential Global Positioning Systems (1 cr)
ENVS S200 Hazardous Materials Management (3 cr)
ENVS S301 Soil Sciences (4 cr)
ENVS S310 Geographic Info Systems (3 cr)
ENVS S311 Technical Writing for Science Majors (3 cr)
ENVS S402 Limnology (4 cr)
ENVS S403 Remote Sensing (3 cr)
ENVS S404 Snow Hydrology (4 cr)
ENVS S408 Biogeochemistry (3 cr)
ENVS S410 Advanced Geographic Information Systems (3 cr)
ENVS S420 Atmospheric Science (3 cr)
ENVS S491 Internship in ENVS Field (1-4 cr)
ENVS S492-ENVS Seminar (1 cr)
ENVS S493 Planetary Science (3 cr)
ENVS S498-Directed research (1-4 cr)
Geology
GEOL S104 Physical Geology (4 cr)
GEOL 271 Earth Materials (4 cr)
GEOL S300 Geology of Alaska (3 cr)
GEOL 301 Geomorphology (4 cr)
GEOL 302 Hydrology (4 cr)
GEOL S310 Glaciation and Climate Change (3 cr)
GEOL S315 Glacier Surveying* (3 cr)
Mathematics
MATH S200 Calculus I (4 cr)
MATH S201 Calculus II (4 cr)
MATH S202 Calculus III (4 cr)
MATH S302 Differential Equations (3 cr)
MATH S305 Geometry (3 cr)
MATH S311 Modern Algebra (3 cr)
MATH S314 Linear Algebra (3 cr)
MATH S460 Mathematical Modeling (3 cr)
Physics
PHYS S103 College Physics I (4 cr)
PHYS S104 College Physics II (4 cr)
PHYS S211 General Physics I (4 cr)
PHYS S212 General Physics II (4 cr)
Statistics
STAT S273 Elementary Statistics (3 cr)
STAT S373 Probability and Statistics (3 cr)
STAT F401 Regression and Analysis of Variance (4 cr)
Juneau Icefield Program courses (3-9 cr)
Courses are offered only in the summer. For more information see your program advisor or Juneau Icefield Research Program.