Environmental Studies Major
Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary program that combines natural science and social science. It examines local, regional, national, and international environmental problems in a holistic manner. There are two tracks to the major, the Natural Science Track and the Social Science Track. The College is also a member of a consortium of small liberal arts colleges that participates in a semester of study in environmental science, known as the Semester in Environmental Science, at The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA.
Except for transfer students and students accepted in the Semester in Environmental Science program, no more than two courses taken off campus can be applied toward the major. Courses taken off campus need pre-approval by the director.
Advanced Placement: Students who score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Environmental Science test can place out of ES 110, but not ES 111. Advanced Placement credit in Environmental Science does not count towards fulfilling Area 1 of the General Education requirements. See Academic Regulations for general information about Advanced Placement credit.
The major consists of a minimum of twelve courses distributed between offerings in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. All environmental studies majors will take a minimum of one introductory environmental studies course (Environmental Studies 110 or 111), two introductory science courses, one field-based science course, one course focused on policy or economic issues, and a senior-level seminar. Each student will complete the requirements for one of the following tracks:
Natural Science Track
This track consists of thirteen courses distributed as follows:
1. Introductory course:
| ES 110 | ENV STDS AS A NATURAL SCIENCE | 4 |
| or | |
| ES 111 | ENV STDS AS A SOCIAL SCIENCE | 4 |
2. Four natural science courses:
3. Two courses from the following field-ecological group:
4. One course from the following organismal/analytical group:
5. Two courses from the following:
6. One of the following policy or economics-based courses:
7. One social science-humanities elective from the following:
8. One senior-level seminar chosen from the following:
| ES 493 | ADVANCED STUDY SEMINAR | 4 |
| ECO 404 | SEM: ENVIR/NAT RESOURCE ECON | 4 |
Advisers for Natural Science Track: Askins, Chomiak, Hine, Jones, Lizarralde, Loomis, Siver, Thompson, Zimmer
Social Science Track
This track consists of twelve courses distributed as follows:
1. One of the following:
| ES 110 | ENV STDS AS A NATURAL SCIENCE | 4 |
| or | |
| ES 111 | ENV STDS AS A SOCIAL SCIENCE | 4 |
2. Two of the following natural science courses:
3. One of the following field courses:
4. One of the following:
5. Environmental Studies 212
6. One of the following policy-based courses:
7. Four of the following social science-humanities electives:
8. One senior-level seminar chosen from the following:
| ES 493 | ADVANCED STUDY SEMINAR | 4 |
| ECO 404 | SEM: ENVIR/NAT RESOURCE ECON | 4 |
Advisers for Social Science Track: Dawson, Flagg, Frasure, Graesch, Lizarralde, Neely, Turner, Zhang