Environmental Geology Degree Requirements
      Students interested in environmental science, environmental law and policy, energy, water and natural resources, or global change often consider a interdisciplinary major in environmental geology. In addition to selecting courses from core areas in geology, environmental geology majors take environmental studies electives and may pursue courses in biology, geography, economics, philosophy, and other departments.

Concentration in Environmental Geology:
    Required: a minimum of 4 environmental studies courses - including:

    • ENST 100, Earth and Environmental Processes
        or GEOG 102, Environmental Geography (with lab)
        or GEOL 101, Environmental Geology

    • ENST 101, Social Science Perspectives on Environmental Issues
        or with the approval of the program director, two of the following, each from a different department:

            ECON 228, Environmental Economics
            ECON 328, Natural Resource Economics
            GEOG 206, Environmental Issues
            GEOG/SOAN 314, Population Issues and Analysis
            SOAN 345, Environmental Politics

    • ONE of the following:
        CORE 114, Ecology, Ethics and Wilderness
        ENST 202, Environmental Ethics
        ENST/PHIL 232, Environmental Justice

    • ENST 480, Interdisciplinary Investigations of Environmental Issues
        or (with approval of the concentration adviser and program director)
        completion of another 400-level course or semester-length project

    Required: a minimum of 7 geology courses - including:

    • TWO required courses:

        GEOL 201, Mineralogy
        and GEOL 203, Environmental Geochemistry and Analysis

    • FIVE additional geology courses:

      • ALL numbered 200 or higher
      • at least ONE 400-level course (excluding GEOL 440, 441, and 491)
      • including at least one from each of the following categories:

        a. Nature of the Earth: the composition and structure of the Earth's interior and crust

        GEOL 202, Petrology
        GEOL 220, Volcanology
        GEOL 305, Structural Geology
        GEOL 310, Environmental Economic Geology
        GEOL 418, Tectonics

        b. Earth Processes: the interaction of Earth materials with the hydrosphere and the atmosphere

        GEOL 302, Stratigraphy and Sedimentation
        GEOL 307, Coastal Geology
        GEOL 330, Hydrogeology
        GEOL 403, Geochemistry
        GEOL 416, Marine Geology

        c. Life on Earth: the historical, evolutionary, and ecological framework of life on Earth

        GEOL 215, History of Life
        GEOL 315, Invertebrate Paleontology and Paleoecology
        GEOL 415, Principles of Paleontology
        GEOL 426, Marine Environments

    A GPA of 2.0 in the concentration is necessary for graduation. Students must receive a passing grade for all courses counted toward the major.

    Strongly Recommended:

      a field experience such as that provided by GEOL 320, Techniques of Field Geology

      a year each of introductory calculus, chemistry, and physics or biology