The request to revise the B.A. in Earth Sciences

Date: June 5, 2013
To: College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
From: Office of Academic Affairs
Approved On: April 2, 2013
Approved by: Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Committee
Implementation Date: Spring 2014

Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.

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BACHELOR OF ARTS IN EARTH SCIENCES

A major in Earth Sciences leading to a B.A. degree consists of a minimum of 40 53 hours of required Earth Science (ESCI) and , Geology (GEOL), Geography (GEOG) and out of Department courses, and 10 16 hours of elective courses coursework. Students are responsible for meeting the course prerequisites for all out of Department coursework.

REQUIRED COURSES (40 37 hours)

  • ESCI 1101 Earth Science-Geography (3)
  • ESCI 1101L Earth Science-Geography Lab (1)
  • GEOL 1200 Physical Geology (3)
  • GEOL 1200L Physical Geology Lab (1)
  • GEOL 1210 Earth History (3)
  • GEOL 1210L Earth History Lab (1)
  • GEOG 1105 The Location of Human Activity (3)
  • ESCI 2101 The Environmental Dilemma (3)
  • ESCI 2210 Field Methods in the Earth Sciences (3) or
  • GEOG 2110 Introduction to Geographic Research (3)
  • GEOG 2103 Elements of GIScience and Technologies (4)
  • GEOG 3215 Environmental Planning (3) (W)
  • GEOG 4215 Urban Ecology (3)
  • ESCI 3105 Oceanography (3)
  • ESCI 4140 Hydrologic Processes (4)
  • ESCI 4210 Soil Science (4)
  • ESCI 4600 Earth Sciences Seminar (1)
  • GEOL 3115 Mineralogy (4)
  • GEOL 3190 Environmental Geology (3)
  • ESCI 4600 Earth Sciences Seminar (1)
  • ECON 4181 Energy and Environmental Economics (3) or
  • GEOG 3220 Renewable Energy and Regional Energy Markets (3) or
  • GEOL 3105 The Earth’s Mineral Resources: Sustainability and the Environmental Impacts of Recovery (3)
  • STAT 1220 Elements of Statistics I (BUSN) (3) or
  • STAT 1221 Elements of Statistics I (3) or
  • STAT 1222 Introduction to Statistics (3)
  • GEOL 4105 Geomorphology (3)
  • METR 3140 Intro to Meteorology & Climatology (3)

ELECTIVE COURSES (10 16 hours)

Ten Sixteen hours of elective coursework may be selected from additional ESCI and , GEOL and GEOG courses, BIOL 3144 Ecology, BIOL 3144L Ecology Laboratory, PHIL 3520 Philosophy of Science and STAT 2223 Elements of Statistics II. GEOG 2103, 3200, 3215 or 4120, CHEM 1251, 1252, and associated labs, PHYS 1101, 1102 or PHYS 2101 and 2102 and associated labs, MATH 1241, 1242, and STAT 2122.

ESCI 3205. Water Resources. (3) The distribution of fresh water and its relevance to society and ecosystems. Fundamentals of the science of water, human use and influence on water, and issues of water management, policy, and law will be discussed. Three hours of lecture per week. (Fall, On demand)

GEOL 3105: The Earth’s Mineral Resources: Sustainability and the Environmental Impacts of Recovery. (3) Prerequisite GEOL 1200 Physical Geology. This course will focus on the origin, distribution, consumption rates and environmental impacts of mining and processing the Earth’s mineral resources. A significant portion of the class lectures will promote a deeper understanding of the current oil, gas and coal industries and their relationship to the Worlds energy production and use. The long- term sustainability of these energy systems will also be discussed. (Yearly)