Environmental Science

Faculty

Michael C. Cann, Ph.D., Co-Director, Chemistry Department;
Michael D. Carey, Ph.D., Co-Director, Biology Department

See Biology and Chemistry for faculty listings.

Overview

The Environmental Science major is an interdisciplinary program of the Biology and Chemistry Departments at The University of Scranton. The Environmental Science major has the following objectives:

1. To prepare students for positions (in the public or private sector) in the broad field of environmental analysis, compliance, and technology;
2. To prepare students for advanced study in environmental science;
3. To provide a sufficiently comprehensive science and liberal arts background to allow students to pursue advanced training or work in other fields that deal with environmental issues, e.g., environmental law, environmental health, and environmental regulation in business and industry.

The Environmental Science program provides a rigorous and comprehensive grounding in the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of the natural environment, and in the analytical and instrumental techniques used to investigate environmental problems. Upper-class students may choose to focus more closely on either the chemical or biological aspects of environmental science, and must complete either an undergraduate research project or an internship in environmental science. The program also is designed to expose students to the social, political, regulatory, economic, and ethical concerns that are commensurate with defining and addressing environmental issues in today’s world.

Environmental Science Curriculum

1. Required courses in the major and cognate include courses in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Natural Science, Mathematics, and Physics.

2. The student must complete four courses from among the following electives within the major; at least one course must be chosen from each group:

   Group A:
   	CHEM 342		Environmental Toxicology		3 credits
   	CHEM 344		Environmental Geochemistry		3 credits
   	CHEM 350		General Biochemistry I		3 credits
   	CHEM 352		Chemical Toxicology		3 credits
   Group B:
   	BIOL 195		Tropical Biology		3 credits
   	BIOL 250		Microbiology		5 credits
   	BIOL 272		Invertebrate Biology		5 credits
   	BIOL 273		Marine Ecology		3 credits
   	BIOL 274		Conservation Biology		3 credits
   	BIOL 349		Plant Physiology		5 credits
   	BIOL 370		Animal Behavior		4.5 credits
   	BIOL 374		Vertebrate Biology		4.5 credits
   	BIOL 375		Evolution		3 credits
   	BIOL 471		Applied Ecology		3 credits
   	BIOL 472		Systems Ecology		3 credits
   	BIOL 473		Estuarine Ecology		5 credits

3. In fulfilling GE requirements, students are strongly encouraged to enroll in:

   	PHIL 213		Environmental Ethics		3 credits
   	PS 230		Environmental Laws and Regulations		3 credits
   	ECO 103		Economics of Environmental Issues		3 credits

Environmental Science Curriculum
Dept. and No.				Descriptive Title of Course	Credits
				FIRST YEAR	FALL	SPRING
MAJOR (GE NSCI)		CHEM 112-113		Gen. Analytical Chem I-II	4.5	4.5
MAJOR		BIOL 141-142		General Biology I-II	4.5	4.5
MAJOR		NSCI 201		Science and Human Environment		3
GE WRTG - SPCH		WRTG 107 - COMM 100		Compositon - Public Speaking	3	3
GE C/IL		C/IL 102		Computing and Information Literacy	3
GE FSEM - PHED		INTD 100 - PHED ELECT		Freshman Seminar - Phys. Ed.	1	1
					16	16
				SECOND YEAR
MAJOR		CHEM 232-233		Organic Chemistry I-II	4.5	4.5
MAJOR		BIOL 371		Ecology	5
MAJOR		BIOL 379		Biostatistics		3
COGNATE (GE QUAN)		MATH 103-114 1		Pre-Calculus - Analysis I	3-4	4
GE HUMN		HUMN ELECT		Humanities Elective		3
GE PHIL-T/RS		PHIL 120 - T/RS 121		Intro. to Philosophy - Theology I	3	3
GE PHED		PHED ELECT		Physical Education	1	1
					16.5-17.5	18.5
				THIRD YEAR
MAJOR		CHEM 340		Environmental Chemistry	3
MAJOR		CHEM 370		Instrumental Analysis		5
GE T/RS		ESCI ELECT		Elective		3-5
GE S/BH		S/BH ELECT 2		Social/Behavioral Electives	3	3
GE PHIL -T/RS		PHIL 210 - T/RS 122		Ethics - Theology II	3	3
GE HUMN		HUMN ELECT		Humanities Elective	3
GE ELECT		PHYS 120-1213		General Physics	4	4
					16	18-20
				FOURTH YEAR
MAJOR		MAJOR ELECT		Environmental Science Electives	6-10	3
MAJOR		ESCI 480 or 493		Research or Intern. in Env. Sci.	1.5
MAJOR		ESCI 481 or 494		Research or Intern. in Env. Sci.		1.5
MAJOR		ESCI 440-441		Topics in Environmental Sci.	1	1
GE PHIL-T/RS		PHIL-T/RS ELECT		Philosophy or T/RS Elective	3
GE HUMN		HUMN ELECT		Humanities Electives	3	3
GE S/BH		S/BH ELECT		Social/Behavioral Elective		3
GE ELECT		FREE ELECT		Free Electives		6
					14.5-18.5	14.5
					Total: 130-137 Credits
1 Students entering exempt from MATH 103 may select a course in chemistry, biology, physics or math. 2 PS 230 and ECO 103 strongly recommended. 3 Or PHYS 140-141: Elements of Physics I-II.