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Undergraduate Bulletin
Document Number 3.07.03

Environmental Science

Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary program in which students follow one of the three tracks listed below. Contact the faculty advisors for further information.

Program Coordinator and Biology Track Advisor: Dr. G. Adams, (501) 450-5917
Chemistry Track Advisor: Dr. Perry, (501) 450-5937
Planning and Administration Track Advisor: Dr. Allender, (501) 450-5641

[1] Purposes

The interdisciplinary Environmental Science Program at UCA is designed to provide students the opportunity to assess the complexity of environmental problems and find solutions to these problems within the context of the natural (biological, chemical, and physical) and social (politics, economics) sciences. This program prepares students for careers in federal and state government agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, State Game and Fish Commission, and State Department of Environmental Quality. Graduates of UCA's environmental science program are also competitive for positions in private industry (consulting, corporate environmental compliance, laboratory technicians) and postgraduate academic programs (MS, PhD, or law school).

[2] Baccalaureate Degree: Bachelor of Science

The bachelor of science degree, with a major in Environmental Science, requires successful completion of a minimum of 124 hours, including (1) the general education component, (2) BS degree requirements, and (3) the major requirements listed below. A minor is not required.

[2.1] Common Core for All Environmental Science Majors (42 hours)

BIOL 1440 Principles of Biology I
BIOL 1441 Principles of Biology II

BIOL 3403 Ecology
CHEM 1450 College Chemistry I
CHEM 1451 College Chemistry II
GEOG 1315 Introduction to Physical Geography or SCI 3410 Earth Science
One statistics course chosen from MATH 2311, PSCI 2312, PSYC 2330, or SOC 2321
GEOG 2302 Conservation and Land Use
ENVR 3410 Introduction to Environmental Science
ECON 3330 Environmental Economics
PSCI 3320 Environmental Policy and Regulation
ENVR 4310 Environmental Practicum

[2.2] Biology Track (44 hours)

The biology track emphasizes ecology, conservation biology and environmental toxicology. Students are instructed in biological specialties that will provide them with a basis for assessing the impact of human activities on ecosystems and organisms. The biology track requires additional chemistry because of the importance of understanding the effect of chemical pollution on living systems.

Biology Track Requirements (32 hours):

BIOL 2490 Genetics

BIOL 4401 Invertebrate Zoology
BIOL 4402 Vertebrate Zoology
BIOL 3403 General Ecology
BIOL 4404 Plant Taxonomy
CHEM 2401 Organic Chemistry I

Choose

CHEM 3520 Quantitative Analysis, CHEM 4351 Environmental Chemistry and CHEM 4152 Environmental Chemistry Lab or GEOG 2375 Cartography, GEOG 3311 Introduction to GIS and GEOG 3309 GIS for Environmental Applications.
MATH 1390 College Algebra and MATH 1392 Trigonometry
  OR
MATH 1580 Algebra and Trigonometry
  OR
MATH 1396 Calculus for the Life Sciences

Biology Track Electives (12 hours from the following): Environmental internship (BIOL 3X45) or any of the following: BIOL 3360, 3390, 4410, 4415, 4420, 4428, 4435, 4440, 4445, 4450, 4461, 4470, 4525; GEOG 2345, 3306, 3309, 3385, 4304, 4305, 4308, 4330, GEOG 3318, HIST 4301.

[2.3] Chemistry Track (40 hours)

The emphasis of the chemistry track is to give students an appreciation for the critical balance of natural chemical phenomena and the perturbations induced by pollution. The environmental science core courses provide the chemistry track student a context in which environmental chemistry work is conducted and aid in understanding the importance of the chemical and biological data on which policy decisions are based.

Chemistry Track Requirements (25 hours):

CHEM 2401 Organic Chemistry I
CHEM 3411 Organic Chemistry II
CHEM 3520 Quantitative Analysis
CHEM 4351 Environmental Chemistry
CHEM 4152 Environmental Chemistry Laboratory
BIOL 3403 General Ecology
PHYS 1410 College Physics 1

Chemistry Track Electives (15 hours from the following):

1. Minimum of 8 hours from the following chemistry courses: CHEM 3300, 3360, 3411, 4320, 4121, 4380, 3150, 4450, 4460, and 4451.
2. Minimum of 4 hours from the following biology courses: BIOL 4401, 4402, and 4404.
3. Minimum of 3 hours from the following geography courses: GEOG 2345, 2320, 3351, 4303, and 4305.

[2.4] Planning and Administration Track (42 hours)

The Planning and Administration track is intended to bridge the gap between scientists gathering environmental data and administrators who formulate and implement programs and policies. This track will train students to work with numerous experts from diverse fields, to synthesize various and often conflicting perspectives, and to arrive at viable and practical solutions. Students will also learn to communicate scientific research to audiences as diverse as government agencies, citizen committees, corporate decision-makers, and the general public.

Employment for graduates may be found in both public and private agencies with environmental concerns. An especially effective and marketable skill developed in this track is the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which allows scientists and planners to map, analyze, and even predict environmental data based on location.

The Planning and Administration track requires the completion of the Environmental Sciences core curriculum (38-39 hours), plus the following (42 hours):

MIS 2343 Desktop Decision Support Strategies
MIS 3321 Managing Systems and Technology
GEOG 2320 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 2375 Cartography
GEOG 3325 Urban and Regional Planning
  OR
PSCI 4351 Community and Regional Planning
PSCI 2340 State and Local Government
PSCI 3360 Public Administration
H ED 4393 Environmental Health Problems
WRTG 3310 Technical Writing

Electives: Fifteen hours chosen from the following:

Any of the courses in the Biology or Chemistry emphasis areas and most math or physics courses with consent of program director
SOC 3340 Urban Sociology
SOC 4301 Social Movements and Social Change
SOC 4321 Social Policy Analysis
SOC 4341 Population
PSCI 3350 Interest Groups and Money in Politics
PSCI 3365 Intergovernmental Relations
PSCI 3372 Political Behavior
PSCI 4336 City Governments and Politics
PSCI 4351 Community and Regional Planning
PSCI 4391 Government Budgeting
PSCI 4X99 Studies in Political Science
GEOG 2345 Geographic Information Techniques
GEOG 3325 Urban and Regional Planning
GEOG 3306 Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation
GEOG 3333 Geography of Natural Hazards
GEOG 3351 Weather and Climate
GEOG 3361 Landforms
GEOG 3371 Urban Geography
GEOG 4303 Water Resources
GEOG 4305 Soils
GEOG 4308 Oceanography
GEOG 4313 Recreation and Tourism
GEOG 4330 Geographic Information Analysis
GEOG 4X60 Special Problems in Geography
MIS 3322 Introduction to Minicomputers
MIS 3328 Systems Analysis and Design
MIS 4350 Information Systems Technology

[3] Courses in Environmental Science (ENVR)

Follow this link for ENVR course descriptions: course link.