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Environmental Science

Goals—Study within the major can be structured to meet any of the following objectives:

  • Preparation for further graduate study within the sciences

  • Development of a rigorous science background from which to pursue graduate-level training in a professional program such as law, planning, medicine, business, public policy, or environmental engineering

  • A thorough grounding in environmental science as the principal component of a liberal arts education.

Environmental Science Major—Fourteen courses and an integrating experience are required for the major. Only courses with a grade of C- or better may be counted toward the major.

  • Five foundational requirements from the natural science and mathematics curriculum, one from each discipline, are required. It is recommended that students take these courses by the end of the sophomore year. Students are encouraged to take a full year of each science and a full year of mathematics.

    • BIOL 182L. Biology II: Evolution of Life

    • CHEM 111L. Introductory Chemistry I

    • MATH 107. Statistics or 126. Calculus with Algebra and Trigonometry or 131. Calculus I

    • GEO S 112L. Introduction to Earth Science

    • PHYS 101L. Principles of Physics or 131L. Mechanics and Heat

  • Three environmental science core courses. All three courses must be taken.

    • ENVS 149L. Introduction to Environmental Science

    • ENVS 275L. Methods in Environmental Science

    • ENVS 401. Advanced Seminar in Environmental Science*

  • Two concentration courses. Students must take two of these courses; the third may be taken as one of the two required natural science electives.

    • BIOL 333L. Ecology

    • CHEM 230L. Environmental Chemistry (prerequisite: CHEM 111L)

    • GEO S 204L. Earth Systems Science

  • Two elective courses from the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, or engineering. These may be taken from any of the courses listed below. New courses may be offered as electives.

    • BIOL 204. Plant Diversity

    • BIOL 215L. Botany

    • BIOL 222L. Invertebrate Zoology

    • BIOL 228L. Microbiology

    • BIOL 233. Conservation Biology

    • BIOL 319L. Animal Physiology

    • BIOL 323L. Plant Metabolism

    • BIOL 336L. Marine and Freshwater Botany

    • BIOL 463L. Ecological Concepts and Methods

    • BIOL 475. Symbiosis

    • CHEM 208L. Analytical Chemistry

    • CHEM 211L. Organic Chemistry

    • CHEM 312L. Instrumental Methods of Chemical Analysis

    • CHEM 430. Environmental Toxicology

    • CPSC 215L. Data Structures and Algorithms

    • ENGR 232L. Engineering Materials

    • ENGR 337. Thermodynamics

    • ENVS 286. Theory and Application of Geographic Information Systems*

    • GEO S 305. Soil Science

    • GEO S 312. Geophysics

    • MATH 252. Introduction to Mathematical Modeling I

    • MATH 254. Introduction to Mathematical Modeling II

    • MATH 257. Intermediate Statistics

    • PHYS 231L. Electricity and Magnetism and Waves

  • Two social science or humanities courses.ECON 101. Basic Economic Principles and one of the following courses are required. New courses may be offered.

    • ECON 209. Urban Economics

    • ECON 301. Microeconomic Theory

    • ECON 311. Environmental Economics

    • PHIL 227. Environmental Philosophy

    • POLS 224. Public Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice

    • PBPL 302. Law and Environmental Policy

    • PBPL 303. Policy Implementation Workshop

  • One integrating experience involving research or an internship. This half-credit requirement is designed to provide students with environmental problem solving experience and can be met through library, field, or laboratory research or through an approved integrated internship or independent study. Students must have their plans for completing this requirement approved by their adviser and the program director before they begin their work. To fulfill the requirement, during the spring semester of their senior year, students submit the following to their environmental science faculty adviser: a journal of their activities and experiences, a letter from their supervisor (if work is completed outside the College), and a reflection paper. Students will also give a final, public presentation about their experience during the spring semester of their senior year as part of fulfilling this requirement. Normally, students must complete ENVS 275L before meeting this requirement.

    • ENVS 399. Independent Study

    • ENVS 405. Internship in Environmental Science

    • ENVS 419. Research in Environmental Science (Library)

    • ENVS 425. Research in Environmental Science (Laboratory)

    • ENVS 497. Honors Research

The Writing Intensive Part II requirement is fulfilled by one of the following courses:

  • ENVS 275L. Methods in Environmental Science

  • ENVS 401. Advanced Seminar in Environmental Science

Advanced Placement—Students who have received an Advanced Placement exam score of 4 or 5 in environmental science will be excused from ENVS 149L and receive one credit towards the major.

Teaching Assistantship—Students wishing to serve as teaching assistants should discuss their interest with the faculty. Accepted students must fill out the required forms to register for ENVS 466. College credit, but not major credit, is given for teaching assistants and grading is on a pass/low pass/fail basis.

Courses at Other Institutions—Students who wish major credit for course work at other institutions should: (1) receive approval from the registrar for college credit, and (2) submit to the director of the Environmental Science Program the name of the institution, the number, title, and catalogue description of the course and, if possible, the syllabus. This information must be submitted in writing before the work is initiated and formal permission must be obtained before the course can be credited toward the major at Trinity. Some students may also wish to participate in semester programs that focus on serious study of environmental science. Among the suitable programs in which Trinity students participate regularly are:

  • School for Field Studies

  • Marine Biological Laboratory Semester in Environmental Science, Woods Hole

  • Duke University Marine Laboratory

  • Sea Education Association, Woods Hole

  • EcoQuest, New Zealand

Honors—Students seeking admission to the honors program in environmental science must submit a written application to the director before the sixth week of classes of their sixth semester. The Environmental Science Coordinating Committee will act on each application. Students seeking honors must have completed a minimum of five courses for the major by their fifth semester and their grade point average in these courses must be at least a B+ (3.3). Students not qualifying for the honors program after five semesters may be invited by the faculty to enter the program at a later time.

After acceptance into the honors program, students must maintain a GPA of B+ in their environmental science courses. In addition, they must perform research in environmental science (ENVS 419 or 425) for two semesters. The honors program culminates in an honors thesis (ENVS497) and a public presentation. Upon completion of these requirements, the Environmental Science Coordinating Committee will vote to award honors to those candidates it deems qualified. Under exceptional circumstances, the coordinating committee may consider for honors research students who are not enrolled in the honors program but who produce particularly distinguished work.

Field Studies in Environmental Science—Each year, environmental science faculty members conduct a 10- to 12-day field trip to a particular region of the U.S. This trip introduces Trinity students to field methods in the environmental sciences. Students study the geology, ecology, and history of human impact on the region visited, which varies from year to year. Students also gain experience in basic field sampling techniques, observational skills, field note-taking, and methods for data analysis and interpretation. The trip occurs in either spring or late summer, depending on the destination; registration for ENVS 350 thus occurs in spring or fall semester, respectively.

The Environmental Science Minor—The minor in environmental science is an option for students who do not wish to major in environmental science but wish to enhance their scientific background in conjunction with other interests in the environment. The minor provides the opportunity to apply the interdisciplinary study of environmental science across the curriculum. Specific issues addressed by courses in the minor include the conservation of biodiversity, government environmental policies, economic implications of public or private management of natural resources, ethical implications associated with human impacts on ecosystems, cultural responses to environmental change, and other environmental issues that face society in the new century. In order to declare a minor in environmental science, the student must meet with the environmental science program director.

The minor in environmental science consists of six courses requiring a C- or better: The six courses must be drawn from at least three different fields, with no more than three courses from any one field. No more than three courses may be double counted toward the student’s major and this minor. No more than one transfer (outside Trinity) credit may be applied to the minor. The requirements include:

  • Two required environmental science core courses

    • ENVS 149L. Introduction to Environmental Science

    • ENVS 401. Advanced Senior Seminar in Environmental Science*

  • Two additional sequential science courses

    • BIOL 182L. Biology II: Evolution of Life plus BIOL 233L. Conservation Biology

    • CHEM 111L. Introductory Chemistry I plus ENVS 275L. Methods in Environmental Science

    • GEO S 112L. Introduction to Earth Science plus GEOS 204L. Earth Systems Science

    • PHYS 131L. Mechanics and Heat plus PHYS 231L. Electricity and Magnetism

  • Two additional electives in either natural or social sciences or humanities. No more than one course can be taken from the natural science electives.

    • Natural Science Electives

    • BIOL 215L. Botany

    • BIOL 222L. Invertebrate Zoology

    • BIOL 333L. Ecology

    • BIOL 336L. Marine and Freshwater Botany

    • BIOL 463L. Ecological Concepts and Methods

    • CHEM 230L. Environmental Chemistry

    • ENVS 286. Theory and Application of GIS*

    • GEO S 305. Soil Science

    • GEO S 312. Geophysics

    • Social Science and Humanities Electives

    • ANTH 201. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

    • ECON 209. Urban Economics

    • ECON 247. Introduction to Policy Analysis

    • ECON 301. Microeconomic Theory

    • ECON 311. Environmental Economics

    • EDUC 215. Education and Social Change Across the Globe

    • PHIL 227. Environmental Philosophy

    • POLS 224. Public Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice

    • POLS 310. Politics of Developing Countries

    • PBPL 302. Law and Environment Policy

Although ENVS 286 is classified as a natural science elective for the purpose of this major and minor, the course does not satisfy the natural science distribution requirement of the College. ENVS 401 also does not satisfy the natural science distribution requirement.