The curriculum provides a broad understanding of regional, national and global environmental problems with opportunities to construct workable solutions. Environmental science majors must complete at least 45 credit hours in the science disciplines including biology, chemistry, geology, physics and computer science. The major requires mathematics through calculus as well as a total of nine credit hours of environmental courses. The faculty is highly qualified and many of the courses in the program were developed by the instructors teaching them. Students choose courses from a pool of 30 special environmentally focused subjects which range from environmental regulations and conservation ecology to environmental education and population trends.
Environmental science is a planned program.
This means that in the junior year each student identifies a career goal and selects a concentration of courses that will provide knowledge and skills in preparation for future employment. They can join on-going efforts to restore the wetland, savanna and prairie ecosystems, monitor species richness or design new investigations for the area. Each year courses are scheduled to investigate specific environmental concerns in depth. Some courses offered include Ohio rivers, wildlife rehabilitation, applied environmental GIS, environmental management and biodiversity. This capstone course gives all students experience in researching and developing real documents required by law.