All students in the major complete two required seminars covering a wide variety of environmental topics with faculty and outside speakers. In the general plan of study, students select their upper level courses from an extensive list of environmental courses. Students who specialize in an area choose their advanced courses within a more selective list. This allows students maximum flexibility to design a program of study that suits their interests and career plans. The emphasis is on understanding our natural and managed ecosystems and determining the degree of disruption from environmental pollutants.
Students learn methods to detect and monitor pollutants and assess their biological effects.
Environmental Health Sciences stresses the effects of environmental pollution on human health and prepares students for professional careers in environmental health. While covering a broad base of environmental health problems, the curriculum also allows students an opportunity to acquire specialized knowledge in areas of occupational health, institutional hygiene, air pollution, food sanitation, safe handling of hazardous material, and radiological health. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry focuses on how toxic substances impact living organisms and how chemical processes affect air, soil, groundwater, and aquatic environments. Students study the chemistry, microbiology, and physics relating to the identification, measurement, distribution, and metabolic fate of hazardous substances. Students will learn current analytical techniques used to assess safety or predict potential hazards.