Old Major and Minor Requirements

New degree requirements supercede these descriptions, for students arriving at Bucknell after May 2009.  See the new BA degree and BS degree pages.

Bachelor of science and bachelor of arts majors, and a minor, are offered.

Three undergraduate curricula are offered in environmental studies: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and a Minor. (Check the published catalogue for latest version of these requirements.)

Paths Through the Major 

Bucknell environmental majors have many choices to make. The 'Paths Through the Major' page is meant to give guidance about class choices for majors and potential majors. All declared -- or merely interested -- environmental students should feel free to talk to any of the environmental faculty for informal guidance about course choices. 

Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies 

Note that a new BA major has been approved for incoming First year students in Fall 2009.  Students now at Bucknell may opt to follow that degree program instead of the present one.  See this page, The new BA major, or see an ENST advisor.

An interdisciplinary bachelor of arts major in environmental studies is offered for the student with an abiding interest in the general environmental problems faced by humans, and with special concern for the social and policy aspects of their solution. Environmental studies is a strong, broad, liberal arts degree. It also is a preparation for one of the growing numbers of environmental careers in planning, business, non-profits, law, enforcement, or education.The bachelor of arts in environmental studies major requires 10 courses distributed as follows:

Life science core course: GEOG 332  Evolution, Ecology, & Human Impact or BIOL 208 Population and Community Biology

One earth science core course (List 1, below)

One social science core course (List 2, below)

Three science and technical courses (List 3, below)

Two social science and humanities courses (List 4, below) in addition to the social science core course

Methods course: ENST 200 Environmental studies research methods or MATH 216 Statistics I

One synthesizing senior course from a list of suitable CAPS courses provided each year -- or ENST 349 or 350 Senior Thesis (preferably taken as one-half credit in each of junior and senior year).

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies

A bachelor of science in environmental studies with a concentration in life sciences is offered for the student interested in the living environment of human and natural systems. As a bachelor of science major, it is meant to provide substantial depth in ecology, the life sciences, and related fields within the context of a liberal education. This major provides students with a rigorous background in environmental biology, focusing on topics such as biodiversity, conservation biology,aquatic biology, and behavioral ecology.  The bachelor of science major in environmental studies comprises 17 courses distributed as follows:

Two introductory biology courses BIOL 207 Genetics and BIOL 208 Population and Community Biology to be taken during the first and sophomore years. BIOL 206 Organismal Biology may be substituted for BIOL 207 with adviser consent.

Four advanced biology courses from:

BIOL 321 Behavioral Ecology
BIOL 354 Tropical Biology
BIOL 355 Social Insects
BIOL 356 Plant-Animal Interactions
BIOL 370 Primate Behavior and Ecology
BIOL 415 Conservation Biology
BIOL 311 Vertebrate Diversity
BIOL 330 Plant Systematics
BIOL 334 Limnology
BIOL 341 Organic Evolution
BIOL 344 Marine Biology
BIOL 353 Community/Ecosystem Ecology
BIOL 358 Invertebrate Zoology

One earth science core course (List 1, below)

One social science core course (List 2, below)

Two science and technical courses (List 3, below) that are not biology courses

Two social science and humanities courses (List 4, below), in addition to the social science core course

Two courses in statistics MATH 216 Introduction to Statistics and MATH 217 Statistics for the Biological Sciences to be taken first or sophomore years

Any two of the following chemistry or geochemistry courses: CHEM 206 Introduction to Environmental Chemistry CHEM 360 Advanced Environmental Chemistry GEOL 205 Introduction to Geochemistry GEOL 305 Aqueous and Environmental Geochemistry.

Senior thesis: ENST 349 and 350 preferably taken as one-half credit in each of junior and senior years.

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The bachelor of arts and bachelor of science environmental studies major programs are based on these lists of courses.
 
List 1 -- Earth science core 

GEOL 106 Environmental Geology

List 2 -- Social science core  

ECON 231
Resources and the Environment 

ENST 100
Introduction to Environmental Studies (if taken before junior year)
 
ENST 245
History of American Environmental Politics and Policy

List 3 -- Science and technical courses  

BIOL 321 Behavioral Ecology 
BIOL 334  Limnology 
BIOL 353  Ecosystem Ecology  
BIOL 354 Tropical Biology 
BIOL 357 Ornithology 
BIOL 356 Plant-Animal Interactions 
BIOL 370 Primate Behavior and Ecology 
BIOL 415 Conservation Biology 
CHEM 160 Introduction to Environmental Chemistry 
ENST 211 Environmental Pollution and Control 
ENST 221 Hazardous Waste and Society 
GEOG 231 Weather and Climate 
GEOG 232  Evolution, Ecology, and Human Impacts  
GEOG 233 Food and Environment 
GEOG 257 Global Environmental Change 
GEOL 205 Introduction to Geochemistry 
GEOL 207 Environmental Geohazards 
GEOL 210 Geomorphology 
GEOL 305 Aqueous and Environmental Geochemistry 
GEOL 310 Applied Environmental Geomorphology 
GEOL 324 Hydrogeology

 
List 4 -- Social science and humanities courses  

ANTH 260 Anthropological Perspectives on Human-Environment Relations 
ECON 231  Resources and the Environment 
ENST 205 Green Utopias 
ENST 207 American Environmental History 
ENST 215 Environmental Planning 
ENST 225 Environmental Dispute Resolution 
ENST 230 Introduction to Ecological Design 
ENST 235 Land Use: History Ethics and Politics 
ENST 240 Sustainable Resource Management 
ENST 242 Environmental History of the Developing World 
ENST 245 History of American Environmental Policy 
ENST 247  Environmental History  
ENST 250 Environmental Policy Analysis 
ENST 255 Environmental Justice 
ENST 260 Environmental Law 
ENST 270 Environmental Science and Public Policy 
PHIL 218 Ecology, Nature, and the Future 
RELI 226 Environmental Ethics