| Advising
Students contemplating a major in global environmental science should visit the program coordinator at the earliest opportunity. Inquire at the global environmental science office, Marine Science 205C; tel. (808) 956-7932, fax (808) 956-9225; e-mail:
ges@soest.hawaii.edu
BS in Global Environmental
Science Requirements
Aside from core University requirements, the global environmental science program has core requirements of two basic types: basic sciences and derivative sciences. The former provides the foundation to understand and appreciate the latter in the context of basic skills in mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics. Both global environmental science core requirements provide the necessary cognitive skills to deal with the higher academic level courses within the global environmental science curriculum. These include required foundation courses in global environmental science and coupled systems courses. It is within this latter category of course work that the formal course program will be tailored to the individual student's needs. For example, we anticipate that most students will follow closely a natural science track of study, perhaps concentrating on the terrestrial, marine, or atmospheric environment. However, because of the human dimensions issues involved in the subject matter of environmental change, some students may wish to expand their academic program into the social sciences that bear on the issues of global change.
Core University Requirements (69 credit hours total; 56 credit hours exclusive of science and mathematics)
Maximum of 69 credit hours of core requirement course work minus 13 credit hours of mathematics and natural sciences equals 56 credit hours of work, up to 15 credit hours of which can also be in science provided that these hours (or others elsewhere in the curriculum) meet the writing intensive requirement. This leaves 68 to 83 hours of science and mathematics for a 4-year program.
Core Basic Sciences Requirement (39 hours)
BIOL 171/171L, 172/172L
CHEM 161/161L, 162/162L
MATH 241, 242/242L, 243 (or GG 312), 244 (or ECON 321)
PHYS 170/170L, 272/272L
Core Derivative Sciences Requirement (10 hours)
GG 101/101L
MET 200
OCN 201
The global environmental science core requirement represents 49 hours of work. This requirement plus the University General Education Core requirement of 41 to 56 hours leaves 19 to 34 credit hours for other courses for a 4-year program. This is equivalent to six to eleven 3-credit courses that can be taken from the foundation and coupled systems courses and from senior research.
Foundation Course Requirements (17 hours)
GEOG 411 Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
OCN 310/310L Global Environmental Change
OCN 363 Earth System Sciences Databases
OCN 401 Biogeochemical Systems
PHIL 315 (OCN 315) Modeling Natural Systems
Coupled Systems Courses (Examples)
AREC 432 Natural Resource Economics
ASTR 140 Foundations of Astronomy
BIOC 241 Fundamentals of Biochemistry
BIOL 265 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
BIOL 360 Island Ecosystems
BIOL 410 Human Role in Environmental Change
ECON 321 Introduction to Statistics
ECON 358 Environmental Economics
ECON 638 Environmental Resource Economics
GEOG 300 Climatology
GEOG 402 Agricultural Climatology
GEOG 405 Water in the Environment
GG 301 Mineralogy
GG 309 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
GG 324 Low temperature & Environmental Geochemistry
GG 455 Hydrogeology
GG 466 Planetary Geology
MET 302 Atmospheric Physics
MET 303 Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics
OCN 320 Aquatic Pollution
OCN 330 Mineral and Energy Resources of the Sea
OCN 331 Living Resources of the Sea
OCN 620 Physical Oceanography
OCN 621 Biological Oceanography
OCN 622 Geological Oceanography
OCN 623 Chemical Oceanography
PHIL 316 Science, Technology, and Society
PLAN 310 Introduction to Planning
SOC 412 Analysis in Population and Society
SOIL 304 Fundamentals of Soil Science
SOIL 430 Soil Chemistry
SOIL 461 Soil Erosion and Conservation
The student may also wish to take additional courses in fundamental physics, chemistry, biology, or mathematics. Global environmental science currently has no formal tracks (or combination of electives). However, majors may emphasize, for example, the marine environment, the climatic environment, or policy issues related to the environment. Majors should consult with their adviser as early as possible to devise a curriculum suited to their particular goals.
Senior Research Paper (3-6 hours)
OCN 499 Undergraduate Thesis
Each student is required to complete a senior thesis based on research conducted with one or more chosen advisers. |
