| Global
environmental science has much to offer the student who is interested in
the environment and the effect of humans on the environment. The skills
developed in global environmental science can be brought to bear on
local, regional, and global environmental issues. Many of the critical
environmental problems confronting humankind involve large-scale
processes and interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, bio-sphere,
cryosphere, shallow lithosphere, and people. Some of the problems derive
from natural causes; others are a result of human activities. Some of
the issues that global environmental science students deal with are:
climatic changes from anthropogenic inputs to the atmosphere of CO2 and
other greenhouse gases; human interventions and disruptions in the
biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, trace
metals, and other substances; emissions of nitrogen and sulfur oxide
gases and volatile organic compounds to the atmosphere and the issues of
acid deposition and photochemical smog; depletion of the stratospheric
ozone layer and associated increase in the flux of ultraviolet radiation
to Earth’s surface; increasing rates of tropical deforestation and
other large-scale destruction of habitat, with potential effects on
climate and the hydrologic cycle; disappearance of biotic diversity
through explosive rates of species extinction; global consequences of
the distribution and application of potentially toxic chemicals in the
environment and biotechnology; interannual and interdecadal climate
variability, e.g., El Nino/Southern Oscillation; eutrophication; water
and air quality; exploitation of natural resources with consequent
problems of waste disposal; earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural
hazards and prediction; and waste disposal: municipal, toxic chemical,
and radioactive. In all cases, the student is encouraged to understand
and appreciate the social, economic, and ultimately the policy decisions
associated with these and other environmental issues.
Specifically with respect to learning objectives, the
students develop competency in understanding how the physical,
biological, and chemical worlds are interconnected in the Earth system.
They obtain skills in basic mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology
that enable them to deal with courses in the derivative geological,
oceanographic, and atmospheric sciences at a level higher than that of
qualitative description. In turn, these skills enable the students to
learn the subject matter of global environmental science within a
rigorous context. The students develop an awareness of the complexity of
the Earth system and how it has changed during geologic time and how
human activities have modified the system and led to a number of local,
regional, and global environmental issues. They become competent in
using computers and dealing with environ-mental databases and with more
standard sources of information in the field. They are exposed to
experimental, observational, and theoretical methodologies of research
and complete a senior research paper in environmental studies using one
or more of these methodologies. Field work is encouraged for the senior
thesis and, depending on the topic chosen by the student, can be carried
out at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology’s Coconut Island
facility, E. W. Pauley Laboratory, and associated He‘eia ahupua’a or
elsewhere.
The ultimate objective of the global environmental
science program is to produce a student informed in the environmental
sciences at a rigorous level who is able to go on to graduate or
professional school; enter the work force in environmental science
positions in industry, business, or government; enter or return to
teaching with knowledge of how the Earth system works and the
prerequisites for the National Science Teachers Certification; or enter
the work force in another field as an educated person with the knowledge
required to become a wise environmental steward of the planet.
Advising
Students contemplating a major in global environmental
science should visit the program coordinator at the earliest
opportunity. Inquire at the global environ-mental 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)
MATH 241, 242/242L, 243 (or GG 312), 244 (or ECON 321)
PHYS 170/170L, 272/272L
CHEM 161/161L, 162/162L
BIOM 171/171L, 172/172L
Core Derivative Sciences Requirement (10 hours)
GG 101/101L
OCN 201
MET 200
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. |