General Information | Academic Programs | Colleges | Course Descriptions | Home

Academic Programs

General Education

Cross Disciplinary Programs

Academic Units


Academic Programs

[Printable Version]

Environmental Science

Dr. Bruce Wiggins, Coordinator

         Phone: (540) 568-6196
         E-mail: wigginba@jmu.edu
         Web site: http://www.jmu.edu/environment/science.shtml

The environmental science minor is a multidisciplinary program that can be elected by any student. For example, students pursuing programs ranging from the physical, natural or social sciences, to education, journalism, or business, all benefit from this broadly based environmental curriculum. The program draws from courses that focus on the application of scientific concepts and principles to the understanding of environmental problems and their solutions. The minor draws upon the expertise of faculty in the areas of biology, chemistry, geography, physics, and integrated science and technology.

The environmental science minor:

  • provides a scientific background to those students interested in environmental law, environmental economics and environmental sustainability.
  • broadens the student's understanding of how sciences are linked to environmental questions.
  • complements any major by focusing on courses related to environmental issues.
The minimum requirement for a minor in environmental science is 24 credit hours taken from the four categories outlined below. No more than two courses from a single subject area can count toward the completion of the environmental science minor. Students wishing to complete more than one of the environmental minors (environmental management, environmental science and environmental studies) may receive dual credit for the capstone course (ENVT 400), but may not receive dual credit for any other courses that might be shared by the minors.

A score of four or greater in AP Environmental Science substitutes for GGEOL 115 or ISAT 112.

Courses
Credit Hours
One of the following:
Minimum of 3-4 credit hours; can be double-counted with GenEd credits.
BIO 124. Ecology and Evolution
4
GGEOL 102. Environment: Earth
3
GGEOL 115. Earth Systems and Climate Change
3
GISAT 112. Environmental Issues in Science and Technology
4
GEOG 210. Physical Geography
4
Fifteen credit hours from the following.
BIO 451. Ecological Systems
4
BIO 452. Population Ecology
4
BIO 453. Microbial Ecology
4
BIO 454. Introduction to Biometrics
4
BIO 456. Landscape Ecology
4
BIO 457. Biological Applications of GIS
4
BIO 459. Freshwater Ecology
4
BIO 465 Environmental Toxicology
4
BIO 466. Ecotoxicology Seminar
3
CHEM 354. Environmental Chemistry Field Camp
3
CHEM 450. Nuclear and Radiation Chemistry
3
ENVT 200. Environmental Systems Theory
3
GEOG 215. Geospatial Tools I – Cartography & GIS
3
GEOG 216. Geospatial Tools II – Rem. Sensing & GPS
3
GEOG 290. Human Interaction with the Physical Environment
3
GEOG 340. Biogeography
3
GEOG 365. Cartography & Geospatial Visualization
3
GEOG 366. Introduction to GIS
3
GEOG 385. Principles of Remote Sensing
3
GEOL 211. Introduction to Oceanography
3
GEOL 310. Management of Marine Resources
3
GEOL 320. Meteorology
3
GEOL 340. Soils and Land Use
3
GEOL 355. Geochemistry of Natural Waters
3
GEOL 377. Earth Surface Processes
3
GEOL 395. Geomorphology
3
GEOL 410. Engineering Geology
3
GEOL 460. Hydrogeology
3
ISAT 302. Instrument & Measurement of the Environment
1
ISAT 320. Fundamentals of Environmental Science
3
   & Technology I
ISAT 321. Fundamentals of Environmental Science
3
   & Technology II
ISAT 420. Environmental Analysis and Modeling
3
ISAT 423. Environmental Remediation
3
ISAT 425. Environmental Hydrology
3
ISAT 427. Industrial Hygiene
3
ISAT 428. Industrial Ecology
3
MATH 321. Analysis of Variance and Experimental Design
3
MATH 322. Applied Linear Regression
3
MATH 324. Applied Nonparametric Statistics
3
MATH 328. Time Series Analysis
3
MATH/BIO 345E. Biometry
4
MATH 421. Applied Multivariate Statistics
3
PHYS 215. Energy and the Environment
3
One of the following courses:
ANTH 373. Anthropological Perspectives on Environment
3
ECON 305. Environmental Economics
3
ECON 340. Economics of Natural Resources
3
ENG 371. Literature and the Environment
3
ENG 471. Eco-Criticism and Environmental Ethics
3
GEOG 325. Environmental Ethics
3
HIST 427. US Environmental History
3
ISAT 421. Environmental Policy and Regulation
3
SCOM 354. Communication, Environment and Environmentalism
3
SOCI 311. Sociology of the Environment
3

Senior Seminar Capstone Course

Course
Credit Hours
ENVT 400. Capstone Seminar
3

All students must complete the capstone course ENVT 400. Students must have completed 15 hours of their environment minor in order to enroll in the capstone.

RETURN TO TOP TOP


JMU Home Page

Order your copy of the Undergraduate Catalog from the JMU Bookstore.
Publisher: JMU Academic Affairs, MSC 7505, Harrisonburg, VA 22807.
For more information, contact: JMU Catalog Office,
ug-catalog@jmu.edu.
Copyright ©2009 James Madison University. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement.