Department of Environmental Conservation

The Field

Environmental Science employs an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, research, and outreach. Students learn how to meet the challenges of creating a safe and healthy environment and how to recognize and control the effects of pollution and environmental stress on ecosystems. Faculty and students seek practical solutions to complex environmental problems by crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students learn how to integrate and apply knowledge from the appropriate areas of basic science, economics, and policy to address problems caused by ecosystem degradation and from physical alteration of the environment and chemical contaminants from industrial activities, agriculture, food production, and inadequate resource management.

The Environmental Science Program is the only academic unit in the UMass system providing a B.S. degree in Environmental Science. Affiliated faculty teach a series of courses with the ENVIRSCI designation as well as disciplinary courses in their department that apply to the Environmental Science major. The curriculum includes innovative course offerings that extend the traditional classroom experience to outreach activities including environmental applications and problem solving in off-campus community settings. Specialty courses expose students to a blend of academic and practical knowledge that includes environmental site assessment (ASTM-EPA procedures), hazardous waste operations and emergency response (OSHA Certification), environmental applications of GIS technologies, and novel approaches to recycling non-traditional waste materials. Environmental Science majors are prepared for immediate employment upon graduation or have the option of embarking on graduate studies in environmental biology, chemistry, toxicology, policy, and law.

Career Opportunities

The B.S. degree in Environmental Science leads to a variety of career opportunities in private industry and governmental agencies concerned with environmental quality assessment, community environment programs, and interagency coordination in environmental quality maintenance. Many majors will continue studies at the graduate level in such diverse fields as environmental microbiology, ecotoxicology, environmental science education, environmental engineering, and environmental law.

The Major

All majors take required courses which provide a background in natural sciences, mathematics, and environmental studies. First-year students attend a required seminar to discuss critical environmental issues with faculty and outside speakers. A core curriculum of four courses and a Junior Year Writing course are also required for all majors. These core requirements provide a solid foundation in the social and scientific aspects of environmental problems. Students learn how to apply scientific data to solve complex environmental problems and to establish coherent environmental policy options to protect and sustain the environment. A diverse selection of upper-level courses allows students to work with their faculty advisor to design a unique curriculum tailored to their individual interests and needs.

Environmental Science Program mission, goals, and objectives:

When students graduate from UMass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in Environnmental Science, they will be able to:

• Understand the complex interactions that define ecosystems and how they may be affected by human activities.
• Measure, analyze, and monitor environmental contaminants introduced into air, soil, and water.
• Prevent or decrease the negative effects of adverse human activities on ecosystems and human health.
• Develop comprehensive methods to restore or remediate contaminated  ecosystems.
• Apply an interdisciplinary approach to the techical assessment and analysis of global environmental challenges, and develop effective policy options to meet those challenges.

Curriculum

Basic science and math requirements:

• BIOLOGY 100, 101 Introductory Biology I, II or equivalent
• CHEM 111, 112 General Chemistry I, II
• CHEM 250 Organic Chemistry or CHEM 261 Organic Chemistry I
• MATH 127, 128 Calculus I, II
• RES-ECON 211 Introductory Statistics for the Life Sciences
• RES-ECON 262 Environmental Economics

Required Core Courses:

ENVIRSCI

• 101 Intro Environmental Biology – OR- NRC 100 (Environment and Society)
• 191A, 194A Introductory Seminars
• 213 Introduction to Environmental Policy
• 214 Ecosystems, Biodiversity & Global Change
• 315 Principles of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Also Required:
NAT-SCI 397A CNS Junior Writing

After completing core requirements, students choose four upper-level courses in the environmental science concentration. Students may select courses from among any approved offerings. Sample lists of approved courses are listed here under general subject area headings.

Environmental Biology – provides an ecological perspective on the relationships and interdependence of organisms in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, with emphasis on the effects of human activities on the biota.

• BIOLOGY 283 General Genetics
• BIOLOGY 421 Plant Ecology
• BIOLOGY 528 Principles of Evolution
• BIOLOGY 542 Ichthyology
• CE-ENGIN 575 Advanced Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
• ENVIRSCI 504 Air Pollution and Climate Change Biology
• ENVIRSCI 515 Microbiology of Soil
• ENVIRSCI 530 Aquatic Toxicology
• GEO-SCI 354 Climatology
• MICROBIO 310/312 General Microbiology/Lab
• NRC 470 Fish Ecology
• NRC 564 Wildlife Habitat Management
• NRC 565 Dynamics and Management of Wildlife Populations

Environmental Policy – applies scientific knowledge to address public policy issues on the environment using economic analysis regulation, administration, enforcement, and law.

• ECON 308 Political Economy of the Environment
• ENVIRSCI 342 Pesticides, the Environment, and Public Policy
• GEO-SCI 362 Land Use and Society
• NRC 382 Human Dimensions of Natural Resource Management
• NRC 409 Natural Resources Policy and Administration
• POLISCI 382 Environmental Policy
• REGIONPL 553 Resource Policy and Planning
• RES-ECON 263 Natural Resource Economics
• RES-ECON 471 Benefit-Cost Analysis of Natural Resource Programs
• NRC 564 Wildlife Habitat Management
• NRC 571 Fisheries Science and Management

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry – focuses on the impacts of environmental contaminants on the biota with emphasis on the analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and ecotoxicology of pollutants in the air, water, and soil.

• BIOCHEM 420 Elementary Biochemistry
• BIOCHEM 524 General Biochemistry
• BIOLOGY 283 General Genetics
• CHEM 312 Analytical Chemistry
• CHEM 315 Quantitative Analysis
• ENVIRSCI 504 Air Pollution and Climate Change Biology
• ENVIRSCI 515 Microbiology of Soil
• ENVIRSCI 530 Aquatic Toxicology
• ENVIRSCI 555 Environmental Toxicology in Context
• ENVIRSCI 575 Environmental Soil Chemistry
• ENVIRSCI 585 Animal and Environmental Toxicology
• GEO-SCI 519 Aqueous and Environmental Geochemistry
• MICROBIO 310 General Microbiology
• MICROBIO 330 Microbial Genetics
• MICROBIO 560 Microbial Diversity
• PLSOILIN 385 Biotechnology Laboratory
• PLNTSOIL 555 Urban Plant Biology
• PLNTSOIL 597O Organic Contaminants in Soils, Waters, and Sediments
• PLNTSOIL 585 Inorganic Contaminants in Soil, Water, and Sediment

The Minor

Information for the Environmental Science Minor available in 310 Holdsworth Hall.   Environmental Science courses are available to non-majors on a space-available basis only.