General Requirements for the Major in Environmental Science

Westminster College has an interdisciplinary program that provides the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to understand, address, and resolve the environmental challenges of our global society.  The Environmental Science Program is designed to provide a core curriculum in soil, water, geology, earth science, and environmental science along with selected courses in economics, ecology, literature, environmental policy and environmental law.

Beyond the core the two majors emphasize either the social/political/human attributes (Environmental Studies) or the scientific aspects of the environment (Environmental Science).  These majors are designed for students who want to specialize in environmental legislation, planning, or resource management versus those who prefer to work directly in the environment with soils, wildlife, or other natural resources.

Our challenging interdisciplinary curriculum combines academic rigor with real-world experience (field trips, field courses and internships).  Intended to prepare students for successful careers in the environmental area as well as graduate study, the curriculum fosters

• Understanding of the relationships within the natural world and between that world and the "constructed reality" of humankind
• Ability to analyze and integrate knowledge from a wide range of disciplines
• Ability to communicate across disciplines and to collaborate with colleagues to solve problems and address real-world issues

A required internship experience ensures that students in the Environmental Science Program will have first-hand experience with issues of the day while developing professional contacts.  The program also offers opportunities for off-campus study of the national parks of the United States as well as ecosystems in Belize, Kenya, and geology of Hawaii and Iceland.  An integrative capstone course draws together skills learned in the natural and social sciences to write and defend an environmental impact statement for an off-campus project.

The curriculum includes a core for both Environmental Studies and Environmental Science majors.  This core includes courses in soils, water, geology, environmental science, earth systems, and environmental policy.  The major difference occurs in the required collateral courses: more physical and natural science for Environmental Science majors and more social science courses for Environmental Studies majors.  Since the Environmental Science Program is viewed as a broad curriculum, it is strongly suggested that students take a Minor in a related field, such as Biology, Chemistry, Economics, or Political Science.

Core Requirements for the Major in Environmental Science