EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
WHAT IS EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES?
Natural resource depletion, air and water pollution, global warming, and climate change have made the study of the earth and its systems more vital—and popular—than ever before. The area of earth and environmental sciences is an extremely broad major category that covers geology (the study of the earth), geography (the relationship between people and the earth), and the environmental sciences, a field that can include forestry, soils, wildlife habitat, and plant ecosystems. A major such as this gives you a broad understanding of how people and their policies affect life on earth.
WHAT COURSES DO YOU NEED TO TAKE?
Earth and environmental science programs take an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the problems and phenomena that occur when humans interact with the planet. Through your liberal arts and sciences general education curriculum, you will gain an appreciation for the arts and humanities, social sciences, mathematics, technology, and computer science as well as hone your communication skills. Building on that background, your earth and environmental sciences major will combine classes in the sciences, social sciences, and even business, giving you the tools and awareness to begin working for the earth's betterment. Here are some classes you might take in this major:
- Climatology
- Ecology
- Environmental Geology
- Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental Law
- Forestry
- Geography
- Historical Geology
- Hydrology
- Mineralogy
- Natural Resources Management
- Physics
- Soils
Majors in the earth and environmental sciences often get the chance to do field work or take field trips, giving them hands-on exposure to the issues they study in class.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A DEGREE IN EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES?
Government agencies and private-sector companies offer a range of opportunities for students with degrees in these areas. Graduates become geologists, hydrologists, teachers, environmental consultants, wildlife managers, soil conservationists, park rangers, forestry technicians, ecologists, master gardeners, tree surgeons, cartographers, and meteorologists.