Goals---Study within the
major can be structured to meet any of the following objectives:
- Preparation for further graduate study within the sciences
- Development of a rigorous science background from which to pursue graduate-level
training in a professional program such as law, planning, medicine, business,
public policy, or environmental engineering
- A thorough grounding in environmental science as the principal component of
a liberal arts education
Environmental science major---
Fourteen courses and an integrating experience are required for the major.
Only courses with a grade of C- or better may be counted toward the major.
- Five foundational requirements from the natural science and mathematics
curriculum, one from each discipline, are required. It is recommended that
students take these courses by the end of the sophomore year. Students are
encouraged to take a full year of each science and a full year of calculus.
- BIOL 182L. Biology II: Evolution of Life
- CHEM 111L. Introductory Chemistry I
- MATH 107. Statistics or
126. Calculus with Algebra and Trigonometry or
131. Calculus I
- ENVS 112L. Introduction to Earth Science
- PHYS 101L. Principles of Physics or
131L. Mechanics and Heat
- Three environmental science core courses. All three courses are required.
- ENVS 149L. Introduction to Environmental Science
- ENVS 275L. Methods in Environmental Science
- ENVS 401. Advanced Seminar in Environmental Science*
- Two concentration courses. Students must take two of these courses; the
third may be taken as one of the two required natural science electives.
- BIOL 333L. Ecology (prerequisite:
BIOL 182)
- CHEM 230L. Environmental Chemistry
(prerequisite: CHEM 111L)
- ENVS 204L. Earth Systems Science
(prerequisite: ENVS 112L)
- Two elective courses from the natural sciences, mathematics, computer
science, or engineering. These may be taken from any of the courses
listed below. New courses may be offered as electives.
- BIOL 204. Plant Diversity
- BIOL 215L. Botany
- BIOL 222L. Invertebrate Zoology
- BIOL 228L. Microbiology
- BIOL 233. Conservation Biology
- BIOL 319L. Animal Physiology
- BIOL 323L. Plant Metabolism
- BIOL 336L. Marine and Freshwater Botany
- BIOL 463L. Ecological Concepts and Methods
- BIOL 475. Symbiosis
- CHEM 208L. Analytical Chemistry
- CHEM 211L. Organic Chemistry
- CHEM 312L. Instrumental Methods of Chemical Analysis
- CHEM 430. Environmental Toxicology
- CPSC 215L. Data Structures and Algorithms
- ENGR 232L. Engineering Materials
- ENGR 337. Thermodynamics
- ENVS 286. Theory and Application of Geographic Information Systems*
- ENVS 305. Soil Science
- PHYS 312. Geophysics
- MATH 252. Introduction to Mathematical Modeling I
- MATH 254. Introduction to Mathematical Modeling II
- MATH 257. Intermediate Statistics
- PHYS 231L. Electricity and Magnetism and Waves
- Two social science or humanities courses.
ECON 101. Basic Economic Principles and
one of the following courses are required. New courses may be offered.
- ECON 209. Urban Economics
- ANTH 227. Introduction to Political Ecology
- ECON 301. Microeconomic Theory
- ECON 311. Environmental Economics
- PHIL 227. Environmental Philosophy
- POLS 318. Environmental Politics
- POLS 224. Public Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice
- PBPL 302. Law and Environmental Policy
- PBPL 303. Policy Implementation Workshop
- One integrating experience involving research or an internship.
This half-credit requirement is designed to provide students with environmental
problem solving experience and can be met through library, field, or laboratory
research or through an approved integrated internship or independent study.
Students must have their plans for completing this requirement approved by
their adviser and the program director before they begin their work. To fulfill
the requirement, during the spring semester of their senior year, students
submit the following to their environmental science faculty adviser: a journal
of their activities and experiences, a letter from their supervisor (if work
is completed outside the College), and a reflection paper. Students will also
give a final, public presentation about their experience during the spring
semester of their senior year as part of fulfilling this requirement. Normally,
students must complete ENVS 275L before meeting this requirement.
- ENVS 399. Independent Study
- ENVS 405. Internship in Environmental Science
- ENVS 419. Research in Environmental Science (Library)
- ENVS 425. Research in Environmental Science (Laboratory)
- ENVS 497. Honors Research
The Writing Intensive Part II requirement is
fulfilled by one of the following courses:
- ENVS 275L. Methods in Environmental Science
- ENVS 401. Advanced Seminar in Environmental Science
Advanced Placement---Students
who have received an Advanced Placement exam score of 4 or 5 in environmental
science will be excused from ENVS 149L and receive
one credit towards the major.
Teaching assistantship---
Students wishing to serve as teaching assistants should discuss their interest
with the faculty. Accepted students must fill out the required forms to
register for ENVS 466. College credit, but not
major credit, is given for teaching assistants and grading is on a
pass/low pass/fail basis.
Courses at other institutions---
Students who wish major credit for course work at other institutions should:
(1) receive approval from the registrar for college credit, and (2) submit
to the director of the Environmental Science Program the name of the
institution, the number, title, and catalogue description of the course and,
if possible, the syllabus. This information must be submitted in writing
before the work is initiated and formal permission must be obtained before
the course can be credited toward the major at Trinity. Some students may
also wish to participate in semester programs that focus on serious study
of environmental science. Among the suitable programs in which Trinity
students participate regularly are:
- School for Field Studies
- Marine Biological Laboratory Semester in Environmental Science, Woods Hole
- Duke University Marine Laboratory
- Sea Education Association, Woods Hole
- EcoQuest, New Zealand
Honors---Students seeking
admission to the honors program in environmental science must submit a
written application to the director before the sixth week of classes of
their sixth semester. The Environmental Science Coordinating Committee
will act on each application. Students seeking honors must have completed
a minimum of five courses for the major by their fifth semester and their
grade point average in these courses must be at least a B+ (3.3).
Students not qualifying for the honors program after five semesters may
be invited by the faculty to enter the program at a later time.
After acceptance
into the honors program, students must maintain a GPA of B+ in their
environmental science courses. In addition, they must perform research
in environmental science (ENVS 419 or
425) for two semesters. The honors program
culminates in an honors thesis (ENVS 497) and
a public presentation. Upon completion of these requirements, the
Environmental Science Coordinating Committee will vote to award honors
to those candidates it deems qualified. Under exceptional circumstances,
the coordinating committee may consider for honors research students
who are not enrolled in the honors program but who produce particularly
distinguished work.
Field studies in environmental science---
Each year, environmental science faculty members conduct a 10- to 12-day
field trip to a particular region of the U.S. This trip introduces
Trinity students to field methods in the environmental sciences.
Students study the geology, ecology, and history of human impact on
the region visited, which varies from year to year. Students also
gain experience in basic field sampling techniques, observational
skills, field note-taking, and methods for data analysis and
interpretation. The trip occurs in either spring or late summer,
depending on the destination; registration for
ENVS 350 thus occurs in spring or fall
semester, respectively.
The environmental science minor---
The minor in environmental science is an option for students who
do not wish to major in environmental science but wish to enhance
their scientific background in conjunction with other interests in
the environment. The minor provides the opportunity to apply the
interdisciplinary study of environmental science across the curriculum.
Specific issues addressed by courses in the minor include the
conservation of biodiversity, government environmental policies,
economic implications of public or private management of natural
resources, ethical implications associated with human impacts on
ecosystems, cultural responses to environmental change, and other
environmental issues that face society in the new century. In
order to declare a minor in environmental science, the student
must meet with the environmental science program director.
The minor
in environmental science consists of six courses requiring a C-
or better: The six courses must be drawn from at least three
different fields, with no more than three courses from any one
field. No more than three courses may be double counted toward
the student's major and this minor. No more than one transfer
(outside Trinity) credit may be applied to the minor. The
requirements include:
- Two required environmental science core courses
- ENVS 149L. Introduction to Environmental Science
- ENVS 401. Advanced Senior Seminar in Environmental Science*
- Two additional sequential science courses
- BIOL 182L. Biology II: Evolution of Life
plus BIOL 233L. Conservation Biology
- CHEM 111L. Introductory Chemistry I plus
ENVS 275L. Methods in Environmental Science
- ENVS 112L. Introduction to Earth Science
plus ENVS 204L. Earth Systems Science
- PHYS 131L. Mechanics and Heat plus
PHYS 231L. Electricity and Magnetism
- Two additional electives in either natural or social sciences
or humanities. No more than one course can be taken from the
natural science electives.
- Natural science electives
- BIOL 215L. Botany
- BIOL 222L. Invertebrate Zoology
- BIOL 333L. Ecology
- BIOL 336L. Marine and Freshwater Botany
- BIOL 463L. Ecological Concepts and Methods
- CHEM 230L. Environmental Chemistry
- ENVS 286. Theory and Application of GIS*
- ENVS 305. Soil Science
- PHYS 312. Geophysics
- Social science and humanities electives
- ANTH 201. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- ANTH 227. Introduction to Political Ecology
- ECON 209. Urban Economics
- ECON 247. Introduction to Policy Analysis
- ECON 301. Microeconomic Theory
- ECON 311. Environmental Economics
- EDUC 215. Education and Social Change Across the Globe
- PHIL 227. Environmental Philosophy
- POLS 224. Public Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice
- POLS 310. Politics of Developing Countries
- PBPL 302. Law and Environment Policy
*Although ENVS 286
is classified as a natural science elective for the purpose of this
major and minor, the course does not satisfy the natural science
distribution requirement of the College.
ENVS 401 also does not satisfy the natural
science distribution requirement.