Examines natural systems, adverse impacts of human activities upon these systems, and how society deals with these impacts. Topics may include ecology; biodiversity; forests and deforestation; human population growth and control; food production and world hunger; energy resources; and water and air pollution. In addition to the science of these topics, related politics, economics, and ethics are discussed.

The nature, composition, and organization of parties and pressure groups; the role played by these two forces in the political process; history and programs of parties and pressure groups will be analyzed. Also, the nature of contemporary voting behavior is examined.

This course focuses on Earth's geologic resources and how they influence man's use of the physical world. Topics include plate tectonics; earthquakes; rock and mineral formation; weathering and erosion; groundwater and surface water; Course Descriptions 213 stratigraphy and energy resources; glaciation and geologic history. Students make observations and measurements and translate them into meaningful data from which inferences can be drawn. Through hands-on experience, students gain skills of map reading, identification of minerals and rocks, interpretation of geologic and topographic maps.

Laboratory to accompany ENSC 210.

This course will provide an introduction to Geographic Information Systems. A Geographic Information System is a series of tools to create, edit, maintain, and analyze maps and data about features that occur over a specific geographic area. The course will detail the terminology, concepts, and applications that are commonly used with GIS. Hands-on training will be provided in the labs for input and edit functions, ad hoc query and analysis functions, and facilities management functions.

Through a heavily field-based, hands-on approach, this course teaches the physical and chemical components and processes of the Earth’s hydrologic cycle and climate systems, in context of biologic and human systems. Topics include above and belowground freshwater systems, weather and climate mechanisms and phenomena, energy fluxes and the structure and dynamics of the land surface, critical zone, oceans, and atmosphere, including their combined influence on the climate regionally and globally, and science communication in context of complex societal topics, such natural resource extraction and climate change. Students will synthesize their understanding through quantitative and spatial analysis, and will advance their abilities in science communication through multiple presentations and written forms of assessment. Through multiple course projects, students will quantitively observe, analyze, solve, and communicate about complex scientific questions, requiring creative synthesis of new and existing information of varying sources– enhancing student’s skills in quantitative observation, information literacy, critical inquiry using scientific thinking, and independent and team-based work on multi-week, multi-deliverable projects.

[Dual listed as BIOL 360]: This course involves the study of the interrelationships among organisms and with their environments. Topics include organism responses to physical and chemical conditions, population growth and regulation, intra- and interspecific competition, herbivory, predation, parasitism, mutualism, community structure, ecosystem productivity, nutrient cycling, and decomposition.

The purpose of this course is to examine the NEPA- and NYS SEQRA-based approaches to environmental impact assessment. Students will learn how to design a statistically acceptable monitoring program; how to collect samples; how to prepare and preserve samples for analyses; and how to interpret environmental data in the assessment of impacts.

Students are required to complete ENSC440 and ENSC441 or ENSC 398 and ENSC399 to satisfy degree requirements.

ENSC 440-441 Research I and II (6 credits)

• Students conduct research in Environmental Science or Policy under the direction of a faculty member. Students make individual arrangements with a faculty member to plan and conduct the study. At the end of her/his work, a written report and a public seminar are presented by the student, which may include a presentation at a scientific conference. 

ENSC 398-399 Internship (6 credits)

• The internship is designed to be a pre-professional work-related experience at an off-campus location. Generally taken in the junior or senior year, placements may be obtained within scientific, governmental, or advocacy organizations or with private consulting firms and environmental laboratories. The student intern will be supervised by an on-site professional and by the Environmental Science & Policy internship coordinator. Internships must be approved by the Program Director and the Office of Career Services prior to their commencement.

This is the capping course in Environmental Science & Policy. The course examines the moral implications of human attitudes regarding other species and the environment. This course explores the historical roots and current world views that have generated the present state of widespread environmental degradation. The interrelationship of ecology, economics, sociology, and ethics will also be studied.