Earth Systems Option
This option is available within the Environmental Sciences major at the following locations:
- Corvallis
- Ecampus
With the Earth Systems option, students will obtain a solid base in the Earth sciences that they can apply to environmental issues in an integrative way in order to build a strong knowledge traditionally referred to as natural history.
Option Code: 848
Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:
- Demonstrate a rigorous cross-disciplinary base across the biological, physical, and social sciences.
- Articulate connections between multiple components of human and natural systems, including implications for land, air, water, climate, energy, food, biodiversity, and human health.
- Investigate and diagnose interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder environmental issues to propose solutions.
- Apply the analysis of data to an environmental problem.
- Reflect on how identity, including one’s own, affects the perception of issues and the practice of environmental science.
- Communicate effectively with diverse audiences in writing, speech, and in graphic forms.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| Select 27 credits from at least three of the following categories: | 27 | |
| Atmosphere | ||
| +*CLIMATE SCIENCE | ||
| METEOROLOGY | ||
| THERMODYNAMICS AND CLOUD MICROPHYSICS | ||
| ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION | ||
| CLIMATE PHYSICS | ||
| CLIMATE MODELING | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO BIOGEOCHEMISTRY | ||
| ^CLIMATOLOGY | ||
| Earth History | ||
| *PHYSICAL GEOLOGY | ||
| *EVOLUTION OF PLANET EARTH | ||
| *GLOBAL CHANGE AND EARTH SCIENCES | ||
| STRATIGRAPHY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY | ||
| GLACIAL GEOLOGY | ||
| QUATERNARY PALEOCLIMATOLOGY | ||
| QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICA | ||
| Earth’s Surface | ||
| WATERSHED PROCESSES | ||
| SURFACE PROCESSES | ||
| STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY | ||
| ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY | ||
| APPLIED GEOMORPHOLOGY | ||
| COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO BIOGEOCHEMISTRY | ||
| HYDROGEOLOGY | ||
| SNOW HYDROLOGY | ||
| Oceans | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO BIOGEOCHEMISTRY | ||
| *OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| COASTAL OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| GEOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| COASTAL AND ESTUARINE OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| ESTUARINE ECOLOGY | ||
| ^POLAR OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
Soils | ||
| *SOIL SCIENCE | ||
| SOIL SCIENCE and *SOIL SCIENCE LABORATORY FOR SOIL 205 | ||
| ECOSYSTEMS OF WILDLAND SOILS | ||
| ENVIRONMENTAL SOIL PHYSICS | ||
| ENVIRONMENTAL SOIL CHEMISTRY | ||
| BIOLOGY OF SOIL ECOSYSTEMS | ||
| SOIL MORPHOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION | ||
| SOIL LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS | ||
| Human-Environment Interaction | ||
| *OCEANS IN PERIL | ||
| *LIVING WITH ACTIVE CASCADE VOLCANOES | ||
| *MINERALS, ENERGY, WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT | ||
| *NATIONAL PARK GEOLOGY AND PRESERVATION | ||
| *EARTHQUAKES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST | ||
| ^ECOLOGICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY | ||
| *GEOGRAPHY OF NATURAL HAZARDS | ||
| RESILIENCE-BASED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT | ||
| CONFLICT, COOPERATION, AND CONTROL OF WATER IN THE US | ||
| THE WORLD'S WATER | ||
| LAND USE IN THE AMERICAN WEST | ||
| *OCEANS, COASTS, AND PEOPLE | ||
| Methods | ||
| OBSERVING CLIMATE | ||
| *FOUNDATIONS OF GEOSPATIAL SCIENCE AND GIS | ||
| GEOGRAPHIC FIELD RESEARCH | ||
| GISCIENCE I: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND THEORY | ||
| CARTOGRAPHY | ||
| REMOTE SENSING: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS | ||
| Total Credits | 27 | |
- *
Baccalaureate Core Course (BCC)
- ^
Writing Intensive Course (WIC)
- +
Core Education course. Applies only to students admitted to an OSU undergraduate degree from Summer 2025 onwards
Option Code: 848