Environmental Sciences Minor
This program is available at the following locations:
- Corvallis
- Ecampus
The interdisciplinary field of Environmental Sciences integrates the biological and physical sciences with the social sciences for the study of human interactions with natural systems, especially with the goal of addressing environmental problems. The Environmental Sciences minor provides an opportunity for students to develop a basic background in the natural environmental systems, selecting courses in the categories of atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere; in addition, the minor requires selection of courses on the relationship between humans and the environment in the categories of economics and policy, ethics, human environment, and management.
Minor Code: 758
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.
Students must complete a minimum of 14 unique credits in the minor that do not fulfill requirements of majors, minors, options or certificates. A total of 27 credits in the minor is required.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Environmental Systems | ||
| Atmosphere | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 4 | |
| +*CLIMATE SCIENCE | ||
| METEOROLOGY | ||
| ^CLIMATOLOGY | ||
| Biosphere | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| ECOLOGY | ||
| FOREST ECOLOGY | ||
| ^ECOLOGICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY | ||
| Geosphere | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| *SOIL SCIENCE | ||
| *EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY | ||
| SURFACE PROCESSES | ||
| *PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY | ||
| SOIL SCIENCE and *SOIL SCIENCE LABORATORY FOR SOIL 205 | ||
| ^WORLD SOIL RESOURCES | ||
| Hydrosphere | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-5 | |
| FRESHWATER ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION | ||
| HYDROGEOLOGY | ||
| *INTRODUCTION TO WATER SCIENCE AND POLICY | ||
| HYDROLOGY FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT | ||
| *OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| Humans and the Environment | ||
| Economics and Policy | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| *INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND POLICY | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, POLICY, AND ECONOMICS | ||
| *NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS AND POLICY | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND POLICY | ||
| ENVIRONMENTAL LAW | ||
| +*INTRODUCTION TO MICROECONOMICS | ||
| FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE LAW AND POLICY | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO OCEAN LAW | ||
| ECOSYSTEM SERVICES | ||
| *INTRODUCTION TO WATER SCIENCE AND POLICY | ||
| LAND USE IN THE AMERICAN WEST | ||
| PLANNING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES | ||
| THE POLICY AND LAW OF U.S. COASTAL GOVERNANCE | ||
| INTEGRATED POLICY: FOOD, ENERGY, WATER, CLIMATE | ||
| US ENERGY POLICY | ||
| ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND POLICY | ||
| SCIENCE AND POLITICS | ||
| INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND POLICY | ||
| RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY | ||
| *POPULATION TRENDS AND POLICY | ||
| Ethics and Environmental Ethics | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| *NATURAL RESOURCES AND COMMUNITY VALUES | ||
| NATIVE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHIES | ||
| *GENES AND CHEMICALS IN AGRICULTURE: VALUE AND RISK | ||
| *CONSENSUS AND NATURAL RESOURCES | ||
| *MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVES IN NATURAL RESOURCES | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE | ||
| *SCIENTIFIC REASONING | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS | ||
| *WORLD VIEWS AND ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES | ||
| *SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SOCIAL CONTEXT | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY | ||
| *SOCIETY AND NATURAL RESOURCES | ||
| *WOMEN AND NATURAL RESOURCES | ||
| Human Environment | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| *ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE OF PACIFIC NW INDIANS | ||
| *HUMAN IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS | ||
| *OCEANS IN PERIL | ||
| *HUMAN ECOLOGY | ||
| ^ENVIRONMENTAL CASE STUDIES | ||
| *GLOBAL CRISES IN RESOURCE ECOLOGY | ||
| *GLOBAL CHANGE AND EARTH SCIENCES | ||
| *SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE COMMON GOOD | ||
| *GEOGRAPHY OF NATURAL HAZARDS | ||
| LAND USE IN THE AMERICAN WEST | ||
| *ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES | ||
| *OCEANS, COASTS, AND PEOPLE | ||
| SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY | ||
| *INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY | ||
| *SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES | ||
| *WOMEN AND NATURAL RESOURCES | ||
| *BIODIVERSITY: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND CONSERVATION | ||
| Environmental Management | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| FOREST PATHOLOGY | ||
| URBAN FORESTRY | ||
| *ISSUES IN NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION | ||
| FOREST ENTOMOLOGY | ||
| ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION | ||
| TOPICS IN WILDLAND FIRE | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION | ||
| MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES OF PACIFIC SALMON IN THE NORTHWEST | ||
| INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT | ||
| ^WILDLIFE IN AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS | ||
| MARINE CONSERVATION BIOLOGY | ||
| *MINERALS, ENERGY, WATER AND THE ENVIRONMENT | ||
| RESILIENCE-BASED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT | ||
| CONFLICT, COOPERATION, AND CONTROL OF WATER IN THE US | ||
| THE WORLD'S WATER | ||
| ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT | ||
| *POLLINATORS IN PERIL | ||
| NATURAL RESOURCE DECISION MAKING | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF RANGELAND ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT | ||
| RANGELAND RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT | ||
| RIPARIAN ECOHYDROLOGY AND MANAGEMENT | ||
| RANGELAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING | ||
| Total Credits | 27-33 | |
- *
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
Minor Code: 758