The Minor

Requirements for the MINOR in Environmental Science

Five courses required. Total credits = minimum of 15

Important Note: No more than two courses may be double-counted towards the requirements of both your major and this minor (or between this minor and another minor or certificate). Up to six (6) credits of transfer/exchange/advanced placement credits accepted.

Select no more than one (1) of the following three courses

ENVIRSCI 101 Introduction to Environmental Science (BS)
OR NRC 100 Environment and Society (I)
OR GEOGRAPH 110 Intro to Climate Science (PS)

Select two (2) of following six courses

ENVIRSCI 213 Introduction to Environmental Policy (note: restricted enrollment – Fall offering)
ENVIRSCI 214 Ecosystems, Biodiv.& Global Change (note: restricted enrollment, Biology prerequisite- Spring)
ENVIRSCI 315 Principles of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (note: restricted enrollment, organic chemistry prereq – Spring offering)
GEOGRAPH 342 – Environmental Geography and Sustainability (Fall)
GEOLOGY 285 – Environmental Geology (Fall)
RES-ECON 262 Environmental Economics (Spring) OR RES-ECON 263 Natural Resources Economics (Fall)

Select two (2) courses from approved list of Upper-Level (300+) ENVIRSCI elective course:

Earth Science

ENVIRSCI 364 Environ. Soil Science
ENVIRSCI 565 Soil Form. & Classification
GEOGRAPH 354 Climatology
GEOLOGY 415 Introduction to Geochemistry
GEOLOGY 485 Applied Environ. Geology
GEOLOGY 394LI: History of the Earth
GEOLOGY 494LI Living on Earth
GEO-SCI 510 Natural Hazards
GEO-SCI 519 Aqueous & Environ. Geochem.
GEO-SCI 557 Coastal Processes
GEO-SCI 560 Geomorphology
GEO-SCI 563 Glacial Geology
GEO-SCI 587 Hydrogeology

Ecology and Conservation Science

BIOLOGY 421 Plant Ecology
BIOLOGY 540 Herpetology
BIOLOGY 544 Ornithology
BIOLOGY 548 Mammalogy
BIOLOGY 550 Animal Behavior
ENVIRSCI 515 Microbiology of Soil
NRC 540 Forest Management
NRC 564 Wildlife Habitat Management
NRC 565 Dyn. & Mgt of Wildlife Populations
NRC 566 Restoration Ecology
NRC 568 Wetland Soils
NRC 570 Ecology of Fish
NRC 580 Conservation Genetics
NRC 571 Fisheries Science & Management
NRC 578 Watershed Science & Mgt
STOCKSCH 326 Insect Biology
SUSTCOMM 335 Plants in the Landscape
SUSTCOMM 547 Landscape Pattern and Process

Environmental Policy & Land Use

ECON 308 Environmental Economics
SUSTCOMM 553 Resource Policy and Planning
SUSTCOMM 574 City Planning
SUSTCOMM 575 Environ. Law and Resource Mgt
SUSTCOMM 577 Urban Policies
LANDARCH 580 Sustainable Cities
LANDARCH 582 Landscape & Green Urbanism
GEOGRAPH 360 Economic Geography
GEOGRAPH 362 Conservation Geography
GEOGRAPH 370 Urban Geography
GEOGRAPH 372 Urban Issues
GEOGRAPH 440 Political Geography
GEOGRAPH 420 Political Ecology
NRC 309 Natural Resources Policy & Admin.
NRC 576 Water Resources Mgt & Policy
NRC 562 -Clean Energy & Climate Policy
NRC 561- AnalytcMethds/Enery&ClimPol
POLISCI 382 Environmental Policy
REGIONPL 558 Issues in Environmental Mgt
RES-ECON 360 –Econ. Development & Environment
RES-ECON 363 Economics of Water Policy
RESECON 471 Benefit-Cost Analysis
RESECON 472 Adv.topics Resource & Env Economics

Environmental Quality, Planning & Assessment

CE-ENGIN 370 Intro Environ.& Water Resources
ENVIRSCI 452 Haz. Waste Operations & Emergency Response
ENVIRSCI 465 Principles of Environ. Site Assessment
ENVIRSCI 575 Environmental Soil Chemistry
ENVIRSCI 585 Inorganic Contaminants in Soil, Water & Sediment
ENVIRSCI 587 Phyto/Bioremediation
GEOLOGY 331 Geological Mapping
GEOGRAPH 352 Computer Mapping
GEOGRAPH 468 GIS & Spatial Analysis
GEO-SCI 591CM Introduction to Climate & Environmental Monitoring
MICROBIO 310 General Microbiology
MICROBIO 385 Intro Biotechnology Lab
MICROBIO 562 Environ. Biotechnology
NRC 534 Forest Measurements
NRC 575 Case Studies in Land Conserv.
NRC 577 Ecosystem Modeling & Simulation
NRC 585 Introduction to GIS
NRC 586 Natural Resource Inventory of Local Lands
NRC 587 Digital Remote Sensing
NRC 581 Wetlands Assessment & Field Techniques
PUBHLTH 562 Air Quality Assessment
PUBHLTH 565 - Environmental Health Practices
PUBHLTH 590A - Contaminant Fate and Transport in Aquatic Systems
PUBHLTH 590N - Indoor Environment and Health
REGIONPL 553 Resource Policy and Planning

How to Declare the Minor:

Minors are declared after they are completed. Please email the Program Manager (Prof. Deborah Henson, dhenson@eco.umass.edu) with your SPIRE ID number, and the list of five classes that you are using to fulfill the minor. You can “declare” your intention to complete the minor after the add/drop period in your final semester, or after the courses are completed if this happens sooner than your final semester before graduation.