Environmental Science

Dr. Dennis Terry, Advisor
Beury Hall, Room 321
215-204-8226
dennis.terry@temple.edu

Students will be equipped with the scholarly background and intellectual skills to understand a wide range of pressing environmental issues, and they will come to appreciate the physical, economic, political, demographic, and ethical factors that define those issues. Among the many environmental problems central to our program are groundwater contamination, suburban sprawl, river basin management, environmental justice, and the greening of abandoned urban spaces. Our graduates find employment with government environmental agencies, citizens’ organizations, consulting firms, and corporate environmental affairs departments.

The Bachelor of Science degree is offered through the College of Science and Technology.  A related Bachelor of Arts degree is offered through the College of Liberal Arts.  There is further explanation in the "Intercollegial Programs" section of this Bulletin.

B.S. in Environmental Science

Bachelor of Science Major Requirements:

Calculus I, II; General Chemistry I, II with labs; Organic Chemistry I with labs; Biology 1111, 2112 and 2227; Economics 1102 and 3596; Environmental Studies 1051 or 1951 and 4198; Earth & Environmental Science 2001, 3021 and Earth & Environmental Science 3011 or Geography & Urban Studies 3062; Mathematics 2031 or Statistics 2101; along with five environmental studies electives.  Of the five environmental studies electives, at least one must be a policy elective or a social sciences course, and two of the electives must be from a single science department.

Writing Intensive Requirement for Bachelor of Science

Students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses as part of the major.  Following is a list of courses that can be used to satisfy the writing intensive requirement:  Biology 3196, Earth & Environmental Science 4197, Earth & Environmental Science 4997, Economics 3596, Environmental Studies 4198, Environmental Studies/Anthropology 4796, Environmental Studies/GUS 3097, Environmental Studies/GUS 4096, History/Environmental Studies 4297, Philosophy/Environmental Studies 2596.

*Environmental Studies Electives

In addition to the required courses and their prerequisites, B.S. majors must take five (5) courses from the list of approved electives. Two of these courses must be Natural Science courses from the same department, and one of them must be a Social Sciences/Humanities or a Policy elective course.  Please note that your electives can be taken prior to the fourth year as long as you have successfully completed the pre- and co-requisites.

Distinction in Major

To graduate with Distinction in Major, students are required to achieve a 3.5 GPA for courses required for the major.  If the difficulty of courses chosen as electives is high, then a 3.3 GPA will earn Distinction in Major.  This determination will be made by the appropriate faculty.