Assistant Director   John Wimbush
Program Home Page   http://www.rpi.edu/dept/envsci

Environmental issues are, and will be, prominent in our lives as professionals and as citizens. Essentially no place on the planet has escaped perturbation resulting from activities of an evergrowing human population. The challenge is to maintain those attributes of the Earth that make it habitable while at the same time providing for human needs. Science will play an absolutely critical role in enabling technological civilizations to move toward sustainable interactions with the natural world.

An effective environmental scientist, in addition to being well educated in one area of science, must have a perspective far broader than that afforded in any single scientific discipline. In fact, expertise is needed across more than just the sciences. Rensselaer’s environmental science degree addresses these challenges with a multifaceted program.

The First-Year Environmental Seminar considers topical environmental issues from numerous perspectives so as to provide students with a broad overview of our environmental challenges, as preparation both for their major and for leadership roles in environmental science.

A guided selection of courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences broadens perspective and understanding of the human approach to and interactions with the natural world. Three courses, Global Environmental Change, One Mile of the Hudson River, and Rhetoric of Nature and the Environment, taken in the final two years of study, enable the student to grasp the broadly varied, interdisciplinary dimensions of the human cultural interface with the natural world. The requirement for an intensive environmental experience is an overt acknowledgment that environmental science is a discipline concerned with the natural world. This experience, one that is at least partially removed from the human mediated environments in which we all live, permits the student to gain first hand exposure to some aspects of the natural world.

The science core of 38 credit hours gives each student a common core of 10 courses that introduces the student to important approaches for understanding the natural world. The student-elected concentration in one of the traditional scientific disciplines gives depth in one area of science. With judicious use of the 28 credit hours of electives, a student can be prepared to pursue a number of career options including graduate study in the concentration discipline.

Areas of Advanced Research and Study

There are numerous opportunities for advanced study throughout the School of Science. Some examples include: the impact of acid rain on the Adirondacks, characterization of subsurface microorganisms with the potential for bioremediation, PCB analysis in the Hudson River, studies of aquatic biota in Lake George, and nitrogen cycling in local ecosystems. Students are encouraged to seek research opportunities in environmental science as described in each of the traditional scientific disciplines.

Undergraduate Curricula

Environmental Science Curriculum   This curriculum leads to a B.S. in environmental science. A typical four year program is illustrated below; students should note, however, that the order in which courses are taken within the first two years is flexible.

1. Hum. & Soc. SCI courses should be selected in consultation with the adviser and the Environmental Science Faculty Committee. Examples of environmentally relevant options include:ECON-4230 Environmental Economics, ECON-4250 Ecological Economics, IHSS-2100 Introduction to Environmental Studies, PHIL-4300 Environmental Philosophy, STSS-1110 Introduction to Science and Technology Studies, STSS-2300 Environment and Society, STSS-4540 Environment, Law and Culture and STSS-4320 Environmental Politics and Policy.
2. With permission of the director of Environmental Science, a student may elect another Math course (Course numbers MATH-xxxx,MATP-xxxx, or cross listed courses with these numbers).
3. Each student is required to elect one of the concentrations listed below.
4. Each student is required to engage in an activity that qualifies as an intensive environmental experience as described below.
5. This course is offered every other year in the fall term of odd-numbered years and therefore is a junior year course for some students.

Concentrations   (one concentration required)

Environmental Studies Program   Building on the unusual strength and breadth of Rensselaer’s synthesis of engineering, science, and the humanities and social sciences, the Environmental Studies Program offers students a unique educational opportunity to develop a truly multidisciplinary approach to environmental studies.

Students who enter Rensselaer in the Environmental Studies Program will take a broad range of basic courses in their first two years and then choose one of five majors: economics (with an ecological economics focus), environmental engineering, environmental science (with a concentration in a specific area of science), hydrogeology, or science, technology, and society (with an environmental focus). Students may also choose the dual major program including economics and science, technology, and society: Ecological Economics, Values, and Policy. To complement their major programs, students may earn a wide variety of minors. All the majors in the program offer their own environmental minors, and the Schools of Architecture and Management offer special environmental courses as well. Students who graduate from the Environmental Studies Program will not be narrow specialists; they will receive the kind of multidisciplinary education that is required to address environmental problems.

See Science and Technology Studies for a complete description of the program.

Intensive Environmental Experience   In consultation with his or her adviser and with the approval of the director of the Environmental Science Program, the student will select and engage in an intensive activity related to the environment, either directly (as in a “natural world” experience) or indirectly through temporary employment (e.g., as a co-op or intern) or through participation in an environmental research, monitoring, or assessment program. The environmental experience, envisioned typically as a summer activity occurring after the sophomore or junior year, will be of at least a month’s duration, and in some cases, may be associated with earning academic credit. Successful fulfillment of this requirement will entail a documentation of the experience that is approved by the Environmental Science Faculty Committee.

Minor in Environmental Science

Sustainable stewardship of the environment is the single most important challenge facing the world. Students who wish to develop a multidisciplinary background in environmental science may wish to pursue this minor. The program of study requires a minimum of four courses of which three are required: BIOL-4850 Principles of Ecology, CHEM-4810 Chemistry of the Environment, and ERTH-1200 Geology II. A minimum of one additional course must be selected from the list below. At the discretion of the adviser and the environmental science program director, the student may take an alternative not on the list, or do a research project of four credits. At least three of the four courses required for the minor must be at the 4000 level.

Faculty Committee   Richard F. Bopp, Charles W. Boylen, Steven J. Breyman, John M. Gowdy, Gerald M. Korenowski, Peter D. Persans, William L. Siegmann

Interschool Minor in Energy

Students interested in developing a broad, multidisciplinary background in energy to complement their more focused major program should consider this minor. See Science and Technology Studies for details on this minor.