This is an archived copy of the 2014-16 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree program is designed for students interested in an interdisciplinary scientific perspective on environmental and sustainability issues, analysis, and management. The degree program provides the broad foundation in physical, life, and social sciences needed for a career or graduate study in environmental science and related fields such as climate change, ecology, and conservation. Students who complete the program successfully will be able to assess environmental issues critically from multiple perspectives; to perform field, laboratory, and computer analyses; and to conduct original research. The program is designed to prepare graduates for careers in local, state, and federal government laboratories and nonprofit agencies, environmental consulting firms, environmental education and outreach agencies, and universities and other research settings. The degree is offered by the Jackson School of Geosciences with a major in geological sciences, by the College of Liberal Arts with a major in geographical sciences, and by the College of Natural Sciences with a major in biological sciences. The degree programs share common prescribed work, but each major has its own specific requirements. Students may earn only one Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree from the University.

Students must apply for admission to the degree program after completing prerequisite coursework. To be competitive for admission, students should have a University grade point average of at least 2.75. More information about admission requirements is given in The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science .

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science curriculum consists of 126 semester hours of coursework. All students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum . The specific degree requirements consist of prescribed work and major requirements. In some cases, a course that is required for the degree may also be counted toward the core curriculum.

A course in one prescribed work area may not also be used to fulfill the requirements of another prescribed work area; the only exception to this rule is that a course that fulfills another requirement may also be used to fulfill the writing requirement if the course carries a writing flag.

Prescribed Work Common to All Options

  1. Mathematics: Mathematics 408C, or 408N and 408S.
  2. Chemistry: Chemistry 301 or 301H; 302 or 302H; and 204.
  3. Physics: Physics 317K and 117M, or another four-hour calculus-based physics sequence.
  4. Biological Sciences: Biology 311C and 311D, or 315H.
  5. Ecology: Biology 373 and Biology 373L, or Marine Science 320 and either 120L or 152T (Topic: Marine Ecology); Marine Science 320 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 5 and requirement 10. 
  6. Geological Sciences: Geological Sciences 401 or 303, 346C, and an approved geological sciences course in sustainability.
  7. Geography: Geography 335N.
  8. Field experience: One course from each of the following lists:
    1. Introductory field seminar: Environmental Science 311.
    2. Senior field/research experience: Environmental Science 371 or Biology 377 (with prior approval of the faculty adviser).
  9. Research Methods: Environmental Science 331.
  10. Environmental and sustainability themes: one course in each of the following thematic areas:
    1. Environmental and sustainability policy, ethics, and history: Geography 334, 336C, 339K, 340D, 342C, 344K, 356C, 356T (approved topics), Marine Science 367K, Philosophy 325C, Sociology 321K.
    2. Geographic information systems: Geography 360G, 462K, Geological Sciences 327G.
    3. Climates and oceans: Biology 456L, Geography 333K, 356T (approved topics), Geological Sciences 371C (approved topics), 377P, Marine Science 320, 440, 354Q, 354T, 356; Marine Science 320 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 5 and requirement 10; Marine Science 356 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 10 and requirement 14 in Option I; Marine Science 356 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 10 and requirement 18 in Option II.
    4. Environmental economics, sustainability, and business: Economics 304K, 330T.
  11. ​Environmental Science 141 and 151.

Additional Prescribed Work for Each Option

All students must complete at least fifteen semester hours of upper-division coursework, including one upper-division laboratory/field course in addition to the laboratory/field courses in the prescribed work for the degree. The student must complete Biology 311C, 311D, and 325, or 315H and 325H, with a grade of at least C- in each before progressing to other upper-division biology courses. All students must complete two courses with a writing flag. One of these courses must be upper-division. Courses that meet this requirement are identified in the Course Schedule . They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements, unless otherwise specified.

Option I: Biological Science

  1. One of the following foreign language/culture choices:

    1. Second-semester-level proficiency, or the equivalent, in a foreign language.

    2. First-semester-level proficiency, or the equivalent, in a foreign language and a three-semester-hour course in the culture of the same language area.

    3. Two three-semester-hour courses in one foreign culture area; the courses must be chosen from an approved list available in the dean’s office and the college advising centers.

  2. Three hours in statistics chosen from Statistics and Data Sciences 328M and 321; with the consent of the undergraduate adviser, an upper-division statistics or probability course may be used to fulfill this requirement.

  3. Three hours in conservation and environmental biology chosen from Biology 351,  375, Marine Science 352 (Topic: Concepts in Marine Conservation Biology), and 356; Marine Science 356 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 10 and requirement 14.

  4.  Biology 325 or 325H (for students completing Biology 315H), and 370.

  5. One of the following taxon/systems-based diversity courses or pairs of courses: Biology 321L, 324 and 124L, 327 and 127L, 337 (Topic: Natural History of the Protists), 340L, 448L, 353F, 453L, 354L, 455L, 364, 369L, 471G, Marine Science 352 (Topic: Principles of Estuarine Ecology), 352 (Topic: Marine Invertebrates), 352D, 354C, 354E, 354U, 357, Geological Sciences 479M.

  6. One of the following physiology, neurobiology, and behavior courses or pairs of courses: Biology 322 and 122L, 328 and 128L, 438L, 339, 345E, 346, 359J, 359K, 359R, 361, 361T, 365S, 371L, Marine Science 355C, Neuroscience 365R.

  7. All students must complete two courses with a writing flag, one of which must be upper-division; students must also complete one quantitative reasoning flag. Courses with flags are identified in the Course Schedule . They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements, unless otherwise specified.

  8. Enough additional coursework to make a total of 126 hours.

Option II: Biological Sciences Honors

  1. To fulfill requirements 1 through 4 of the prescribed work common to all options above, students complete the following breadth requirement: An honors mathematics course; Biology 315H and 325H; Chemistry 301H and 302H; Physics 301 and 101L; and a designated honors statistics course;Credit earned by examination may not be counted toward this requirement.

  2. Chemistry 204.

  3. A section of Undergraduate Studies 302 or 303 that is approved by the program adviser or Environmental Science 331.

  4.  A section of Rhetoric and Writing 309S that is restricted to student in the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program.

  5. Two semesters of Biology 379H; one semester may be used to fulfill requirement 8b.

  6. Biology 370.

  7. Three semester hours in conservation and environmental biology chosen from Biology 375, 351, Marine Science 352 (Topic: Concepts in Marine Conservation Biology), and 356; Marine Science 356 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 10 and requirement 18.

  8. One of the following taxon/systems-based diversity courses or pairs of courses: Biology 321L, 324 and 124L, 327 and 127L, 337 (Topic: Natural History of the Protists), 340L, 448L, 353F, 453L, 354L, 455L, 364, 369L, 471G; Marine Science 352 (Topic: Principles of Estuarine Ecology), or Marine Science 352 (Topic: Marine Invertebrates), 352D, 354C, 354E, 354U, 357; or Geological Sciences 479M.

  9. Six semester hours of coursework in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Fine Arts.

  10. All students must complete two courses with a writing flag, one of which must be upper-division; students must also complete one quantitative reasoning flag. One of these courses must be upper-division. Courses with flags are identified in the Course Schedule . They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements, unless otherwise specified.

  11. Enough additional coursework approved by the honors adviser to make a total of 126 semester hours.

Special Requirements

Students must fulfill both the University's general requirements  for graduation and the college requirements . They must also earn a grade of at least C- in each mathematics and science course required for the degree, and a grade point average in these courses of at least 2.00. More information about grades and the grade point average is given in the  General Information  Catalog .

To graduate under the honors option, students must remain in good standing in the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program, must submit an honors thesis approved by the program honors adviser, and must present their research in an approved public forum, such as the college’s annual Undergraduate Research Forum. More information about the Undergraduate Research Forum is available at https://cns.utexas.edu/ .