UTexas

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science

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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 College of Natural Sciences with a major in biological sciences, by the College of Liberal Arts with a major in geographical sciences, and by the Jackson School of Geosciences with a major in geosciences. The degree programs share common prescribed work, but each degree has its own specific requirements. Students may earn only one Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree from the University.

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree requires 126 total semester credit hours of coursework. All students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum. The specific degree requirements consist of prescribed work, major requirements, and electives. 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 a flag requirement unless otherwise specified.

In the process of fulfilling the core curriculum and other degree requirements, all students are expected to complete the following Skills and Experience flags:

  1. Writing: three flagged courses beyond Rhetoric and Writing 306 or its equivalent; students in the College of Natural Sciences and the Jackson School of Geosciences must complete only two flagged writing courses. For students in the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts, at least one writing flag must be from an upper-division course.
  2. Quantitative reasoning: one flagged course
  3. Global cultures: one flagged course
  4. Cultural diversity in the United States: one flagged course
  5. Ethics: one flagged course
  6. Independent inquiry: one flagged course

Prescribed Work Common to All Majors

  1. Introductory course: Environmental Science 301
  2. Field experience and research methods: Environmental Science 311
  3. Environment and sustainability coursework:
    1. One environment and sustainability course: Business, Government, and Society 325, 372, Finance 372T, Geography 309C, 320J, 342C, 342N, or 344G. 
    2. One geographic information systems course: Geography 460G, 462K, or Geological Sciences 327G. 
    3. Two earth system courses: Geological Sciences 416W and one course chosen from Geography 330W, 301K, Geological Sciences 347D, 370E, 476K, 476M, 376S, or 377P.  
    4. Two computational science courses chosen from: Geography 462K, 464K, 368C, 369D, 470C, 370D, Geological Sciences 325G, 352P, 455S, Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering 338, Statistics and Data Sciences 320E, 320H, 321, Biological sciences majors must take Statistics and Data Sciences 320E, 320H, or 321
    5. Please note: 
    • Geographical sciences majors may not use the same coursework to satisfy both requirements 3 and 11.
    • Geosciences majors may not use the same coursework to satisfy both requirements 3 and 12.
    • Students may not use the same coursework to satisfy both requirements 3 and 5.
  4. Courses in each of the following environmental science areas: 
    1. Geological Sciences: Geological Sciences 401 or 303.
    2. Geography: Geography 412E.
    3. Ecology: Two courses chosen from Integrative Biology 373 or Marine Science 320 and Integrative Biology 373L or Marine Science 120L. Biological sciences majors must choose Integrative Biology 373 and 373L.
  5. Capstone Research Experience chosen from one of the following pairs:
    1. Environmental Science 271 and 371 or 171 and 471.
    2. Environmental Science 172C and 472D or 272C and 372D.
    3. Environmental Science 271 or Marine Science 370, and one course chosen from: Chemistry 320M, Geography 460G, 462K, 368C, Geological Sciences 327G, Mathematics 408D, 408M, Statistics and Data Sciences 320E, 320H, or 321.  
    4. Please note:
  1. Mathematics: Mathematics 408C, 408N and 408S, or 408K and 408L.
  2. Chemistry: Chemistry 301 or 301C and 302 or 302C.
  3. Physics: Physics 317K and 117M, Physics 303K and 103M, or Physics 301 and 101L.
  4. Biological Sciences: Biology 311C and 311D, or 315H.
Biological Sciences Requirements

A total of 126 semester credit hours is required.

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.

Option I: Biological Sciences

  1. One of the following foreign language/culture choices:
    1. Beginning level proficiency coursework, or the equivalent, in a foreign language.
    2. First course 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 conservation and environmental biology chosen from Integrative Biology 351,  375, Marine Science 352E, 355E or 356. Marine Science 352 may count with prior approval of the faculty advisor.
  3. Biology 325 or 325H (for students completing Biology 315H), and Integrative Biology 370.
  4. One of the following taxon/systems-based diversity courses or pairs of courses: Integrative Biology 321L, 324 and 124L, 322 and 122L, 440L, 448L, 353F, 453L, 354L, 455L, 463L, 364, 369F, 369L, Marine Science 352C, 352D, 354, 354C, 354E, 354U, or 357.
  5. One of the following physiology, neurobiology, and behavior courses or pairs of courses: Integrative Biology 322 and 122L, Molecular Biosciences 328, Integrative Biology 438L, Molecular Biosciences 355, Integrative Biology 345E, 346, 359J, 359K, Molecular Biosciences 361, Integrative Biology 361T, 365S, Molecular Biosciences 367C, Integrative Biology 371L, Marine Science 355C.
  6. Complete one upper-division laboratory course in addition to Prescribed Work laboratory requirements 4, 5, and 8. A laboratory course taken to meet requirement 14 or 15 may be used to fulfill this requirement.
  7. Enough additional coursework to make a total of 126 hours.

Option II: Biological Sciences Honors

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 advisor, and 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.

  1. To fulfill requirements 6 through 9 of the prescribed work common to all options above, students complete the following breadth requirement: An honors mathematics course; Biology 315H and 325H; Chemistry 301C and 302C; 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 honors program advisor.
  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; these courses may be used to fulfill requirement 5.
  6. Integrative Biology 370.
  7. Three semester hours in conservation and environmental biology chosen from Integrative Biology 351, 375, Marine Science 352E, 355E, or 356. Marine Science 356 may not be used to satisfy both requirement 10c and requirement 18.
  8. One of the following taxon/systems-based diversity courses or pairs of courses: Integrative Biology 321L, 324 and 124L, 322 and 122L, 440L, 448L, 353F, 453L, 354L, 455L, 463L, 364, 369F, 369L, Marine Science 352C, 352D, 354, 354C, 354E, 354U or 357.
  9. Six semester hours of coursework from the College of Liberal Arts and/or the College of Fine Arts.
  10. Complete one upper-division laboratory course in addition to Prescribed Work laboratory requirements 4, 5, and 8. A laboratory course taken to fulfill requirement 17 may be used to fulfill this requirement. 
  11. Enough additional coursework approved by the honors advisor to make a total of 126 semester hours.