Environmental Studies

• Department Information
• Program Description
• Career Opportunities
• Scholarship
• Advanced Placement
• Major Requirements (B.A.)
• Other Degree Requirements
• Minor Requirements
• Undergraduate Courses

Department Information

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
Office: Robinson Hall 220
Phone: (510) 885-3193; FAX: (510) 885-2353
Website: http://class.csueastbay.edu/geography

Professors
Karina Garbesi, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
David Larson (Chair), Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
Michael Lee, Ph.D. London School of Economics (England)
Gary Li, Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo
Scott Stine, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley

Associate Professor
David Woo, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara

Back to top

Program Description

The Environmental Studies major is designed to provide an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary overview of the environmental studies field, coupled with an in-depth study of one subfield. The core requires coursework in the sciences and social sciences and students may build options based on one or several related fields in these categories.

As part of the Environmental Studies major, students must select a 16 unit program of electives. Three options allow students latitude in providing specialization to a particular field of interest: Environment and Society, Physical Environment and Sustainable Resource Management. Courses in these options must be distributed across three departments.

Environmental Studies majors are provided internship opportunities through assignments in public and private agencies on projects related to citizen action, environmental planning, or in research. Ten to twenty hours weekly are required. Supervision and evaluation are by agency personnel and the course is conducted by the instructor. The internship may be repeated once for credit.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students graduating with a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Cal State East Bay will have achieved the following:

1. recognition of their potential to function as professional Environmental Managers (whether they choose to become one or not);
2. a basic knowledge of politics, law, economics, biology, chemistry, geography and geology;
3. the ability to communicate orally and in writing;
4. the ability to solve basic quantitative problems;
5. familiarity with the practical/field dimensions of a range of Bay Area environmental problems and issues;
6. the ability to assist in the preparation of, and to critically review EIRs/EIAs;
7. a solid understanding of the key interrelationships between society, the economy and the environment.

Back to top

Career Opportunities

• Administrator
• Citizen Activist
• Consumer Affairs Specialist
• Educator
• Energy Impact Assessor
• Environmental Auditor
• Environmental Compliance Officer
• Historic Preservationist
• Journalist
• Land Acquisition Analyst
• Lawyer Librarian
• Mediator
• Open Space and Recreation Planner
• Solid Waste and Recycling Specialist
• Water Control Inspector
• Watershed Manager

Back to top

Scholarship

Richard and Evelyn Thoman Scholarship in Geography and Environmental Studies

One $500 scholarship awarded each academic year for full-time undergraduate or graduate studies. Awards are limited to students with upper division or graduate standing. A grade point average of 3.5 or higher is required, and demonstrated scholastic and creative ability in the field of Geography or Environmental Studies.

Back to top

Advanced Placement

Students who earn a grade of 3 or higher on the College Entrance Examination Board's Advanced Placement Test in Environmental Science will be given 4 units of credit equivalent to ENVT 2000.

Back to top

Major Requirements (B.A.)

Please consult an advisor in your major department for clarification and interpretation of your major requirements. The major consists of 92-94 units; the B.A. degree requires a total of 180 units.

1. Lower Division (32-33 units)
   • ENSC 2400 and 2401 (5) (preferred) or BIOL 1000, or BIOL 1001 and BIOL 1002 (5)
   • CHEM 1100 (5)
   • ECON 2301 (4)¹ or GEOG 2310 (4)
   • ENVT 2000 (4)
   • GEOG 2100 (4) or GEOG 2400 (4)
   • GEOL 2210 and 2211 (5) (preferred) or GEOL 1000 (5), or GEOL 1001 and GEOG 1002 (6)
   • STAT 1000 or STAT 2010 (5)
2. Upper Division (44-45 units)
   • ECON 4306 or PHIL 3151 (4)
   • ENVT 3400, ENVT 4100, and ENVT 4800 (11)
   • GEOG 3000 (4)
   • GEOG 3030 (4)
   • GEOG 3450 (5)
   • HIST 3505 (4)
   • POSC 3460 or POSC 4171 (4)
   • Any two of the following: (8-9)
     
     • ENVT/GEOG 3480
     • ENVT 4300
     • GEOG 4125
3. Program of Electives (16 units)
   Students must select one of the following options. Four courses, totaling 16 units, distributed across at least two catalog prefixes, in one of the following three options:
   1. Environment and Society
      • ENVT/GEOG 4320 Energy and Society (4)
      • ENVT 4910 Internship in Environmental Studies (2-4)
      • ECON 4306 Environmental Economics (4)*
      • GEOG 4330 Sustainable Development (4)
      • HSC 2001 Environmental Factors in Health (4)
        OR HSC 3200 Environmental Health (4)
      • INTS 3100 Global Systems (4)
      • PHIL 3151 Environmental Ethics (4)
      • PHIL 3511 Philosophy of Human Rights and Global Justice (4)
      • POSC 3120 State and Local Politics and Government (4)
      • POSC 3130 Urban Politics (4)
      • POSC 3800 Public Policy Analysis (4)
      • POSC 4171 Public Policy and the Environment (4)*
      • PUAD 4800 Public Administration and Society (4)
      • REC 4050 Social Justice in Leisure and Hospitality (4)

      * if not used for upper division core

   2. Physical Environment
      • BIOL/GEOG 4130 Biogeography (4)
      • ENSC 3500 Environmental Hydrology (4)
      • ENVT 4910 Internship in Environmental Studies (2-4)
      • GEOG 2100 Physical Geography (4)*
      • GEOG 2410 Introduction to Maps (4)
      • GEOG 3115 Physical Landscape Analysis (4)
      • GEOG 3120 Climatic Change (4)
      • GEOG 4125 Field Course in Physical-Biotic Geography (4)
      • GEOG 4425 Remote Sensing of Earth Environments (4)
      • GEOL 1201 Introduction to Oceanography (4)
      • GEOL 1202 Oceanography Laboratory (2)
      • GEOL 2000 Introduction to the Geology of California (4)
      • GEOL 2101 Physical Geology (5)
      • GEOL 2301 Natural Hazards (4)
      • GEOL 3040 Fundamentals of Meteorology (4)
      • GEOL 3100 Geology of Western Regional Parks (4)
      • GEOL 3110 Principles of Geomorphology (4)
      • GEOL 3200 Regional Field Geology (1-2)
      • GEOL 3400 General Oceanography (4)
      • GEOL 4320 Hydrology (4)

      * if not used for lower division core

   3. Sustainable Resource Management
      Required courses (8 units):
      • ENVT/GEOG 4320 Energy and Society (4)
      • GEOG 4350 Water Resources and Management (4)
      Electives (8 units):
      • BIOL 3110 Principles of Ecology (4)
      • ECON 4306 Environmental Economics (4)*
      • ENGR/MGMT 3110 Project Management (4)
      • ENSC 3500 Environmental Hydrology (4)
      • ENSC 4140 Hazardous Waste Management (4)
      • ENVT 4910 Internship in Environmental Studies (2 – 4)
      • GEOG 3410 Air-Photo Interpretation (4)
      • GEOG 3600 Cartographic Principals and Graphic Communication (5)
      • GEOG 3605 Computer Cartography (5)
      • GEOG 4330 Sustainable Development (4)
      • GEOG 4355 Watershed Management (4)
      • GEOG 4425 Remote Sensing of Earth Environments (4)
      • GEOG 4605 Applications of GIS (5)
      • HOS 4550 Global Tourism (4)
      • POSC 4445 Bureaucratic Politics and Administrative Law (4)
      • REC 3305 Outdoor Living Skills (4)
        OR REC 4705 Outdoor Adventure Recreation (4)
      *if not used for upper-division core

Back to top

Other Degree Requirements

In addition to major requirements, every student must also complete the University requirements for graduation which are described in the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements chapter in the front of this catalog. These include the General Education-Breadth requirements; the second composition (ENGL 1002) requirement; the cultural groups/women requirement; the performing arts/activities requirement; the U.S. history, U.S. Constitution, and California state and local government requirement; the University Writing Skills Requirement; and the residence, unit, and grade point average requirements

Back to top

Minor Requirements

The minor is designed to encourage and enable students enrolled in any major to organize their elective courses around a broad study of the environment and its problems from both a social and scientific perspective. The minor consists of 35-36 units arranged in an integrated pattern, as approved by an advisor. The core program includes four sequential courses (totaling 15-16 units) which are required of all students in the minor. The remaining 20 units are electives selected from the list below.

1. Core Courses (15-16 units)
   • ENVT 2000 Introduction to Environmental Studies (4)
     or GEOG 3000 Sustainable Resource Management (4)
   • ENVT 3400 Environmental Resource Analysis (4)
   • ENVT 4300 Environmental Field Studies (5)
     or ENVT 3480 Applied Field Studies (4)
   • ENVT 4800 Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies (3)
2. Electives (20 units minimum)
   20 units of courses from outside the major department, chosen from the following list and selected to include classes with at least two different program prefixes (e.g. HIST and REC)*:
   • BIOL 2005 Natural History of California (5)
   • ENVT 4320 Energy and Society (4)
   • GEOG 3120 Climate Change (4)
   • GEOG 4330 Sustainable Development (4)
   • GEOG 4350 Water Resources and Management (4)
   • GEOG 4355 Watershed Management (4)
   • GEOL 2200 and GEOL 2201 Environmental Geology and Lab (6)
   • HIST 3505 California Environmental History
   • HOS 4550 Global Tourism (4)
   • HSC 3200 Environmental Health (4)
   • PHIL 3151 Environmental Ethics (4)
   • PHIL 3153 Biology and Ethics (4)
   • POSC 3460 Environmental Law (4)
   • POSC 4171 Public Policy and the Environment (4)
   • REC 1001 Leadership Development through Outdoor Adventure (4)
   • REC 3305 Outdoor Living Skills (4)
   • REC 4705 Outdoor Adventure Recreation (4)
   * Offerings will be expanded as new courses become available. See Environmental Studies advisor

Back to top

Undergraduate Courses

Back to top

Footnotes

1. Prerequisite for ECON 4306
2. If not taken as a required core course alternative.

Back to top