Environmental Studies
Environmental
Studies courses
Environmental Studies program home page
Director of undergraduate studies: Jeffrey Park [F], John Wargo [F], Harvey Weiss [Sp], 210 Prospect St., 432-9868, studies.environment@yale.edu
FACULTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROGRAM OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Professors
Mark Ashton (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Gaboury Benoit (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Graeme Berlyn (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Benjamin Cashore (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Michael Donoghue (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Forestry & Environmental Studies), Michael Dove (Forestry & Environmental Studies, Anthropology), Menachem Elimelech (Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering), Robert Evenson (Economics), John Mack Faragher (History), Durland Fish (School of Medicine), Thomas Graedel (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Leo Hickey (Geology & Geophysics), Stephen Kellert (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Daniel Kevles (History, History of Science), Robert Mendelsohn (Forestry & Environmental Studies, Economics), Jeffrey Park (Geology & Geophysics), Jeffrey Powell (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), Susan Rose-Ackerman (Law School, Political Science), James Saiers (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Oswald Schmitz (Forestry & Environmental Studies, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), Thomas Siccama (Forestry & Environmental Studies), David Skelly (Forestry & Environmental Studies, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), Brian Skinner (Geology & Geophysics), Ronald Smith (Geology & Geophysics), J. Gustave Speth (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Stephen Stearns (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), Karl Turekian (Geology & Geophysics), John Wargo (Forestry & Environmental Studies, Political Science), Harvey Weiss (Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Anthropology), Robert Wyman (Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology)
Assistant Professors
Sheila Olmstead (Forestry & Environmental Studies), David Post (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), Peter Raymond (Forestry & Environmental Studies)
Lecturers
Shimon Anisfeld (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Carol Carpenter (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Gordon Geballe (Forestry & Environmental Studies), Catherine Skinner (Geology & Geophysics)
Environmental Studies provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and responding to environmental problems. From the natural sciences, students learn experimental techniques and methods of analysis needed to make accurate observations, to document change, to distinguish those changes resulting from human activity, and to understand what comprises healthy landscapes and functioning ecosystems. Students look to the humanities and social sciences for explanations of the ways people behave and for analyses of our institutions and their social, political, and economic activities. The Environmental Studies major prepares students for graduate study in a range of disciplines including law, medicine, and public health, and for careers in business, environmental management and conservation, teaching, and writing.
Introductory course. ENVE 120a may be taken without prerequisites and covers subjects important to the Environmental Studies major. This course, however, does not count toward the major.
Prerequisites. Required for the major are: CHEM 113 or 114 or G&G 160a, 161b; MCDB 120a or E&EB 122a or b; CHEM 116L or MCDB 121La or E&EB 123Lb; MATH 112a or b or above (except MATH 190a) or PHYS 150a or above. Students are advised to take chemistry and biology during the freshman year before enrolling in the core courses in natural sciences. Students should finish the prerequisites before the end of the sophomore year. Where relevant, students may employ acceleration credit to fulfill the prerequisites. Students entering Yale with advanced placement in both biology and chemistry must complete one term of introductory laboratory science. Students with advanced placement in only one of these subjects must take the remaining science prerequisite and its associated laboratory. Students should take a course in statistical methods of data analysis and probability (STAT 101–106 or 230b) prior to undertaking research in the natural and social sciences.
Requirements of the major. In addition to the prerequisites, thirteen or fourteen course credits are required for the major, including four core courses, two core laboratories, a concentration of six courses, a junior seminar (EVST 466a), and a one- or two-term senior project and colloquium (EVST 496a or b). All courses in the major must be taken for a letter grade.
Core courses. Students are required to take at least two core courses from Group A (humanities and social sciences), and two from Group B (environmental sciences) with their associated labs. At least one course in each group should be completed before the end of the sophomore year.
Group A, humanities and social sciences: EVST 117a, 120b, 255b
Group B, environmental sciences: EVST 201a, 202La, 262a, 263La
Application to the Environmental Studies major. Students must apply to enter the major by June 1 at the end of the sophomore year. Admission requires successful completion of the prerequisites and one core course from each group, and a preliminary written plan for an area of concentration. Students considering a major in Environmental Studies should consult the director of undergraduate studies as early as possible in the freshman year.
Area of concentration. Prior to the end of the sophomore year students plan an area of concentration. They should consult with their adviser and the director of undergraduate studies in developing a coherent interdisciplinary program of six courses for their third and fourth years. Students may select up to four electives at the intermediate and upper level from the same department and at least two additional electives from relevant disciplines outside the immediate area of concentration. Students may also use core courses to fulfill the requirement for interdisciplinary electives during the third and fourth years. Students interested in history should include at least one junior seminar in history (HIST 400–493) in their program. Students must have taken the core course in environmental history (EVST 120b) and one other course in history before enrolling in a junior seminar in history.
Study in the area of concentration prepares students to select and undertake a research project in the senior year. Possible areas of concentration include environmental issues in technologically advanced societies; the environment and the developing world; problems of continuing growth of human population; pollution, environmental medicine, and public health; sustainable environmental management; the impact of globalization and multinational corporations on development and natural resources; conservation of biodiversity; energy supplies for the future; ecological restoration of urban landscapes; remediation of polluted sites and restoration of degraded landscapes; assessment of the extent of environmental change; ethical and religious beliefs of different cultures regarding the natural world.
Junior seminar. In the first term of the junior year all majors enroll in the junior seminar, EVST 466a. Students also consult with their advisers on the design of a senior research project and submit a preliminary plan for approval.
Summer environmental internship. During the summer between the junior and senior years, many students gain practical experience in the field through courses, research positions, or internships in an area pertinent to their senior research project. Internships may be arranged with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, or corporations. Although the summer program is optional, many students take advantage of this opportunity with some financial support from the program.
Senior requirement. Seniors must complete an independent research project, taken as EVST 496a or b. Students may undertake a one- or two-term senior project.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR
Prerequisites: CHEM 113 or 114 or G&G 160a, 161b; MCDB 120a or E&EB 122a or b; CHEM 116L or MCDB 121La or E&EB 123Lb; MATH 112a or b or above (except MATH 190a) or PHYS 150a or above
Number of courses: 14 or 15 courses beyond prereqs, incl one- or two-credit senior project, totaling 13 or 14 course credits
Specific course required: EVST 466a
Distribution of courses: 2 core courses from Group A, 2 from Group B with associated labs, 6 courses in area of concentration
Senior requirement: One- or two-term research project and colloq (EVST 496a or b)
Unless otherwise indicated, Group IV courses in Environmental Studies count toward the natural science requirement for the Class of 2008.
