2011-2012 University Catalog 
  
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2011-2012 University Catalog

Global and Environmental Change, BS

Banner Code:  SC-BS-GLEC

This interdisciplinary undergraduate program, one of the first of its kind in the nation, distinguishes itself from other degrees in the natural sciences in that it examines from local, regional, and global scales the dynamics of Earth’s systems and their interactions: the geosphere, the atmosphere, the ecosphere, and the sociosphere. In addition, it emphasizes the dynamic and changing Earth systems and the use of Earth observing and remote sensing and related geoinformation technologies in detecting changes. It is jointly offered with the Department of Environmental Science and Policy (esp.gmu.edu).

In meeting the requirements for this major, students choose a focus in environmental change (i.e. impacts of sea level rise on the Chesapeake Bay) or global change (i.e. global causes of sea level and detection).

Students must fulfill all requirements for bachelor’s degrees  including university general education requirements . Through the course work listed  below, global and environmental change majors satisfy university-wide general education requirements in natural science, quantitative reasoning, information technology, global understanding, social science, and synthesis.

This program of study is offered by the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science in the College of Science.

Degree Requirements

Two required ecosphere core courses (8 credits):

Four required core courses in global and environmental change (12-13 credits):

Four required courses in geosphere and atmosphere (13-15 credits):

plus 3 courses from:

Four required courses in ecosphere and sociosphere (12-13 credits):

Two required courses in applications and techniques of detecting global change, choose two from (6 credits):

Two required supporting sciences sequence courses beyond general education requirements (8 credits):

Four required supporting mathematics and IT courses (14 credits):

General electives

  • General electives (27–31)