Environmental Science
Human life quality is threatened by a rapidly deteriorating environment. The causes and effects of this problem have economic, political, cultural, and physical attributes. Solutions will be derived from a comprehensive examination of human value systems in the context of specific management decisions. Consequently, the Department of Environmental Science contributes to the comprehension and solution of environmental problems by focusing the skills of many disciplines through a new ecosystem perspective. This is an interdisciplinary evaluation of regional, national, and international environmental problems of human existence and their solutions. The Department of Environmental Science encourages interdisciplinary research projects.
Environmental Science (ENV)
Methods of collection, analysis, and interpretation of environmental data as used in the social, behavioral, physical and biological disciplines.
Laboratory experience in basic ecological methodologies, including interpreting elementary graphic and statistical information, gathering population and habitat data, and understanding how science might be used to solve practical environmental problems.
A survey of the fundamental physical, biological, and social forces affecting the solution of environmental problems. Principles of environmental history, political science, economics, biology, geology, physics, anthropology, and related disciplines.
Introduction to wildlife identification, populations, life histories, behavior and habitats and the role of wildlife in ecological communities and ecosystems.
Introduces first-year students to significant topics in environmental studies. Emphasizes critical inquiry and thinking, research, scholarly communication, and problem-solving. Does not apply on the laboratory science requirement.
This course will introduce students to the major tenets of sustainability and will explore the real world application of sustainable practices on a local, national, and global scale. Topics will demonstrate interrelationships of various tools and approaches for sustainable development. Mastery of the materials from this course will prepare students to make positive changes on campus and beyond.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
The principles of ecology, emphasizing the effects of human activities on individuals, populations, communities and large-scale ecological systems.
Introduction to ethical, historical, and social science analysis of environmental issues, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, water pollution, and urbanization. Emphasis on case histories and human dimensions of environmental problem solving.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Seminars by faculty and visiting speakers on topics in environmental health science. May be repeated once, with different content. Major paper required.
Seminars by faculty and visiting speakers on various topics in environmental studies. May be repeated once, with different content.
Laboratory and field sampling methods for determining species diversity, minimum viable population size, and impacts of human disturbance on species survival.
Study of specimens and field surveys of major taxa of marine organisms; visits to typical marine and estuarine habitats. Overnight field trips required.
This course provides instruction relating to the delineation of watersheds by the use of topographical maps and aerial photographs, and the use of scientific methodology to estimate quantitative values for contaminant levels.
Laboratory techniques used in wildlife management, abundance estimates, management of habitats, and resolving current issues in wildlife management. Studies of game, non-game, endangered, and exotic species.
Introduction to experimental, field sampling, and analytical methods in environmental chemistry. Emphasis on field detection of both organic and inorganic compounds in soil, water, and air via spectrometric, chromatographic, and fluorometric instrumentation.
Lab expands upon concepts learned in ENV 3210 by providing techniques that determine biological responses to stressors.
An introduction to laboratory, field sampling, and data analysis techniques used in air quality monitoring. Topics will include measurement and analysis of pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide, and basic modeling.
See PSC 3300 for course information.
Students will participate in a team research project under the supervision of a Baylor faculty member. Students will be expected to attend one hour of lecture and to complete a minimum of six hours of field or laboratory work a week. May be repeated once under different topic.
Critical reading in environmental studies. Student-led discussion and evaluation. May be repeated with a change of topic for a maximum total credit of six semester hours.
Introduction to causes of species and habitat loss. Application of ecological and genetic concepts to conservation and restoration of animal and plant species.
Introduction to marine life forms, ecological adaptations, habitats, and critical issues in conserving marine biodiversity.
Environmental sampling methods and sample processing; data collection and analysis, and biological indexing. Course provides hands-on experience in performing Texas Commission for Environmental Quality sampling techniques for air, water, sediments, and biota, with emphasis on aquatic systems.
Study of environmental hazards to the health of humans and other vertebrates, including pollution, radiation, wastes, urbanization, and climate change. Topics include epidemiology, risk assessment, infectious diseases, emerging contaminants, and regulation.
Introduction to atmospheric chemistry, and transport and deposition of air pollutants. Topics include major sources of pollution, climate change, atmospheric regulation, and impacts on human health.
See ANT 3320 for course information.
An introduction to the scientific tools and methodology by which watersheds may be delineated and assessed with respect to point and non-point pollution. This course will deal primarily with surface waters.
Introduction to techniques used in wildlife management including population estimation, forage evaluation, and habitat mapping. Investigation of the natural history and management strategies for a variety of game, non-game, endangered, and exotic species.
Anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of chemical, radiological, biological, and physical hazards in the workplace and in environmental contexts.
An introduction to the chemistry of soil, water, and air, and the sources, fate, and transport of environmental pollutants. Topics include applications of chemistry to remediation and waste minimization. Open to students with diverse backgrounds. Credit or concurrent enrollment in ENV 3387 is required to enroll in ENV 3187 Environmental Chemistry Laboratory.
A research project conducted under the supervision of a Baylor faculty member in Environmental Science, a supporting department, or a pre-approved off-campus laboratory or field station. Three hours of laboratory or field work per week will be required during fall or spring semester, or fifty hours total during the summer, for each semester hour of credit. This course may be repeated for up to six semester hours of credit.
Campus or community internship to develop leadership in environmental sustainability. Open to non-majors. The course may be repeated for up to three semester hours of credit.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Seminars by faculty, students and visiting speakers. Each student will prepare and present one thirty to forty-five minute seminar. May be repeated once, with different content.
Field and laboratory techniques critical to gathering information on environmental stressors and responses of organisms to them.
Student selects an environmental problem for independent research project. After approval by thesis adviser, literature search is conducted and bibliography for the thesis is completed.
Field and bench tests of chemically contaminated water and soil, using portable test kits, with simple bench tests of selected remediation methods such as ion-exchange, precipitation, and membrane separations.
Preparation of information and data analysis in appropriate thesis form.
Students will contribute the skills of their specializations to analyze and to suggest a solution to a current environmental problem. May be repeated once with a change of content.
Concepts and issues in aquatic chemistry, including chemical equilibria of natural waters and anthropogenic impacts. Required field trips.
Fundamentals of environmental protection laws in the United States, including the evolution of environmental law in the areas of case law, common law, and administrative law. Topics include air and water quality, toxic and hazardous substances, endangered species, and wetlands and coastal management issues.
Reviews history and policy of United States, transboundary, and global air pollution and resulting environmental regulations.
A seminar approach with emphasis on the various causes of malnutrition including the ecological basis for food production, the impact of economics and politics on food production and distribution, and the consequences of malnutrition.
Application of ecological principles to sustainable agricultural management. Emphasis on Texas and the tropics. Required weekend field trips.
Research design and methods. Students produce a comprehensive research proposal in their major field(s) of study.
Examines the impacts of natural and anthropogenic sources of metals on human health and the relationship between natural geological factors and health in humans and animals in the context of geographic significance and public health responses.
Economic analysis in description, analysis, and policy formulation of environmental problems such as natural resource development, ecology, energy needs, noise, water, and air pollution. Economic tools used will include social welfare analysis, externalities, and benefit cost analysis.
Concepts, data sources, and methodologies used in the field of human risk assessment, including environmental hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, risk characterization, and risk communication. Required project utilizing professional risk assessment software.
See ANT 4327 for course information.
See PSC 4330 for course information.
Development of science leadership skills through community-based research on environmental problems.
Strategies for managing beaches, deltas, barrier islands and coastal seas, including issues in flood and storm risk, pollution mitigation, recreational development and fisheries exploitation.
Government regulations and increased citizen awareness relationship to the impact of plans and projects on the environment. The course includes an examination of major environmental legislation and its impact on decision making in the public sector. Legislative Acts pertinent to the development of Environmental Impact Analysis are studied.
Cases studies in interactions between world and indigenous religions and environmental science, management, and planning. Topics include religious engagement with agriculture, extractive industries, watershed management, biodiversity conservation, pollution regulation, climate policy, and environmental NGOs.
See ANT 4340 for course information.
Basic concepts of toxicology, including historical perspectives, the disposition and metabolism of toxic substances, pharmacokinetics, target organ toxicity, non-organ directed toxicity, toxic agents, industrial toxicology, forensic toxicology, environmental toxicology, toxicity testing techniques, and risk assessment.
Interdisciplinary field of water management. Scientific, technical, institutional, economic, legal, and political aspects of water management.
Analysis, design, and performance of pollution treatment and remediation methods. Emphasis on the practices of pollution prevention, green chemistry, and industrial ecology as more sustainable pollution reduction strategies.
With particular reference to indigenous peoples, this course examines the ethnographic context of Third World development and evaluates key issues that influence the development process.
Water use, treatment and disposal. Topics to be examined include the history of human use, resource access, water and wastewater treatment, disposal and re-use, anthropogenic impacts, regulations, current practices and theory in application of municipal, commercial and domestic treatment strategies. Activities include lecture, discussion, field trips, and student participation in the department's On-Site Wastewater Testing Program.
Theory, principles, and management of renewable resources to meet human needs. Field trips to management activities will be included.
Fundamental concepts of energy: the nature of energy flows and storage, potential and kinetic energy, energy loss and reversible and irreversible processes. Renewable and non-renewable energy sources and the impact of energy consumption on problems of societal sustainability.
A survey of subjects critical to the study of contaminant impacts on the environment: principles of toxicology; use of toxicological information sources and data bases; ecological stressors and responses to better understand ecological risks.
Principles of the biodegradation and possible bioremediation of organic chemicals in the soil environment.
See GEO 4375 for course information.
Topics in the management of national or state parks, nature reserves or wilderness areas, such as recreational impacts, disturbance ecology, or environmental interpretation. May be conducted as an off-campus field seminar.
Course utilizes ecosystem-based concepts and data to develop environmental management plans which also consider social variables, such as regulations, economic development, and community welfare. Students draft and present plans based on regional ecosystems.
Principles and practices for restoring natural systems that have been degraded or destroyed. Emphasis on re-establishment of soils, plants, and animals in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Legislative, political, industrial, and regulatory perspectives considered.
See GEO 4386 for course information.
See HIS 4388 for course information.
Methods of site analysis, toxicology of chemical contamination, use of "chemical fingerprinting," determination of exposure methods and exposure routes, analysis of epidemiological data, general methods for remediation of toxic and hazardous wastes, and use of both technical and moral considerations in decision making.
See REL 4393 for course information.
Participation as a teaching intern in the Baylor Econnections program for Waco schools or in an approved off-campus program. Students must engage in preparation and teaching a minimum of six hours a week.
Off-campus field course exploring tropical ecosystems, such as rainforests and coral reefs. Investigation of past impacts of human cultures, and of sustainable practices for future environmental management. Topics may include agriculture, forestry, aquatic resources, energy production, and ecotourism.
Advanced seminar integrating principles of environmental science, social science, and policy to solve environmental problems. Assignments and subject matter may differ depending on the topic being evaluated and the instructor of record.
Effect of human activity on landscape evolution through time, including impacts of agriculture, forest clearing, mining, soil erosion, invasive species, pollution, and transportation infrastructure. Assessment and documentation of environmental change. Required laboratory section and weekend field trips.
Introduces the process principles that govern contaminant transport and transformations in multimedia outdoor environments. Covers application of fate and transport models to evaluate pollutant interactions with the biosphere, particularly in the context of human exposure modeling and health risk assessment.
Basic principles of statistics and helps students apply statistics to analyze data and interpret results from the perspective of environmental scientists.
Ecological analysis of forest and woodland structure, energy and nutrient cycling, population dynamics and response to disturbance. Application of concepts to sustainable forest management.
See GEO 4485 for course information.
Principles and techniques for geospatial data collection, manipulation, modeling, visualization, and analysis. Emphasis is placed on current raster modeling techniques, spatial statistical analysis methods, and using GIS as a predictive tool for environmental research.
Application of the scientific method to the investigation and resolution of an environmental issue.
See ANT 4680 for course information.
A field experience centered on a region, ecosystem type, or environmental issue. Incorporates system-specific sampling methodologies. Requires off-campus field trips. May be repeated up to a total of three credit hours when content differs.
Advanced interdisciplinary study of the environment. Subject and hours credit mutually agreed upon by student and directing professor(s) prior to registration. May be repeated for a maximum total credit of three semester hours.
A research project conducted under the supervision of a Baylor faculty member in Environmental Science, a supporting department, or a pre-approved off-campus laboratory or field station. Students must participate in project design, data analysis, or reporting. Three hours of laboratory or field work per week will be required during fall or spring semester, or fifty hours total during the summer, for each semester hour of credit. This course may be repeated for up to six semester hours of credit.
An internship with the City of Waco, a federal or state agency, Christian or non-profit organization or with industry to acquire practical experience in environmental planning or management. The course may be repeated for up to three semester hours of credit.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.