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Environmental Sciences and Studies

Environmental Sciences and Studies (ENVS) is the undergraduate degree program of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES).  ENVS offers an interdisciplinary education for students interested in climate, environmental, and sustainability issues. As an ENVS concentrator, you will have access to distinguished faculty with deep expertise across a range of fields. You will study the inexorable links between environment and society, gaining empirically-grounded insights about the causes and consequences of environmental problems, while building scientific, professional, and liberal arts skills that will equip you to address them. Through our curricular offerings, research and internship opportunities, career workshop series and career fairs, ENVS seminars, experiential learning in and out of the classroom, and community building, you will be prepared to thrive in a range of research, policy, science, advocacy, and professional careers upon graduation.

In ENVS, one of our primary aims is to help you connect your passions and goals to powerful levers of change towards a more just and sustainable world. To that end, we offer two undergraduate degrees: an A.B. (Bachelor of Arts) and a Sc.B. (Bachelor of Science), both in Environmental Sciences and Studies. The A.B. offers a holistic, interdisciplinary study of the environment and society, with coursework spanning the natural, social, and physical sciences and the humanities. The Sc.B. builds on this interdisciplinary foundation with additional coursework in one of four focused fields of study: Climate and Energy; Conservation and Natural Systems; Environmental Justice and Health; or Sustainable Development and Governance. Both degree programs provide opportunities to conduct engaged scholarship, to apply for research funding and internships, and to complete comprehensive capstone experiences at the end of your studies.

For more information and the list of current courses and requirements, see the ENVS Curriculum Guide.

Standard program in Environmental Sciences and Studies:

Environmental Sciences and Studies (ENVS) is the undergraduate degree program of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES).  ENVS offers an interdisciplinary education for students interested in climate, environmental, and sustainability issues. As an ENVS concentrator, you will have access to distinguished faculty with deep expertise across a range of fields. You will study the inexorable links between environment and society, gaining empirically-grounded insights about the causes and consequences of environmental problems, while building scientific, professional, and liberal arts skills that will equip you to address them. Through our curricular offerings, research and internship opportunities, career workshop series and career fairs, ENVS seminars, experiential learning in and out of the classroom, and community building, you will be prepared to thrive in a range of research, policy, science, advocacy, and professional careers upon graduation.

In ENVS, one of our primary aims is to help you connect your passions and goals to powerful levers of change towards a more just and sustainable world. To that end, we offer two undergraduate degrees: an A.B. (Bachelor of Arts) and a Sc.B. (Bachelor of Science), both in Environmental Sciences and Studies. The A.B. offers a holistic, interdisciplinary study of the environment and society, with coursework spanning the natural, social, and physical sciences and the humanities. The Sc.B. builds on this interdisciplinary foundation with additional coursework in one of four focused fields of study: Climate and Energy; Conservation and Natural Systems; Environmental Justice and Health; or Sustainable Development and Governance. Both degree programs provide opportunities to conduct engaged scholarship, to apply for research funding and internships, and to complete comprehensive capstone experiences at the end of your studies.

For more information and the list of current courses and requirements, see the ENVS Curriculum Guide.

Requirements for the A.B. Degree

Core Requirements
ENVS 0110Humans, Nature, and the Environment: Addressing Environmental Change in the 21st Century1
ENVS 0490Environmental Science in a Changing World 11
Tools - pick one1
Courses focused on building qualitative or quantitative research tools
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis
Ethnographic Research Methods
Introduction to Scientific Computing
Applied Ordinary Differential Equations
Applied Ordinary Differential Equations with Theory
Applied Partial Differential Equations I
Applied Partial Differential Equations I with Theory
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Introduction to Probability and Statistics with Calculus
Introduction to Probability and Statistics with Theory
Mathematics and Climate
Statistical Analysis of Biological Data
Statistical Methods
Introduction to programming
Computing Foundations: Data
Accelerated Introduction to Computer Science
Data Science Fluency
Introduction to Econometrics
Computational Approaches to Modelling and Quantitative Analysis in Natural Sciences: An Introduction
New England Field Geology
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications
Global Environmental Remote Sensing
Machine Learning for the Earth and Environment
Climate Modeling I
Writing Climate, Writing Community
Cartography and Geovisualization
Narrating the Anthropocene
Wet Ethnographies
Ethnographic Research Methods
Infectious Disease Modeling
Methods of Social Research
Introductory Statistics for Social Research
Focus Groups for Market and Social Research
Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems
Investigating the City: Hands-on Research Methods for Urban Analysis
Foundations in Earth Sciences and Technology - pick one1
Courses focusing on earth, atmospheric, engineering or water sciences.
Introduction to Oceanography
Natural Disasters
Earth Science Behind Protest Movements
Earth and Environmental Processes
Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet
Solving the Climate and Carbon Challenge
Water in Our World
Weather and Climate
New England Field Geology
Global Water Cycle
Environmental Geochemistry
Climate Modeling I
Dynamic Meteorology
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
Groundwater Flow and Transport
The Chemistry of Environmental Pollution
Ecology/Biological Sciences - pick one1
Courses focused on ecological or conservation biology
Diversity of Life
The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease
Principles of Ecology
The Evolution of Plant Diversity
Rhode Island Flora: Understanding and Documenting Local Plant Diversity
Marine Biology
Conservation Biology
Conservation in the Genomics Age
Biogeography
Environmental Justice and Equity - pick one1
Courses focused on environmental issues through a justice and/or equity lens
Trans*formative Ecologies
Environmental Archaeology: Sustainability, Catastrophe, and Resilience
Equity and the Environment: Movements, Scholarship, Solutions
Land Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Justice
Clearing the Air: Environmental Studies of Pollution
Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture
Reimagining Climate Change
Introduction to Critical Botanical Histories
The Environmental History of Subsistence and Extraction in Africa before 1900
An Environmental Sociology for a Rapidly Warming World
Environmental Policy and Politics - pick one1
Courses focused on the policy, politics and/or governance of environmental issues
Environmental Economics and Policy
Political Ecology
Ocean Conservation: Ecology, Management, and Politics
People and Oceans: How we Inhabit and Inhibit our Blue Planet
Local Food Systems and Urban Agriculture
Climate Policy Research: Organizations and Obstruction
Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems
Reimagining Climate Change
Climate Change, Human Rights, and the Policy Process
Ocean Governance and Policy
Climate Media, Discourse, and Power
Energy Policy and Politics
The Political Economy of a Global Green Transition
Environmental politics in Latin America: Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants' perspectives
Politics and Nature
Politics of Climate Change
Politics and Nature
Environmental History and Humanities - pick one1
Courses focused on the role of history, culture, and the arts in the environment
Power + Water: Material Culture and its Environmental Impact
Anthropology of Food
Environmental Anthropology
Environmental Archaeology: Sustainability, Catastrophe, and Resilience
Water, Culture and Power
12,000 Years of Farming: From Domestication to Globalization
Environment, Food, and Health in China
Writing Climate, Writing Community
Nature Writing
Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture
Commodity Natures: Supply Chains From Extraction to Waste and Alternatives to Endless Growth
From Fire Wielders to Empire Builders: Human Impact on the Global Environment before 1492
From Fire Wielders to Empire Builders: Human Impact on the Global Environment before 1492
From the Columbian Exchange to Climate Change: Modern Global Environmental History
The Environmental History of Subsistence and Extraction in Africa before 1900
Amazonia from the Prehuman to the Present
The Environmental History of Latin America
China's Environmental History
Nature, Knowledge, Power in Early Modern Europe
Environmental Pressures of South Asia
The Practice of History
Imperialism and Environmental Change
Earth Histories: From Creation to Countdown
The Black Outdoors
Wet Ethnographies
Bottom Ecologies: Blackness, Queerness, and the Environment
The Amazon, Climate Change, and Conservation
Earth, Story, and Belonging: Indigenous Ecological Traditions
Religion Gone Wild: Spirituality and the Environment
Electives - three courses3
Electives provide increased environmental expertise and further enhance a student’s ability to customize a course of study. Acceptable electives include any ENVS courses, a class that's MAIN FOCUS is on the environment, and prerequisites for classes students take to fulfill requirements within their declared track.
Capstone - one or two courses1-2
The College expects that a capstone will be completed in semesters 7 or 8 - with the intention of providing an opportunity for students to integrate many aspects of their course of study, or area of focus. This requirement can be met with a two-semester thesis (ENVS 1970 & ENVS 1971), one-semester research project (ENVS 1970 or ENVS 1971), or an approved capstone course.
Total Credits12-13
1

The core requirement of  ENVS 0490 can be waived for students with an AP exam score of 5 in Environmental Science. 

Honors

Students interested in graduating with honors in their concentration must complete a thesis determined to be of the highest quality and must have excelled in their coursework required for the concentration, which is defined here as receiving a grade of "A" in the majority of courses taken to fulfill the concentration. You can learn more by visiting the senior capstones page on the IBES website.

Students pursuing a ScB ENVS degree must choose 5 courses from one of the track options below:

  1. Climate and Energy
  2. Conservation Science and Natural Systems
  3. Environmental Justice and Health
  4. Sustainable Development & Governance

Requirements for the Sc.B. Degree

CORE REQUIREMENTS (2 courses total)2
Two required courses for the ENV degree that build core competency in natural and social sciences related to the environment.
Humans, Nature, and the Environment: Addressing Environmental Change in the 21st Century
Environmental Science in a Changing World The core requirement of ENVS 0490 can be waived for students with an AP exam score of 5 in Environmental Science.
TOOLS - Pick 11
Courses focused on building qualitative or quantitative research tools.
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis
Ethnographic Research Methods
Introduction to Scientific Computing
Applied Ordinary Differential Equations
Applied Ordinary Differential Equations with Theory
Applied Partial Differential Equations I
Applied Partial Differential Equations I with Theory
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Introduction to Probability and Statistics with Calculus
Introduction to Probability and Statistics with Theory
Mathematics and Climate
Statistical Analysis of Biological Data
Statistical Methods
Introduction to programming
Computing Foundations: Data
Accelerated Introduction to Computer Science
Data Science Fluency
Introduction to Econometrics
Computational Approaches to Modelling and Quantitative Analysis in Natural Sciences: An Introduction
New England Field Geology
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications
Global Environmental Remote Sensing
Machine Learning for the Earth and Environment
Spatial Data Science
Climate Modeling I
Writing Climate, Writing Community
Cartography and Geovisualization
Narrating the Anthropocene
Wet Ethnographies
Ethnographic Research Methods
Infectious Disease Modeling
Methods of Social Research
Introductory Statistics for Social Research
Investigating the City: Hands-on Research Methods for Urban Analysis
Foundations in Earth Sciences and Technology - Pick 11
Courses focusing on earth, atmospheric, engineering or water sciences.
Introduction to Oceanography
Natural Disasters
Earth Science Behind Protest Movements
Earth and Environmental Processes
Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet
Solving the Climate and Carbon Challenge
Water in Our World
Weather and Climate
New England Field Geology
Global Water Cycle
Environmental Geochemistry
Climate Modeling I
Dynamic Meteorology
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
Groundwater Flow and Transport
The Chemistry of Environmental Pollution
Ecology/Biological Sciences - Pick 11
Courses focused on ecological or conservation biology.
Diversity of Life
The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease
Principles of Ecology
The Evolution of Plant Diversity
Rhode Island Flora: Understanding and Documenting Local Plant Diversity
Marine Biology
Conservation Biology
Conservation in the Genomics Age
Biogeography
Environmental Justice and Equity - Pick 11
Courses focused on environmental issues through a justice and/or equity lens.
Trans*formative Ecologies
Environmental Archaeology: Sustainability, Catastrophe, and Resilience
Equity and the Environment: Movements, Scholarship, Solutions
Land Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Justice
Clearing the Air: Environmental Studies of Pollution
Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture
Reimagining Climate Change
EJ and The City: Perspectives on Environmental Justice and Inequality
Introduction to Critical Botanical Histories
The Environmental History of Subsistence and Extraction in Africa before 1900
Environmental Policy and Politics - Pick 11
Courses focused on the policy, politics and/or governance of environmental issues.
Environmental Economics and Policy
Political Ecology
Ocean Conservation: Ecology, Management, and Politics
People and Oceans: How we Inhabit and Inhibit our Blue Planet
Local Food Systems and Urban Agriculture
Climate Policy Research: Organizations and Obstruction
Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems
Reimagining Climate Change
Climate Change, Human Rights, and the Policy Process
Ocean Governance and Policy
Climate Media, Discourse, and Power
Energy Policy and Politics
The Political Economy of a Global Green Transition
Environmental politics in Latin America: Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants' perspectives
Politics and Nature
Politics of Climate Change
Politics and Nature
Environmental History and Humanities - Pick 11
Courses focused on the role of history, culture, and the arts in the environment.
Environmental Humanities in Queer and Trans Perspective
Anthropology of Food
Environmental Anthropology
Environmental Archaeology: Sustainability, Catastrophe, and Resilience
Water, Culture and Power
12,000 Years of Farming: From Domestication to Globalization
Environment, Food, and Health in China
Writing Climate, Writing Community
Nature Writing
Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture
Commodity Natures: Supply Chains From Extraction to Waste and Alternatives to Endless Growth
From Fire Wielders to Empire Builders: Human Impact on the Global Environment before 1492
From the Columbian Exchange to Climate Change: Modern Global Environmental History
The Environmental History of Subsistence and Extraction in Africa before 1900
Amazonia from the Prehuman to the Present
The Environmental History of Latin America
China's Environmental History
Nature, Knowledge, Power in Early Modern Europe
Environmental Pressures of South Asia
The Practice of History
Imperialism and Environmental Change
Earth Histories: From Creation to Countdown
The Black Outdoors
Wet Ethnographies
Bottom Ecologies: Blackness, Queerness, and the Environment
The Amazon, Climate Change, and Conservation
Earth, Story, and Belonging: Indigenous Ecological Traditions
Religion Gone Wild: Spirituality and the Environment
Electives - three courses3
Electives provide increased environmental expertise and further enhance your ability to customize your course of study. Acceptable electives include any ENVS course, a class that's MAIN FOCUS is the environment, and prerequisites for classes you take to fulfill requirements within your declared track.
Capstone - one or two courses1-2
The College expects that a capstone will be completed in semesters 7 or 8 - with the intention of providing an opportunity for students to integrate many aspects of their course of study, or area of focus. This requirement can be met with a two-semester thesis (ENVS 1970 & ENVS 1971), one-semester research project (ENVS 1970 or ENVS 1971), or an approved capstone course.
Additional Track­ specific requirements:5
Total Credits17-18


Tracks

TRACK 1 - Climate and Energy
This track is intended for students interested in climate change science, energy systems, and energy/climate change policy.
FOUNDATIONS - pick two2
These courses serve as a foundation to understanding energy, climate systems, and data analysis. 1
Introduction to Scientific Computing
Computing Foundations: Data
Accelerated Introduction to Computer Science
Data Science
Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure
Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet
Computational Approaches to Modelling and Quantitative Analysis in Natural Sciences: An Introduction
Machine Learning for the Earth and Environment
Environmental Geochemistry
Climate Modeling I
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
Introduction to Engineering
Introduction to Engineering: Design
Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
Electricity and Magnetism
Fluid Mechanics
Basic Physics A
Foundations of Mechanics
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENTAL TECH, & INFRASTRUCTURE - pick one1
Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
Water Supply and Treatment Systems: Technology and Sustainability
Energy and the Environment
Sustainable Design in the Built Environment
Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems
CLIMATE - pick one1
Solving the Climate and Carbon Challenge
Water in Our World
Weather and Climate
Climate Modeling I
Atmospheric Circulation and Climate Dynamics
The Chemistry of Environmental Pollution
Climate Solutions - A multidisciplinary perspective
Clearing the Air: Environmental Studies of Pollution
ENERGY & CLIMATE POLICY - pick one1
Economics of Global Warming
Climate Policy Research: Organizations and Obstruction
Reimagining Climate Change
Energy Policy and Politics
Politics of Climate Change
Total Credits5
1

Students can use a prerequisites for any of the courses selected to fulfill an "Elective" requirement.

TRACK 2 - Conservation Science and Natural Systems
This track is intended for students interested in ecological and conservation sciences. 1
ECOLOGY1
Principles of Ecology
CONSERVATION1
Conservation Biology
ORGANISMAL DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION TOPICS - pick two2
Invertebrate Zoology
The Evolution of Plant Diversity
Evolutionary Behavioral Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Rhode Island Flora: Understanding and Documenting Local Plant Diversity
Conservation in the Genomics Age
Biogeography
POLITICS & HISTORY OF NATURAL SYSTEMS - pick one1
Environmental Archaeology: Sustainability, Catastrophe, and Resilience
Political Ecology
Ocean Conservation: Ecology, Management, and Politics
People and Oceans: How we Inhabit and Inhibit our Blue Planet
Land Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Justice
Local Food Systems and Urban Agriculture
Ocean Governance and Policy
Environmental politics in Latin America: Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants' perspectives
Politics and Nature
Total Credits5
1

Most students with an intention of going to grad school in this field will also need: At least one semester of calculus and a statistics course

TRACK 3 – Environmental Justice and Health
This track is intended for students interested in exploring environmental issues through a justice/equity lens.
RACE, CLASS, & GENDER INEQUALITY - pick one1
Any class focused on race, class, or gender - these courses do not have an environmental theme. Many AFRI, ETHN, and GNSS classes count with IBES Curriculum Committee approval.
An Introduction to Africana Studies
Introduction to Ethnic Studies
Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies
Sex, Gender, and Society
Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the Modern World
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE & EQUITY - Pick 22
These courses focus on environmental issues through a justice and/or equity lens.
Equity and the Environment: Movements, Scholarship, Solutions
Land Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Justice
Clearing the Air: Environmental Studies of Pollution
Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture
Reimagining Climate Change
The Environmental History of Subsistence and Extraction in Africa before 1900
FOUNDATIONS IN HEALTH & INEQUALITY - pick one1
These courses offer a foundation or an additional tool to study environmental health and inequality.
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications
Cartography and Geovisualization
Health Care in the United States
Introduction to Public Health
Health Law and Policy
Intro. to Health Disparities & Making Connection btw Structure, Social Determinants & Health Equity
Race, Racism and Health
Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice
Infectious Disease Modeling
Social Determinants of Health
Methods of Social Research
Introductory Statistics for Social Research
Focus Groups for Market and Social Research
Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH - pick one1
These courses focus specifically on public health and the environment
Planetary Health: Global Environmental Change and Emerging Infectious Disease
Environmental Health and Disease
Climate Change and Public Health in a Warming World
Global Health and the Environment
Global Burden of Disease
World of Food: Personal to Global Perspectives on Nutrition, Agriculture and Policy
Current Topics in Environmental Health
Environmental Exposure Assessments in Practice
Rural Public Health
Climate Risks and Health Solutions
Planetary Health: Preparing Clinicians for a Changing Planet
Total Credits5
1

Many AFRI, ETHN, and GNSS classes count with IBES Curriculum Committee approval.

TRACK 4 - Sustainable Development & Governance
This track is intended for students interested in the interplay between environmental governance and economics on the global stage, with an emphasis on the non-Western world.
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE & DEVELOPMENT - pick one1
Courses focused on global governance or development (some are non environmental).
Ocean Conservation: Ecology, Management, and Politics
Climate Change, Human Rights, and the Policy Process
Ocean Governance and Policy
Foundations of Development
Economic Development of China and India
Introduction to Comparative Politics
Introduction to International Politics
Politics of Climate Change
Security, Governance and Development in Africa
The International Law and Politics of Human Rights
Power, Knowledge and Justice in Global Social Change
ENVIRONMENT, JUSTICE, & NON-WESTERN PERSPECTIVES - pick two2
Any class focused on the Environment and the Global South and/or other non-Western perspectives.
Power + Water: Material Culture and its Environmental Impact
Equity and the Environment: Movements, Scholarship, Solutions
Land Stewardship, Sovereignty, and Justice
Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture
Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems
Reimagining Climate Change
Commodity Natures: Supply Chains From Extraction to Waste and Alternatives to Endless Growth
Amazonia from the Prehuman to the Present
The Environmental History of Latin America
More-Than-Human Histories of Africa
Environmental Pressures of South Asia
Earth, Story, and Belonging: Indigenous Ecological Traditions
ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES - pick one1
These courses are intermediate-level economic tools courses.
Environmental Economics and Policy
Intermediate Microeconomics
Economics of Global Warming
Climate Change and the Commons
Environmental Issues in Development Economics
Urban Economics
Current Global Macroeconomic Challenges
Health, Hunger and the Household in Developing Countries
Economic Growth
FINANCE & ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES - pick one1
These courses are either intermediate-level economic tools courses, courses focused on sustainable investing and finance, or the social science of economics systems.
Environmental Economics and Policy
Intermediate Microeconomics
Economics of Global Warming
Environmental Issues in Development Economics
Urban Economics
Current Global Macroeconomic Challenges
Health, Hunger and the Household in Developing Countries
Economic Growth
Eco-Entrepreneurship
The Theory and Practice of Sustainable Investing
Finance and the Environment
History of Capitalism
Climate Change, Power, & Money
Are We Doomed? Ethics, Economics, and the Future
Municipal Money
Total Credits5

Honors

Students interested in graduating with honors in their concentration must complete a thesis determined to be of the highest quality and must have excelled in their coursework required for the concentration, which is defined here as receiving a grade of "A" in the majority of courses taken to fulfill the concentration. You can learn more by visiting the senior capstones page on the IBES website.