Many of the most pressing challenges of the 21st Century are environmental ones. We must find ways to feed a growing human population while maintaining the natural life support system provided by the Earth's ecosystems; to make built environments more efficient as urban areas continue to grow dramatically in size; and to meet the challenges posed by rising sea-level and increasing global temperatures. These challenges are complex, multifaceted and can best be solved with expertise from multiple, relevant disciplines. To prepare students to meet these challenges, the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) offers two undergraduate degrees: an A.B. in Environmental Studies and a Sc.B. in Environmental Science. The two degrees vary primarily in the number of course requirements; the Sc.B. is a more in-depth treatment of a single field. Both degrees provide interdisciplinary exposure to the natural and social sciences, as well as public policy. Both degrees also develop depth in a primary field by requiring students to select one of five tracks of study. Concentrators might also consider pursuing the Engaged Scholars Program, which allows them to connect theory and practice and gain hands-on experience working with community partners.
Through a rigorous set of core courses, track requirements, and a course or project-based capstone experience, our students are primed to make meaningful contributions to environmental scholarship and outreach at local, national and global scales.
If you have administrative questions regarding theses concentrations or wish to be added to the email directory listing upcoming events, then please contact Jeanne Loewenstein, the academic program manager.
Standard program in Environmental Studies and Environmental Science:
The Institute at Brown for Environment and Society administers two concentrations, one offering an A.B. degree in Environmental Studies (requires 14-15 courses) and the other a Sc.B. degree in Environmental Science (requires 19-20 courses). Below are a set of course offerings arranged into four tracks:
- Air, Climate & Energy
- Conservation Science & Policy
- Environment & Inequality
- Land, Water & Food Security
- Sustainability in Development
Requirements for the A.B. Degree
| Core Requirements | ||
| ECON 0110 | Principles of Economics 1 | 1 |
| ENVS 0490 | Environmental Science in a Changing World 2 | 1 |
| ENVS 0495 | Introduction to Environmental Social Science | 1 |
| BIOL 0210 | Diversity of Life | 1 |
| or GEOL 0240 | Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet | |
| Methods - one course | 1 | |
| Methods for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research | ||
| Electives - three courses | 3 | |
You may choose among any ENVS course, any course shown on one or more of the tracks, and any prerequisites listed for a required course. | ||
| Capstone - one or two courses | 1-2 | |
| 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. | ||
| Track Specific Requirements | 5 | |
| Track 1 - Air, Climate, and Energy | ||
| Foundational courses (choose two): | ||
| Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure | ||
| Introduction to Engineering | ||
| Physical Processes in Geology | ||
| Foundations of Mechanics | ||
| Climate (choose one): | ||
| Weather and Climate | ||
| Principles of Planetary Climate | ||
| Policy (choose one): | ||
| Powering the Past: Environmental Histories of Energy Use and Social Change | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Energy Policy and Politics | ||
| Geopolitics of Oil and Energy | ||
| Energy Technology and Infrastructure (choose one): | ||
| Sustainable Design in the Built Environment | ||
| Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems | ||
| Thermodynamics | ||
| Renewable Energy Technologies | ||
| Fuels, Energy, and the Environment | ||
| Track 2 - Conservation Science and Policy | ||
| Ecology: | ||
| Principles of Ecology | ||
| Conservation: | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Ecology & Conservation Topics: Select One | ||
| Coastal Ecology and Conservation | ||
| Community Ecology | ||
| Terrestrial Biogeochemistry and the Functioning of Ecosystems | ||
| Policy: Select One | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Urban Agriculture: The Importance of Localized Food Systems | ||
| Engaged Climate Policy at the UN Climate Change Talks | ||
| Making Connections: The Environmental Policy Process | ||
| Globalization and the Environment | ||
| Energy Policy and Politics | ||
| Statistics: Select One | ||
| Essential Statistics | ||
| Statistical Inference I | ||
| Statistical Analysis of Biological Data | ||
| Introduction to Econometrics | ||
| Track 3 – Environment and Inequality (New) | ||
| Track Intro Course: | ||
ENVS 0705 - Equity and the Environment: Movements, Scholarship, Solutions | ||
| Race, Class, and Gender Inequality: Select One | ||
| An Introduction to Africana Studies | ||
| Afro Latin Americans and Blackness in the Americas | ||
| Race and Inequality in the United States | ||
| History and Resistance in Representations of Native Peoples | ||
| Introduction to American/Ethnic Studies | ||
| Embodying Feminisms/Feminist Embodiments | ||
| Modern Africa: From Empire to Nation-State | ||
| Decolonizing Minds: A People's History of the World | ||
| Sex, Gender, and Society | ||
| Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the Modern World | ||
| Race and Ethnic Relations, Identity, and Inequality | ||
| Environment and Inequality: Select One | ||
| Anthropology and Global Social Problems: Environment, Development, and Governance | ||
| Powering the Past: Environmental Histories of Energy Use and Social Change | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| The Anthropocene: The Past and Present of Environmental Change | ||
| 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 | ||
| Current Topics in Environmental Health | ||
| Tools: Select One | ||
| Ethnographic Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Econometrics | ||
| Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Environmental GIS | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications | ||
| Global Environmental Remote Sensing | ||
| Introductory Statistics for Social Research | ||
| Focus Groups for Market and Social Research | ||
| Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Spatial Thinking in Social Science | ||
| Policy and Politics: Select One | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Urban Agriculture: The Importance of Localized Food Systems | ||
| Engaged Climate Policy at the UN Climate Change Talks | ||
| International Law | ||
| Introduction to International Politics | ||
| Politics of Globalization | ||
| Fieldwork in the Urban Community | ||
| Planning Sustainable Cities | ||
| The Political Foundations of the City | ||
| Track 4 - Land, Water & Food Security | ||
| Climate: Select One | ||
| Weather and Climate | ||
| Principles of Planetary Climate | ||
| Biology: Select One | ||
| Diversity of Life | ||
| Plants, Food, and People | ||
| Principles of Ecology | ||
| The Evolution of Plant Diversity | ||
| Coastal Ecology and Conservation | ||
| Environmental History: Select One | ||
| Anthropology of Food | ||
| The Anthropocene: The Past and Present of Environmental Change | ||
| 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 | ||
| Environmental History | ||
| Policy: Select One | ||
| Environmental Economics and Policy | ||
| Urban Agriculture: The Importance of Localized Food Systems | ||
| Engaged Climate Policy at the UN Climate Change Talks | ||
| Making Connections: The Environmental Policy Process | ||
| Energy Policy and Politics | ||
| Politics of Food | ||
| Tools: Select One | ||
| Introduction to Environmental GIS | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications | ||
| Global Environmental Remote Sensing | ||
| Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Track 5 - Sustainability in Development | ||
| Environment and Development: Select Two | ||
| Urban Economics | ||
| Health, Hunger and the Household in Developing Countries | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Urban Agriculture: The Importance of Localized Food Systems | ||
| Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems | ||
| Globalization and the Environment | ||
| Policy: Select Two | ||
| Environmental Economics and Policy | ||
| Engaged Climate Policy at the UN Climate Change Talks | ||
| Making Connections: The Environmental Policy Process | ||
| Energy Policy and Politics | ||
| Analysis Tools: Select One | ||
| Introduction to Econometrics 3 | ||
| Ethnographic Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Environmental GIS | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications | ||
| Global Environmental Remote Sensing | ||
| Introductory Statistics for Social Research | ||
| Focus Groups for Market and Social Research | ||
| Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Total Credits | 14-15 | |
| 1 | The ECON 0110 core requirement can be waived for students with an AP exam score of 4 or 5 in both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. |
| 2 | The core requirement of ENVS 0490 can be waived for students with an AP exam score of 5 in Environmental Science. |
| 3 | Students pursuing the Sc.B. must take ECON 1620. |
Requirements for the Sc.B. Degree
| Requires ALL 14-15 course requirements as listed in the A.B. Program | 14-15 | |
| Additional Track specific requirements for the Sc.B. | 5 | |
| Track 1 - Air, Climate, and Energy | ||
| Math: | ||
| Introductory Calculus, Part I 1 | ||
| Policy (choose one): | ||
| Environmental Economics and Policy | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Engaged Climate Policy at the UN Climate Change Talks | ||
| Making Connections: The Environmental Policy Process | ||
| Globalization and the Environment | ||
| Energy Policy and Politics | ||
| Geopolitics of Oil and Energy | ||
| Tools (choose one): | ||
| Introduction to Environmental GIS | ||
| Essential Statistics | ||
| Introduction to Econometrics | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications | ||
| Global Environmental Remote Sensing | ||
| Climate and Thermal Change (choose two): | ||
| Environmental Geochemistry | ||
| Thermodynamics | ||
| Design of Thermal Engines | ||
| Industrial Design | ||
| Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics | ||
| Ocean Circulation and Climate | ||
| Track 2 - Conservation Science and Policy | ||
| Math: Select One | ||
| Introductory Calculus, Part I 1 | ||
| Evolution: Select One | ||
| Evolutionary Biology | ||
| Organismal Diversity: Select One | ||
| Invertebrate Zoology | ||
| The Evolution of Plant Diversity (BIOL 0460 - Insect Biology) | ||
| Sophomore Seminar: Insect Biology | ||
| Rhode Island Flora: Understanding and Documenting Local Plant Diversity | ||
| Comparative Biology of the Vertebrates | ||
| Env. Econ: Select One | ||
| Economics of Global Warming | ||
| Environmental Economics and Policy | ||
| Tools: Select One | ||
| Introduction to Environmental GIS | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications | ||
| Global Environmental Remote Sensing | ||
| Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Track 3 – Environment and Inequality (New) | ||
| Tools: Select One | ||
| Ethnographic Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Econometrics | ||
| Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods | ||
| Introduction to Environmental GIS | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Environmental Applications | ||
| Global Environmental Remote Sensing | ||
| Introductory Statistics for Social Research | ||
| Focus Groups for Market and Social Research | ||
| Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Spatial Thinking in Social Science | ||
| Race, Class and Gender Inequality: Select One | ||
| Race and Inequality in the United States | ||
| History and Resistance in Representations of Native Peoples | ||
| Embodying Feminisms/Feminist Embodiments | ||
| Decolonizing Minds: A People's History of the World | ||
| Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the Modern World | ||
| Race and Ethnic Relations, Identity, and Inequality | ||
| SELECT A FOCUS AREA (pick three courses from only one focus area) | ||
| FOCUS ONE - Environmental Inequality in Globalization and Development: Select Three | ||
| Anthropology and Global Social Problems: Environment, Development, and Governance | ||
| Bringing Small States in: How and Why They Matter | ||
| Environmental Issues in Development Economics | ||
| Economic Development | ||
| Health, Hunger and the Household in Developing Countries | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Refugees: A Twentieth-Century History | ||
| The Burden of Disease in Developing Countries | ||
| Security, Governance and Development in Africa | ||
| Politics of Globalization | ||
| Economic Development and Social Change | ||
| FOCUS TWO - Environmental Health and Inequality: Select Three | ||
| Policy, Culture and Discourse that Shape Health and Access to Healthcare | ||
| Community Engagement with Health and the Environment | ||
| International Health: Anthropological Perspectives | ||
| Environmental Health and Disease | ||
| Medicine and Public Health in Africa | ||
| Introduction to Public Health | ||
| The Burden of Disease in Developing Countries | ||
| Case Studies in Public Health: The Role of Governments, Communities and Professions | ||
| Current Topics in Environmental Health | ||
| Climate Change and Human Health | ||
| Social Determinants of Health | ||
| Including the Excluded: Global Health Ethics | ||
| FOCUS THREE - Environmental Inequalities in Food, Water, and Energy: Select Three | ||
| Food in American Society and Culture | ||
| Bringing Small States in: How and Why They Matter | ||
| Powering the Past: Environmental Histories of Energy Use and Social Change | ||
| Power, Justice, and Climate Change | ||
| Urban Agriculture: The Importance of Localized Food Systems | ||
| Environmental Stewardship and Resilience in Urban Systems | ||
| Energy Policy and Politics | ||
| Treaty Rights and Food Fights: Eating Local in Indian Country | ||
| Track 4 - Land, Water & Food Security | ||
| Math: Select One | ||
| Introductory Calculus, Part I 1 | ||
| Chemistry: Select One | ||
| Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure | ||
| Earth/Life Systems: Select Three | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Terrestrial Biogeochemistry and the Functioning of Ecosystems | ||
| Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet | ||
| Ocean Biogeochemical Cycles | ||
| Global Water Cycle | ||
| Environmental Geochemistry | ||
| Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics | ||
| Instrumental Analysis with Environmental Applications | ||
| Track 5 - Sustainability in Development | ||
| Sociology and Politics: Select One | ||
| Demographics and Development | ||
| Introduction to International Politics | ||
| Globalization and the Environment | ||
| Critical Perspectives on Development: Select One | ||
| Community Engagement with Health and the Environment | ||
| Anthropology and Global Social Problems: Environment, Development, and Governance | ||
| Sophomore Seminar in Sociology of Development | ||
| Economic Perspectives: Select Two | ||
| Intermediate Microeconomics | ||
| Economics of Global Warming | ||
| Environmental Issues in Development Economics | ||
| Economic Development | ||
| Health, Hunger and the Household in Developing Countries | ||
| Economic Growth | ||
| Climate: Select One | ||
| Weather and Climate | ||
| Total Credits | 19-20 | |
| 1 | The track requirement of MATH 0090 can be waived for students with an AP exam of 4 0r 5 on Calc AB. |
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 honors page on the IBES website.