Department of Environmental, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
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The Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences offers programs of study that provide a firm base in science and mathematics and a broad understanding of the natural environment. The programs are multidisciplinary in approach, and the composition of the faculty, geologists, geophysicists, chemists and meteorologists, reflects this multidisciplinary character.
Three program concentrations are offered within the Bachelor of Science 51视频 in Environmental Science:
The aim of the program is to successfully prepare students for graduate school and for careers in research labs, industry, consulting and weather forecasting firms, and state and federal governmental agencies such as DEP and EPA. All the concentrations were founded more than 30 years ago and graduates of the program have achieved considerable success in the environmental and meteorological fields. Internships are available with many private and governmental organizations. These provide the student with practical experience and potential entry into the job market. Undergraduate research is also encouraged and students in the department are active participants in the University’s Honors Program.
The department has over 40 PC, Macintosh, and Unix based computer systems and work stations and a wide variety of software applications, such as air-pollution and weather models, FORTRAN and C/C++ compilers, Mathematica and Maple computer mathematics systems. Geographic Information Systems, word-processing, spreadsheets and databases are available. Also housed in the department is a weather center with Internet links and remote observation platforms, an air pollution laboratory, a chemistry laboratory for environmental analysis, an instrumental neutron activation analysis laboratory used to measure trace constituents in natural samples, a fission-track geochronology laboratory, and a geographic information systems laboratory. In addition, faculty in the department are affiliated with the Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Radiation Laboratory, and maintain active collaborations with other universities and research facilities.
There are a number of student organizations in the department. The student chapter of the American Meteorological Society, a national organization, serves as a focal point for those students interested in the atmospheric sciences. The Society of Environmental Scientists encompasses students interested in a broad range of environmental activities and issues. Sigma Gamma Epsilon is a national earth science honorary society open to all qualified students. These student organizations sponsor speakers, organize field trips, and provide career and job placement seminars.
The department also provides core courses for the University’s general education program encouraging intellectual inquiry into the critical issues of the earth and the environment. Such courses recognize the fact that the understanding of environmental processes is fundamental to ecologically sound and sustainable development in a variety of fields.