Minors

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers four minors:

Please reference our major/minor course overlap policy.

Climate Change Science Minor

Students who complete this minor will have a deep understanding of the following components of climate change science:

  • Natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change
  • Impacts of climate change on physical, chemical and biological processes in the atmosphere and oceans, and vice versa
  • How the future climate is modeled and/or how past climate is measured and analyzed

A minimum of 24 credits are required to complete the minor.

Required Courses

One of the following (but not both):

  • EESC 103: Introduction to Environmental Science
  • EESC 105: Introduction to Climate Change

Plus at least two of the following (prerequisites in parenthesis):

  • EESC 212: Climate Change Perspectives on Chemical Oceanography (MATH 161, CHEM 131)
  • EESC 218: Atmospheric Chemistry (EESC 101 or 103 or 105, MATH 161, CHEM 131, CHEM 132 recommended but not required)
  • EESC 235: Physical Oceanography (MATH 165, PHYS 121)
  • EESC 236: Physics of Climate (PHYS 121)

Upper-level Course Selections (prerequisites in parenthesis)

  • EESC 233: Marine Ecosystems and Carbon Cycling Modeling (MATH 165, EESC 212)
  • EESC 234: Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling
  • EESC 265: Paleoclimate (EESC 101 or 103, MATH 162, CHEM 131)
  • EESC 266: Ice Core Records of Climate and Environmental Change (EESC 101 or 103 or 105, MATH 162, CHEM 131, PHYS 121)
  • EESC 274: Seminar in Paleoceanography
  • EESC 307: Advanced Seminar on Climate and Environmental Change (at least one of EESC 212, EESC 218 or EESC 265)

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Earth and Planetary Sciences Minor

The Earth and planetary sciences minor is intended for students interested in pursuing careers in earth resources, space research, and administration.

This minor explores the discoveries from planetary probes, which offer insights into the formation and evolution of protoplanets, planets, and their satellites. Advances in extrasolar planet detection have implications for planetary habitability, the environment of early Earth, and the origin of life.

Our minor encompasses the interdisciplinary nature of the field and strengthens the connection and collaboration among various departments and facilities at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳, including:

  • Earth and environmental science
  • Physics and astronomy
  • Laboratory for Laser Energetics
  • Computer science

A total of six courses are required to complete the minor.

Required Courses

Two of the following:

  • EESC 101: Introduction to Earth Sciences
  • EESC 201: Evolution of the Earth
  • ASTR 111: The Solar System and Its Origin
  • ASTR 142: Elementary Astrophysics

Plus two of the following (prerequisites in parenthesis):

  • EESC 203: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (EESC 101 and EESC 201)
  • EESC 204: Earth Materials
  • EESC 206: Petrology (EESC 204)
  • EESC 208: Structural Geology (EESC 101 and EESC 201)
  • EESC 211: Nature’s Fury
  • EESC 214: Earth Science and Data Analysis (MATH 161 and MATH 162 or equivalent)
  • EESC 215: Seismology and Earth Structure (EESC 101 and EESC 201)
  • EESC 253: Geodynamics

Plus two of the following (prerequisites in parenthesis):

  • ASTR 111: The Solar System and its Origin (may be used here if EESC 101 and EESC 201 have been taken)
  • EESC 229: Designing Your Space Mission
  • EESC 230: Principles of Geochronometry (EESC 204)
  • EESC 247: Chemical Evolution of the Earth (EESC 204 and EESC 206)
  • EESC 254/ASTR 265: Planetary Interiors (MATH 165 and PHYS 113 or equivalent)
  • EESC 255: Planetary Science
  • EESC 256: Paleomagnetism and Global Plate Tectonics
  • EESC 260: Early Earth Geochemistry
  • EESC 268: Principles of Experimental Geochemistry (EESC 204 and EESC 206)
  • ASTR 233: Astrodynamics

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Environmental Geology Minor

The environmental geology minor is intended especially for natural science and social science concentrators who are planning on further study or employment in environmental fields.

A total of six courses are required to complete the minor.

Required Courses

One or both of the following introductory courses:

  • EESC 101: Introduction to Earth Sciences
  • EESC 103: Introduction to Environmental Science

Four or five of the following elective courses:

  • EESC 105: Introduction to Climate Change
  • EESC 201: Evolution of the Earth
  • EESC 202Q: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Mountain Ranges in California: A Field Quest
  • EESC 203: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
  • EESC 204: Earth Materials
  • EESC 208: Structural Geology
  • EESC 211: Nature's Fury
  • EESC 212: A Climate Change Perspective to Chemical Oceanography
  • EESC 213: Hydrology and Water Resources
  • EESC 215: Environmental and Applied Geophysics (EESC 205: Solid Earth Geophysics is an acceptable substitute)
  • EESC 216: Environmental Geochemistry
  • EESC 218: Atmospheric Chemistry
  • EESC 219: Energy and Society
  • EESC 252: Marine Geology

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Geological Sciences Minor

A student taking this minor will have a broad grasp of geology and will be able to build upon it as a solid foundation for a major should his or her career plans change.

Six courses are required to complete the minor.

Required Courses

Both of the following:

  • EESC 101: Introduction to Earth Sciences
  • EESC 201: Evolution of the Earth

Plus four of the following:

  • EESC 203: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
  • EESC 204: Earth Materials
  • EESC 205: Geophysics
  • EESC 206: Petrology
  • EESC 207: Principles of Paleontology
  • EESC 208: Structural Geology
  • EESC 214: Earth Science Data Analysis
  • EESC 215: Seismology and Earth Structure
  • EESC 253: Geodynamics

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Sustainability Minor

The sustainability minor is intentionally interdisciplinary and includes core classes from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The minor allows for three additional electives chosen from the sciences or social sciences (at least one science elective is required). The goal of the minor is to provide a curriculum that encourages students to learn to communicate and to solve problems of societal relevance that straddle disciplinary boundaries in sustainability and global change.

Beginning in fall 2016, and moving forward, the sustainability minor satisfies either the social science (SS) or natural science (NS) requirement of the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Curriculum if at least three courses are taken from the respective division.

Program Management and Advising

Students who want to declare a minor in sustainability or who want to discuss questions about a minor in sustainability should contact the program advisor, Professor Karen Berger at karen.berger@rochester.edu.

The steering committee for the sustainability minor was comprised of faculty from anthropology, chemical engineering, Earth and environmental sciences, philosophy, and political science departments.

Requirements

Some classes require prerequisites (noted below). AP equivalents or instructor approval is also acceptable.

CORE (Three courses)

Required:

  • EESC 103: Introduction to Environmental Science (N)

Choose two from the following list:*

  • PHIL 230: Environmental Justice (H) OR HIST 300W: History of Nature (S) OR PHIL 135: Environmental Ethics (H)
  • ANTH 224: Anthropology of Development (S) OR ANTH 226: Culture and Consumption (S)
  • ECON 238: Environmental Economics (S) (Note: this course has two ECO pre-requisites)
  • GSWS 213 Politics of Nature (S)
  • PSCI 247: Green Markets (S) OR PSCI 246: Environmental Law and Policy (S) OR PSCI 243: Environmental Politics (S)

*If more than two are taken, they may be counted as electives.

ELECTIVES (Three courses)

Choose three from the following lists. At least one elective must be in science or engineering (N). Other sustainability-related courses, such as those taken abroad or offered on an occasional basis, may be eligible for inclusion in the minor. Contact Professor Berger for approval.

Humanities:

  • EHUM 240: Environmental Apocalypse and the Anthropocene
  • EHUM 245: Race, Colonialism and Nature (formerly Environmental Literature)
  • EHUM 248: Food Justice, Urban Farming, Social Practice
  • EHUM 268: Decolonizing Food (formerly Food, Media, and Literature)

Social sciences:

  • ANTH 243: Energy and Power
  • HIST 226: Exploration, Science, and Adventure
  • HIST 263: Global History of Food
  • INTR 205: Global Sustainable Development
  • PHLT 232: Environmental Health Policy
  • PHLT 238: Environmental Health and Justice in the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Community
  • PSCI 235: The Political Economy of US Food
  • PSCI 239: International Environmental Law

Natural sciences:

  • BIOL 104K: Ecosystem Conservation and Human Society OR BIO 263: Ecology
  • CHE 150: Green Energy
  • CHE 260: Solar Cells
  • CHE 264: Biofuels
  • CHEM 286: Energy: Science, Technology and Society
  • EESC 105: Introduction to Climate Change
  • EESC 212: Climate Change from and Oceanography Perspective
  • EESC 213: Hydrology and Water Resources
  • EESC 119/219: Energy and Society
  • EESC 265: Paleoclimate
  • EESC 310: Science and Sustainability
  • EESC 320: Sustainable Systems

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