Honours Major Academic Plans
Regular
Honours Earth Sciences (Atmospheric Specialization)
Honours Earth Sciences**(Geology Specialization)
Honours Earth Sciences**(Geophysics Specialization)
Honours Earth Sciences**(Hydrogeology Specialization)
Honours Environmental Science (Geoscience Specialization)
Honours Geochemistry * (joint with Chemistry Department)
Honours Computational Science*** (Earth Sciences Specialization)
Honours Science and Aviation ***(Earth Sciences Specialization)
Honours Science & Business ***(Hydrogeology Specialization)
Co-operative
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences** (Atmospheric Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences**(Geology Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences**(Geophysics Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Earth Sciences**(Hydrogeology Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Environmental Science (Geoscience Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Geochemistry * (joint with Chemistry Department)
Honours Co-operative Computational Science *** (Earth Sciences Specialization)
Honours Co-operative Science and Business *** (Hydrogeology Specialization)
* These Academic Plans fulfill the academic requirements for professional membership in the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) and are administered jointly by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Chemistry. For details consult 'Geochemistry' in the Department of Chemistry section of the calendar.
** These Academic Plans fulfill the academic requirements for professional memberhip in the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO). Students who enroll in other plans and are interested in APGO membership should review the academic requirements at their website: http://www.apgo.net. A judicious selection of elective courses and/or extra term(s) of study may procure the academic knowledge base required for APGO membership.
*** These plans are described under Honours Academic Plans for the Faculty of Science.
Minor in Earth Sciences
HONOURS MAJOR ACADEMIC PLANS
Continuation in all of our department's Honours Major Academic Plans requires an overall cumulative average of 60%, and a cumulative average of 60% in all EARTH courses. In order to graduate the following requirements must be met:
- Successful completion of 20.0 lecture units.
- "SCI"-labelled units may not be used as Science/Math electives and no more than 1.5 "SCI" -labelled units may be used as free electives.
- Mandatory courses as listed under the specific Academic Plans and elective courses distributed in various subject areas as indicated below.
- Completion of the English Language Proficiency Exam (ELPE).
- For students studying in the co-op format, find detailed information on co-op program requirements in Co-operative Program Evaluation and the Co-Operative Education and Career Services section of the Calendar.
In addition to required laboratory (and field course) units, all plans administered within the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences require completion of 20.0 lecture units. The following table is a breakdown of these lecture units and indicates how your electives must be apportioned in various subject areas. In each area, 'CORE' units denote the lecture courses that are specified in a program; 'ELEC' units denote the elective lecture courses that you decide on. A table of acceptable courses for the Science/Math electives follows.
Distribution of Lecture Units in Earth Sciences and Environmental Science Plans
|
Subject Area
|
Atmos
|
Geol
|
Geophys
|
Hydro
|
Geosci
|
|
Earth Sciences
|
CORE
|
7.0
|
8.5
|
9.0
|
10.5
|
7.5
|
|
ELEC
|
0.0
|
3.5
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
|
Sci/Math/Eng1
|
CORE
|
7.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
|
ELEC1
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
0.5
|
2.0
|
|
Geog/EnvS
|
CORE
|
1.0
|
0.5
|
0.0
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
|
ELEC
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
|
Arts Core2
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
|
Free electives
|
1.5
|
2.0
|
1.5
|
2.0
|
3.5
|
|
Total Lecture Units
|
20.0
|
20.0
|
20.0
|
20.0
|
20.0
|
1 Normally excludes SCI and EARTH courses (Atmospheric Specialization students may take EARTH courses); Students who plan to do graduate work in Hydrogeology are advised to take Advanced Calculus, such as MATH 217 or CIVE 221, during their 4th year.
2 Arts Core: The Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG) recommends that acceptable professional practice requires technical writing ability, oral communications effectiveness and awareness of regulatory and legal issues of practice for interprovincial mobility. Currently, the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO) only requires a one term course (0.5 units) to address this recommendation. Although many courses are suitable to fulfill this requirement, the following address the oral and written communication area: SPCOM 223; ENGL 109, 129R, 140R, 209, 210E, 210F, PHIL 145, ENVS 201.
Courses acceptable to fulfill Sci/Math electives include most 200-level or higher BIOL, CHEM, PHYS, MATH, AMATH or CS courses. A list of recommended courses for specific plans in Earth and Environmental Sciences, is available at http://earth.uwaterloo.ca/undergraduate. In some cases, courses in areas other than those listed above (e.g. Engineering) or 100-level courses may be acceptable as a Sci/Math elective but would have to be approved by the Undergraduate Advisor.