Link to the University of Waterloo home page
2014-2015

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Science Academic Plans

Biology

Honours Environmental Science (Ecology Specialization)

Advisor: Professor J. Witt (Biology)

Continuance in the Honours Environmental Science (Ecology Specialization) plan requires a cumulative average of 60% in Science courses and 60% in non-Science courses. This plan has a biological focus with emphasis on the fundamental science needed to understand ecological problems. In order to graduate from the plan the following requirements must be met:

  1. Successful completion of 21.75 units of which 20.0 are lecture units and 1.75 are lab units.
  2. Completion of the English Language Proficiency Requirement.
  3. No more than 5.0 failed units are allowed.

Year One (Fall)

BIOL 150 Organismal and Evolutionary Ecology
CHEM 120/120L Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter/Laboratory
EARTH 121/121L Introductory Earth Sciences/Laboratory
PHYS 111/111L Physics 1/Laboratory
One Elective (0.5 unit)

Year One (Winter)

MATH 127 Calculus 1 for the Sciences
BIOL 120 Introduction to Plant Structure and Function
CHEM 123/123L Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics/Laboratory
EARTH 122/122L Introductory Environmental Sciences/Laboratory
One Elective (0.5 unit)

Note

Students wishing to gain membership in the College of Applied Biology of British Columbia (e.g. Registered Professional Biologist, R.P. Bio.), which is a requirement for certain Ecological and Environmental Science positions, must select ENGL 109 as an elective.

Year Two (Fall)

BIOL 110 Introductory Zoology
BIOL 130 Introductory Cell Biology
BIOL 240/240L Fundamentals of Microbiology/Laboratory
CHEM 266 Basic Organic Chemistry 1
EARTH 123/123L Introduction to Hydrology/ Field Methods in Hydrogeology

Year Two (Winter)

BIOL 239 Genetics
BIOL 211 Introductory Vertebrate Zoology  
  or
BIOL 165 Diversity of Life
CHEM 237 Introductory Biochemistry
STAT 202 Introductory Statistics for Scientists
ERS 215 Environmental and Sustainability Assessment I

Year Three (Fall)

Key: *BIOL and EARTH Electives must be selected from the Biology Electives and Earth Sciences Electives lists located at the end of this page. 

BIOL 350 Ecosystem Ecology
BIOL 354 Environmental Toxicology 1
EARTH 342 Geomorphology and GIS Applications
One BIOL 
  or EARTH Elective*(0.5 unit)
One Elective (0.5 unit)

Year Three (Winter)

Key: **A BIOL 490A field course is required to complete this program. Field courses are intensive two week courses held at off-campus locations during the spring term, and enrolment in these courses works very differently than regular course enrolment. Students should plan on the completion of this course at the end of the second or third year, and must consult their academic advisor about the selection of this course no later than the fall term of their second year.

BIOL 351 Aquatic Ecology
BIOL 359 Evolution
BIOL 361 Biostatistics and Experimental Design
BIOL 490A Biology Field Course I**
One Elective (0.5 unit)

Year Four

Key: *BIOL and EARTH Electives must be selected from the Biology Electives and Earth Sciences Electives lists located at the end of this page. 

BIOL 456 Population Biology (Fall)
  or BIOL 458 Quantitative Ecology (Fall)
BIOL 457 Analysis of Communities (Winter)
Three 300- or 400-level BIOL Electives* (1.5 units)
One 300- or 400-level EARTH Elective* (0.5 unit)
Four Electives (2.0 units)

Biology Electives

BIOL electives must be selected from the following list: BIOL 165, 211, 241309, 321, 323, 325, 335L, 346, 370, 371, 383, 412, 426, 439, 447, 448, 450, 452, 455, 461, 462, 466, 470, 479, 480, 488, 490B, 490C, 499

Earth Sciences Electives

Earth electives must be selected from the following list: EARTH 221, 232, 235, 236, 238, 281, 333, 358, 359, 421, 440, 458, 459

Notes

Students should be aware that many positions in Ecology and Environmental Science require knowledge of environmental planning. Students are very strongly encouraged to select ENVS 201 (Environmental Planning and Law) as an elective


Office of the Registrar
University of Waterloo
2nd Floor, Needles Hall
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567