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2015-2016

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Science Academic Plans

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Honours Environmental Science (Geoscience Specialization)

This program provides a basic quantitative background in science and mathematics, while offering students greater opportunity to select courses in a wide range of environment-related subject areas, such as chemistry, ecology, microbiology, geography, and hydrogeology. Students will acquire the knowledge base required to assess the environmental impact of surface and subsurface contamination from industry, urbanization, agriculture, and mining. Graduates will be prepared for employment in any area dealing with environmental issues and legislation, particularly in government and the environmental consulting industry.


Year One

BIOL 120 Introduction to Plant Structure and Function
BIOL 150 Organismal and Evolutionary Ecology
CHEM 120/CHEM 120L Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter/Laboratory
CHEM 123/CHEM 123L Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics/Laboratory
EARTH 121/EARTH 121L Introductory Earth Sciences/Laboratory
EARTH 122/EARTH 122L Introductory Environmental Sciences/Laboratory
PHYS 111/PHYS 111L Physics 1/Laboratory
MATH 127 Calculus 1 for the Sciences
Two Electives (1.0 unit)


Year Two

EARTH 123/EARTH 123L Introductory Hydrology/Field Methods in Hydrology
EARTH 221 Geochemistry 1
EARTH 231 Mineralogy
EARTH 232 Petrography
EARTH 235 Stratigraphic Approaches to Understanding Earth's History
EARTH 238 Introductory Structural Geology
BIOL 240/BIOL 240L Fundamentals of Microbiology/Laboratory
ENVS 201 Introduction to Canadian Environmental Law
One 200-level EARTH course (0.5 unit)
One Elective (0.5 unit)


Year Three

EARTH 333 Introductory Sedimentology
EARTH 342 Applied Geomorphology
EARTH 358 Earth System Science
EARTH 390 Methods in Geological Mapping
STAT 202 Statistics for Scientists
Two 300- or 400-level EARTH courses (1.0 unit)
Arts Core (0.5 unit)
Three Electives (1.5 units)


Year Four

EARTH 436A/EARTH 436B Honours Thesis
 or EARTH 499 Research Project plus one 300- or 400-level EARTH course
EARTH 440 Quaternary Geology
EARTH 444 Applied Wetland Science
One 300- or 400-level EARTH course (0.5 unit)
Five Electives (2.5 units)


Recommended Electives

BIOL 110 Introductory Zoology
BIOL 241 Introduction to Applied Microbiology
BIOL 165 Diversity of Life
BIOL 350 Ecosystem Ecology
BIOL 351 Aquatic Ecology
BIOL 354 Environmental Toxicology 1
BIOL 447 Environmental Microbiology
CHEM 209 Introductory Spectroscopy and Structure
CHEM 212 Structure and Bonding
CHEM 220/CHEM 220L Intro Analytical Chemistry/Laboratory
 or CHEM CHEM 228/CHEM 228L Analytical Chemistry for Life Sciences/Laboratory
CHEM 266/CHEM 266L Basic Organic Chemistry 1/Laboratory
CHEM 404 Physicochemical Aspects of Natural Waters
ERS 215 Environmental and Sustainability Assessment I
CS 115 Introduction to Computer Science 1


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University of Waterloo
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Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
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