Environmental Studies
ENVS 1000-4. Introduction to Environmental Studies. Surveys environmental studies, examining ecological, socioeconomic, political, aesthetic, and technological factors that influence the quality of life on Earth. Required for ENVS majors. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: natural science.
ENVS 2840 (1-6). Independent Study. Students work with an approved faculty sponsor to explore a topic in greater depth and to pursue an interest that is not offered in the formal curriculum. May be repeated up to 8 total credit hours. Prereq., ENVS 1000.
ENVS 3001-3. Sustainable Solutions Consulting. Introduces students to green design, industrial ecology, and life cycle analysis. Students use basic techniques of environmental auditing to analyze the CU-Boulder campus. Prereq., any two-semester science sequence. Restricted to junior and senior ENVS majors.
ENVS 3003-3. Race, Class, and Pollution Politics. Examines communities affected by major toxic contamination threats in the U.S., evaluating race and class factors in levels of governmental and private sector responses and actions. Examines investigative research methods at case study sites to provide skills necessary for assessment of any environmental threat for protective action. Restricted to junior/senior ENVS majors.
ENVS 3020-3. Advanced Writing in Environmental Studies. Offers training in critical thinking and analytical writing skills appropriate to upper-division classes. Writing assignments integrate the subject matter of different topical areas. Restricted to junior and senior ENVS majors. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: written communication.
ENVS 3040-4. Conservation Biology. Applies principles of population ecology, population genetics, biogeography, animal behavior, and paleobiology to the maintenance of biodiversity and natural systems. The resulting theory is then applied to conservation policy and management techniques. Prereq., EBIO 2040 or 2640. Same as EBIO 3040.
ENVS 3070-3. Energy and the Environment. Examines contemporary issues in energy consumption and its environmental impact, including fossil fuel use and depletion; nuclear energy and waste disposal; solar, wind, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources; home heating; energy storage; fuel cells; and alternative transportation vehicles. Includes some basic physical concepts and principles that often constrain choices. No background in physics is required. Same as PHYS 3070. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: natural science.
ENVS 3140-3. Environmental Ethics. Examines major traditions in moral philosophy to see what light they shed on value issues in environmental policy and the value presuppositions of the economic, ecological, and juridical approaches to the environment. Prereq., sophomore standing or PHIL 1100, 1200, 2200, 3100, or 3200. Same as PHIL 3140. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.
ENVS 3434-3. Introduction to Applied Ecology. Emphasizes the integration of physical, chemical, and biological processes in controlling terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecosystem concepts are applied to current environmental and water quality problems. Includes field trips and a group project. Prereq., CHEM 1111 or CHEN 1211 and 1221. Same as CVEN 3434.
ENVS 3520-3. Environmental Issues in Geosciences. Addresses current environmental problems that need an understanding of geology. Topics include energy resources, climate modification, hydrology, waste disposal, and mining resources. Uses specific examples to illustrate restrictions imposed by nature and man on solutions to these problems. Prereq., a two-course sequence in any natural science. Same as GEOL 3520. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: natural science.
ENVS 3600-3. Principles of Climate. Describes the basic components of the climate system: the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and lithosphere. Investigates the basic physical processes that determine climate and link the components of the climate system, including the hydrological cycle and its role in climate, climate stability, and global change. Covers forecasting climate, its applications, and human dimensions. Prereqs., ATOC 1050 and 1060, or ATOC 3300/GEOG 3301, or GEOG 1001 and 1-semester calculus. Same as GEOG 3601 and ATOC 3600. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: natural science.
ENVS 3621-3. Energy Policy and Society. Examines how society makes decisions about energy, and how these decisions affect the environment and the economy. Uses tools from policy analysis, economics, and other disciplines to build an in-depth understanding of energy’s role in U.S. contemporary society. Recommended prereqs., ENVS/PHYS 3070.
ENVS 3800-3. The Art of Research: The Essential Elements of Research in Environmental Studies. Introduces students to the practice of doing research in environmental studies. Examines how to define a research problem, select methods, design research, construct arguments and evaluate others’ research. Aims to familiarize students with the process of doing research and enable them to proceed with confidence in pursuing their own research topics. Recommended for juniors planning to write ENVS honors theses. Prereq., ENVS 1000. Recommended prereq., ENVS 3020. Restricted to juniors/seniors.
ENVS 3930 (1-3). Internship. Relates classroom theory to practice. Provides academically supervised opportunities for environmental studies majors to work in public and private organizations on projects related to students’ career goals. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
ENVS 4027-3. Inequality, Democracy, and the Environment. Focuses on the structural forces affecting environmental degradation and environmental behavior by examining the relationships between (a) inequality and democratic decision making and (b) undemocratic decision making; U.S. and corporate food and energy policy; and global environmental degradation. The course also focuses on the role that global inequality plays in fostering environmental degradation. Restricted to juniors/seniors. Same as SOCY 4027.
ENVS 4050-3. Field Studies in Environmental Sciences. Includes field-oriented courses offered at irregular intervals during academic year or during summer sessions.
ENVS 4100 (1-3). Topics in Environmental Policy. Covers a variety of topics not currently offered in the curriculum; offered depending on instructor availability and student demand. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours, provided the topics vary.
ENVS 4120 (1-3). Topics in Environmental Sciences. Covers a variety of topics not currently offered in the curriculum; offered depending on instructor availability and student demand. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours, provided the topics vary. Restricted to junior and senior ENVS majors.
ENVS 4160-3. Introduction to Biogeochemistry. Covers fundamentals of biogeochemical cycling, emphasizing water, carbon, and nutrient dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems; chemical interactions of atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere, and natural and human-managed environments. Prereqs., GEOL 3320 or EBIO 3270, and CHEM 1011 or higher. Same as GEOL and EBIO 4160
ENVS 4201-3. Biometeorology. Introduces this interdisciplinary science, studying the interactions between atmospheric processes and living organisms (plants, animals, and humans). Discusses how organisms adapt to a changing environment. Uses a practical, problem-solving approach to explore these interactions. Prereq., GEOG 1001. Same as GEOG 4201.
ENVS 4630 (2-6). Field Techniques in Environmental Science. Field and laboratory methods for assessing the abiotic and biotic environment. Emphasizes field techniques in climatology, surveying soils, hydrology, geomorphology, plant and animal ecology, and environmental law. Evaluation by written module reports and maps. This course may use animals and/or animal tissues. Prereqs., EBIO 2040 and instructor consent. Same as EBIO 4630.
ENVS 4795-3. Museum Field Methods/Zoology and Botany. Class covers research and field methods for biological disciplines associated with natural history museums: vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants. Emphasis is on field research techniques: observations, sampling, collection and preservation methods, and comparisons among elevation zones. Includes 5 field labs, 2 weekend trips, 5 lab practica, experience with several taxonomic experts, and individual research projects. Same as MUSM 4795 and EBIO 4795.
ENVS 4800-3. Critical Thinking in Environmental Studies. Examines a specific environmental topic in depth, synthesizing information from complex and controversial issues. Different course sections present different topics. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours. Restricted to students with junior or senior status in environmental studies.
ENVS 4840 (1-6). Independent Study. May be repeated up to 8 total credit hours. Prereq., ENVS 1000.
ENVS 4990-3. Senior Thesis. Supervised project involving original research. Open only to environmental studies majors with at least a 3.30 GPA. Thesis proposal must be accepted by honors chairman. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
ENVS 5000-3. Policy, Science, and the Environment. Introduction to methodologies of the policy sciences with emphasis on applications to environmental issues; role of science in decision making; professional roles and responsibilities as a policy analyst.
ENVS 5001-3. Environmental Philosophy. A survey of the major philosophical issues in environmental studies, comprising key issues in environmental ethics, in environmental political philosophy, and in the philosophy of biology and ecology.
ENVS 5002-3. Environmental Science. Surveys methodologies of environmental science. Emphasizes understanding the scientific basis of current environmental problems, and linking scientific understanding to policy making.
ENVS 5100 (1-3). Special Topics in Environmental Studies. A variety of topics not currently offered in curriculum; offered depending on instructor availability and student demand. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours, provided the topics vary.
ENVS 5110 (1-3). Topics in Environmental Social Science and Humanities. Covers various topics in the social sciences and humanities in environmental studies.
ENVS 5120 (1-3). Topics in Quantitative Methods. Covers a wide range of quantitative methods used in policy research and their applications. Topics may include decision-making under uncertainty, fundamentals of microeconomics, mathematics of economic efficiency, cost-benefit analysis, system optimization, budgeting, fundamentals or probability, risk assessment, risk perception, risk communication, and decision analysis. Includes practical exercises, as well as readings and discussion, of various strengths and weaknesses of the different methods.
ENVS 5710-3. Introduction to the Policy Sciences. Provides an introduction to the policy sciences as a distinctive tradition within the policy field. Emphasizes the use of conceptual tools to improve analysis of complex problems. Teaches problem-solving framework that students apply to an issue of their choice. Restricted to graduate students or instructor consent required. Same as PSCI 7016.
ENVS 5720-3. The Problem Orientation. Teaches basic problem-solving framework for policy analysis. Emphasizes applications to develop policy recommendations for issues selected by students. Includes group projects. Restricted to graduate students or instructor consent required. Same as PSCI 7026.
ENVS 5730-3. Introduction to the Policy Sciences: the Decision Process. Provides policy sciences frameworks for analyzing policy processes and designing political strategies to influence those processes in the direction of the preferred alternative. Emphasizes applications to problems selected by students for term projects. Restricted to graduate students or instructor consent required. Same as PSCI 7036.
ENVS 5740-3. Context-Sensitive Research Methods. Prepares students to conduct research on topics where data is not obvious or not easily available. Encompasses variations in context and setting as part of data observations. Methods include interviewing protocols, interpretive methods, cluster analyses, case study methodologies, and textual analyses. Restricted to graduate students or instructor consent required. Same as PSCI 7116.
ENVS 5810-3. Water Resources and Environmental Sustainability. Assesses impacts of climate variability and regional growth on western U.S. water resources, and examines successes and failures of different management strategies, as well as ways that science is used and misused in support of water management.
ENVS 5820-3. Renewable Energy Policy. Examines the technology, policy and politics of renewables. Technology includes the resource, science, and engineering aspects of renewables. Policy includes various policy levers used to influence renewables. Politics refers to political settings of renewables: how decision-makers perceive them, who supports/ opposes policies, and how policies progress through the political process. Prereq., an introductory energy science and technology course.
ENVS 5830-3. Critical Issues in Climate and the Environment. Discusses current issues such as ozone depletion, global warming, and air quality for graduate students in nonscientific fields. Provides the scientific background necessary to understand, follow scientific developments, and critically evaluate these issues. Same as ATOC 5000. Credit not granted for this course and ATOC 4800.
ENVS 5840-3. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Focuses on the cycling of elements at the global scale with a particular emphasis on human modification of biogeochemical cycles. Major biogeochemical cycles, their past dynamics, present changes, and potential future scenarios will be addressed. Ecosystem to global-scale model of the earth system will be discussed, along with global-scale measurements of element fluxes from satellites, aircraft, and measurement networks. Prereq., general chemistry, some organic chemistry. Same as GEOL 5305.
ENVS 5909 (1-3). Independent Study. Only 3 hours of independent study can be used towards degree requirements. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours for different topics. Prereq., department and instructor consent.
ENVS 5930-2. Internship. Provides academically supervised opportunities for environmental studies majors to work in public and private organizations on projects related to the students’ research and career goals, and to relate classroom theory to practice.
ENVS 6007-3. Foundations of Environmental Sociology. Provides overview of environmental sociological theory and research including topics such as: public environmental perception, concern, and knowledge; environmentalism as a social movement; environmental justice; energy, technology, and risk; human dimensions of environmental change; and natural hazards and disasters. Same as SOCY 6007.
ENVS 6112-3. Foundations of American Natural Resources Law. Introduces students to the law of natural resources. Examines the legal, historical, political, and intellectual influences that shape resources development and conservation. Same as LAWS 6112.
ENVS 6940-3. Master’s Degree Candidacy.
ENVS 6950 (1-6). Master’s Thesis.
ENVS 8990 (1-10). Doctoral Dissertation. All doctoral students must register for not fewer than 30 hours of dissertation credit as part of the requirements for the degree. For a detailed discussion of doctoral dissertation credit, refer to the Graduate School section.
