Coastal Environments Minor

Program Overview

The Coastal Environments Minor complements other majors, providing students with a foundation in coastal processes, remote sensing, and environmental science. It prepares graduates for careers in geoscience, marine science, environmental planning, and GIS. Students complete 16 hours of required courses and 9 hours of restricted electives, including topics such as oceanography, lake and coastal processes, and climate change.

Program Outline

Outline:

Required Courses (16 hours):

• ESSC 110: The Dynamic Earth System (GEKN) (4 hours)
• ESSC 212: Weather, Climate and the Earth System (3 hours)
• ESSC 320: Oceanography (3 hours)
• ESSC 450: Lake and Coastal Processes (3 hours)
• ESSC 485: Introduction to Remote Sensing (3 hours)

Restricted Elective Courses (9 hours):

Students can select nine hours from the following courses in consultation with the minor advisor. Other elective courses not listed below may also be chosen.

• ESSC 111: The Earth System through Time (4 hours)
• ESSC 325: Geomorphology (4 hours)
• ESSC 327: Soil Science (4 hours)
• ESSC 330: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (4 hours)
• ESSC 370: Glacial and Quaternary Geology (4 hours)
• ESSC 424W: Climate Change (GEWI) (3 hours)
• ESSC 453: Marine and Lacustrine Geology (3 hours)
• ESSC 497: Independent Study (1 hour)
• GEOG 276: Principles of Geographic Information Systems (3 hours)
• GEOG 405: Aerial Photo Interpretation (3 hours)

Careers:

The Coastal Environments Minor is designed to complement majors in other disciplines and prepare students for careers in fields such as:

• Geoscience
• Marine science
• Environmental science
• Environmental planning
• GIS and remote sensing