The discipline of Environmental Studies recognizes that finding solutions to the environmental challenges facing our society requires individuals who understand not only the scientific basis for creative solutions, but also the social and economic implications of the alternatives. As part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Environmental Studies Program sponsors a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies in five areas of concentration and a minor in Environmental Studies. For students in the Division of Continuing Studies there is an opportunity to work towards a Bachelor of General Studies degree with a concentration in Environmental Studies. Other students choose majors in one of the traditional disciplines and supplement their training with courses from the Environmental Studies curriculum.
Majoring in Environmental Studies at UNO
The Environmental Studies Program at UNOmaha offers undergraduate degrees that provide students with training in the scientific disciplines that make up the environmental sciences. The core requirements also ensure that students have the background in economics, public policy and law, sociology, and ethics necessary to be find technically correct solutions that meet societies many, often conflicting needs.
An important aspect of the Environmental Studies Program at UNOmaha is that students are required to specialize in one of five areas of emphasis. This ensures that while students' training provides a breadth of understanding, it also provides enough depth in a single discipline to continue on to graduate school. However, our program is designed to help ensure that students emerge with a Bachelors degree that will allow them to be competitive in the environmental job market. Students with a background in environmental studies pursue careers with national, state, and local government agencies, private environmental organizations, and private environmental consulting firms.
All Environmental Studies majors complete a core curriculum of courses selected to provide breadth of understanding, the opportunity to explore environmental values, and a fundamental understanding of our social, legal, and political systems. In addition, students select from one of five options for more in-depth study:
The Analytic option is designed to produce chemists who are particularly interested in the chemical pollutants that are being released into the air, earth and water environments of our planet. They may find jobs with local and state health departments, state and national environmental protection agencies, local testing laboratories, as well as in the private chemical-producing industries. Typically graduates work as laboratory and field technicians who sample and analyze chemical pollutants.
Advisers: Dr. Frederic Laquer (554-3641) and Dr. Dan Sullivan (554-3646); Chemistry Department.
The Earth Sciences option is designed to prepare students for a career in environmental geology. Today many environmental problems are associated with the earth and our use of it. Thus contamination of surface and underground waters, pollution of the soil and construction of dams and other large structures all require earth science environmental specialists to either help alleviate the problem created by misuse, or avoid environmental problems during project development. Many public and private agencies, including engineering and construction firms, have jobs for people trained in this area.
Advisers: Dr. Harmon Maher (554-4807) and Dr. Robert Shuster (554-2457); Geography-Geology Department, (402) 554-2662.
The Geography and Planning Option is primarily designed to produce local and regional planning specialists who have a good understanding of environmental problems. Anytime humans change the nature of the landscape by constructing new housing developments, highways, shopping centers, etc. a potentially negative environmental impact to the natural landscape exists. Today planners who are environmentally sensitive are in great demand to help avoid common confrontations that arise between developers and those groups affected by the project.
Advisers: Dr. Jeff Peake (554-2726); Geography-Geology Department, (402) 554-2662.
The life sciences option is designed to prepare a student for jobs in environmental biology, natural resources management, and conservation. The emphasis is on understanding the impacts of human activities on plants, animals, and the ecosystems they live in. Environmental Scientists with a background in biology work to understand how our actions might impact threatened or endangered plants and animals and how those impacts might be reduced. They also work to ensure that populations of game animals and non-game species remain healthy and abundant. In addition, they work to help ensure that ecosystems continue to function and provide the goods and services, such as flood control, water and air purification, and natural products such as wood, that all species, including humans, depend on.
Advisor: Dr. John McCarty (554-2849), Biology Department, (402) 554-2641.
The Physics environmental option combines the skills of a trained physicist, namely understanding of a broad range of instruments and measurements together with the ability to apply a variety of mathematical techniques toward simulating and evaluating environmental systems. Physicists, in conjunction with many other professionals, work on monitoring the environment for conservation, safety and economic utilization. Industry and governments employ such persons for the study of various pollutants, including noise, heat, light (infrared, visible, ultraviolet) and radioactivity.
Advisers: Dr. Robert Graham (554-2511) and Dr. Dan Wilkins (554-3728); Physics Department.
The Environmental Studies Program at UNOmaha places a strong emphasis on students obtaining work experience in the field of environmental science, prior to graduation. The internship required of all majors (Biol/Geog/Geol 4800) formalizes this and is considered a central component of each student's education. Examples of recent internships include work with:
Students are also encouraged to obtain additional experience early in their careers, through both volunteer and paid positions. For example, Environmental Studies majors have volunteered to help pick seeds of prairie plants for Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge, and have attended weekend work-days organized by the Volunteer Conservation Corps. Hints for finding student jobs are found under the Life Sciences Concentration.
For more information about the Environmental Studies degree programs at UNOmaha, contact:
| Dr. John McCarty Director of the Environmental Studies Program Allwine Hall University of Nebraska at Omaha 6001 Dodge Street Omaha, NE 68182-0040 Visit Dr. McCarty's home-page |
Email: jmccarty@mail.unomaha.edu Ph: (402) 554-2641 or 554-2849 Fax: (402) 554-3532 |
