Program Description

Global populations are becoming predominantly urban and the state of the environment is central to issues of quality of life, health and safety. The Environmental Sustainability minor program provides students with the most innovative preparation in urban environmental sustainability through course work that cross cuts multiple disciplines and focuses on integrative solutions. Students develop a foundation knowledge in Earth systems. Students engage the challeneges of sustainability through course work and community problem solving in sustainable thinking, planning, policy, and desgin. Undergraduate students gain essential life skills, a foundation in complex environmental and human systems, and critical problem solving skills.

Student Learning Outcomes

Environmental Sustainability students can describe the interactions and feedbacks of Earth systems, have knowledge of environmental policy and urban planning, and are engaged in sustainability issues at many scales.

Environmental Sustainability students will be actively involved with diverse communities throughout their course work, and assess sustainability challenges from multiple cultural perspectives and through world experiences.

Environmental Sustainability students will demonstrate this learning through the application of advanced sustainable  knowledge, quantitative, and analytical skills in their application to new settings and complex problems.
               
Environmental Sustainability students will have the ability to characterize human-environmental interactions analytically and communicate their findings effectively.

Environmental Sustainability Minor - requirements
 

 

Required: ENV-SCI 496 Environmental Sustainability Internship (3)

 

Earth Systems and Resources , ONE of the following:

ENV-SCI 406 Global Environmental Change

ENV-SCI 449, Global Water Sustainability

GEOG 319, Descriptive and Synoptic Meteorology

GEOG 360, Principles of Biogeography

GEOG 430/GEOLOGY 430, Energy Resources

 

Sustainable Thinking , ONE of the following:

ENV-SCI 332CZ Environmental Sustainability

HISTORY 364R Nature & Culture: American Environmental History

PHILOS 370 Environmental Ethics

POL-SCI 380 Environmental Justice

 

Sustainable Planning and Policy , ONE of the following:

GEOG 333 Geographic Elements of Urban Planning

PUB-ADM 497 Urban Environmental Policy

UPD 340 Neighborhood And Community Development

UPD 430 Planning for Historic Preservation

 

Sustainable Design , ONE of the following:

CIV-ENGR 401C, Green Building and Sustainable Infrastructure

ENV-DSN 413, Environmental Systems in Architecture I

GEOG 335/GEOLOGY 335, Intro to Waste Management

PUB-ADM 497, Managing for Sustainability in an Urban Environment

UPD 432, Urban Environmental Planning and Design

 

Analytical Tools , ONE of the following:

ECON 420, Environment, Resources, and Economic Growth

GEOG 401, Advanced Geographic Information Science

GEOG 450, GIS Fundamentals for Research Applications

GEOG 444/GEOLOGY 444, Spatial Data Analysis

UPD 420, Transportation Planning

 

Total minimum number hours required (18)

Courses which do not apply as credit in the Minor program are:

GEOG 417/GEOLOGY 417 - Special Topics GEOG 489/GEOLOGY 489 - Tutoring

GEOG 398/GEOLOGY 398 - Field Trip GEOG 499WI/GEOLOGY 499WI -Senior Seminar

 

REQUIREMENTS:

Minimum of 18 hours, Minimum of 9 hours from UMKC (not transferred)

Minimum of 9 Junior/Senior (300/400) level courses, Total hours determined by department. Academic Minors are optional. The minor will not appear on the Commencement Program or diploma but will be noted on the transcript.