BGSU Environmental Courses

Environmental Courses

Course	Name	Hours	Offered	Description
ENVS 101	Introduction to Environmental Studies	3	Fall Spring Summer	Overview of environmental principles and concepts. Students consider contemporary environmental issues as they relate to the quality of life. Topics of environmental concern are used to develop skills in evaluation, analysis and values clarification.
ENVS 201	Concepts in Environmental Studies	3	Fall	Introductory course for well-prepared students. May be taken in place of ENVS 101. Prerequisite: one year of high school environmental studies or consent of instructor. No credit for students who have completed ENVS 101.
ENVS 253	Environments in Context	3	Fall	Field-based overview of environmental principles and concepts in context of their physical, cultural, social, economic, and ecological spaces. Comparison of similar sites around the world. Emphasis on resource sharing of U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Taught in the field as a 9-week field/camping trip across the U.S.A.
ENVS 301	Environmental Problems	3	Fall Spring Summer	In-depth study of specific environmental problems. Current and historic responses are examined through research and review of course materials. Emphasizes a synthesizing, multidisciplinary team approach to problem solving.
ENVS 334	Natural Area Interpretation	3	Fall	Exploration of a variety of natural ecosystems, including floodplains, oak savanna, prairies, swamps and marshland to provide a basic understanding of their natural history, plant/animal interactions and area-appropriate restoration processes; emphasis is on skills, knowledge and current techniques for presentation of natural area attributes to the public.
ENVS 400	Environmental Planning	3	Fall	Can area wide planning for development preserve green space for wildlife and recreation and also use our natural resources sustainably? This is planning with an environmental difference. Students will learn planning basics as well as work on case studies of local area land uses.A group project that incorporates sensible space design, reuse of resources and efficeient, cost effective building practices will be an output of the in-the-field assessment.
ENVS 401	Environmental Strategies	2	Fall Spring	Investigation of the strategies used by various organizations, institutions and government agencies relating to current environmental issues. Models, games and simulation exercises are developed to illustrate different strategies which may be used to address such concerns as toxic substances, water resources, pesticides, land and energy use.
ENVS 402	Environmental Impact Statements	3	Fall Spring	History, philosophy and legal authority for environmental impact statements and assessments. Specific documents are analyzed and the development of evidential information techniques for environmental arbitration are included. Practice in writing an environmental impact statement is given using one or more current issues as a focus.
ENVS 403	Geographic Information Systems	3	Fall	Collection, manipulation, integration and automated display of spatial data from various disciplines with particular emphases on envrionmental geology, resource management and spatial analysis. Three lectures and one three-hour laboratory. Credit allowed for no more than one: ENVS 403, GEOL 403 or GEOG 424.
ENVS 412	Great Lakes Ecosystems	3	Spring	An interdisciplinary study of Great Lakes ecosystems, natural resources, environmental concerns, transboundary issues and the potential for international cooperation.
ENVS 413	Applications in Environmental Geographic Information Systems	3	Spring	Geographic Information Systems practice and theory applied to environmental problems. The course focuses on the use of ArcView software for modeling and interpreting the natural environment. Lectures are integrated into project-based exercises and group projects.
ENVS 415	Strategies and Resources for Environmental Education	3	On demand	Environmental education in the school, outdoors and non-formal settings. Identification and use of resources; methods associated with learning process; field based experiences.
ENVS 470	Readings/Research In Environmental Studies	1-3	On demand	Independent readings or research on topics of current or specialized interest in environmental studies. May include library, laboratory or field work. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. May be repeated to maximum of six hours. Letter Grade.
ENVS 489	Internship	1-3	On demand	Applied experience for students in environmental programs. Specific proposal and approval of undergraduate adviser and supervising instructor required prior to enrollment. May be repeated to a maximum of six hours. Prerequisites: junior standing and 2.5 GPA. Graded S/U.
ENVS 493	Field Experience	1-6	On demand	Study of specific environmental problems or ecosystem attributes. May be repeated only once with different topics.