School of Earth, Environment and Society
The School of the Earth, Environment and Society (SEES) offers both natural and social science courses and programs, including undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science, Environmental Policy and Analysis, Geology and Geography. The School also offers graduate programs in Geology and Applied Geospatial Sciences. By bridging the natural and social sciences, SEES prepares students for a variety of careers relevant to important societal issues, including water and energy resources, climate change and sustainability. Many of our students take advantage of our extensive course options in geospatial sciences, important technologies broadly utilized in a variety of disciplines.
FEATURED
Renovated Moseley Hall Re-opens as Science Complex
Moseley Hall contains laboratory classrooms for the departments of Geology, Chemistry, Biology and Medical Lab Science.
News and Stories
Simic Milas leads nationwide program to increase interest, diversity in geoscience
Every day, thousands of satellites orbit Earth collecting hundreds of terabytes of information on atmospheric conditions, landscapes, marine environments, forests and more. The data plays a crucial role in predicting extreme weather events, monitoring things like soil erosion, water quality, land use and countless other critical environmental observations.
According to Dr. Anita Simic Milas, associate professor in the School of Earth, Environment and Society at Bowling Green State University, the problem is the amount of data collected far outpaces the number of qualified geoscientists available to analyze and process it. Milas is working to increase interest and diversity in the field through a three-year educational research program called SPLIT Geoscience. Read more...
Blasko Receives Distinguished Thesis Award
Congratulations to SEES alumnus Cole Blasko (MS in Geology '20) on being selected as recipient of the BGSU Graduate College's Distinguished Thesis Award for 2020! The Selection Committee found Cole’s thesis, “Assessing Hydrologic Impacts of the 2013 Rim Fire on the Tuolumne River Watershed in Central Valley, California”, to be an outstanding and sophisticated example of scholarly research.
Having obtained a B.S. degree in geology from the University of Akron, Cole was admitted to BGSU’s Geology graduate program in August 2018 and obtained his M.S. degree in May 2020. During his time at BGSU, Cole studied under the supervision of Dr. Ganming Liu, conducting research related to wildfires, hydrology and geospatial analysis and modeling. Wildfires have become a very hot topic recently and Cole's thesis study on a wildfire in a Central Valley watershed in California was innovative and had significant scientific and societal impacts. By integrating hydrologic modeling and remote sensing technologies, Cole's work led to a better understanding of the impact of wildfires on watershed hydrologic systems and water resources. Results from his interdisciplinary study have valuable implication for land and water resources management as well as prioritizing funds and mitigations efforts when facing the threat of forest fires under changing climate.
Otiso studying socioeconomic side of toxic algal blooms in Kenya
A complex problem cannot be fixed with a simple solution — so as Bowling Green State University researchers continue to study the issue of harmful algal blooms (HABs), they are using multiple scientific disciplines to do so.
A BGSU-led research trip to Kenya examined water quality in Lake Victoria, which, despite large climate differences from the North American Great Lakes, experiences HABs just like the western basin of Lake Erie does.
While BGSU water-quality researchers seek to establish universal rules for algal blooms, Dr. Kefa Otiso worked in tandem with colleagues from the BGSU Department of Biological Sciences, researchers at Kisii (Kenya) University, Technical University of Kenya, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) and local officials within the Lake Victoria watershed to explore the socioeconomic and public policy side of HABs. Read more...
Updated: 08/02/2022 12:45PM