Environmental Policy Minor

Program Coordinator - Brad Clark (Political Science)

The Environmental Policy minor would be an excellent addition to any major at Fort Lewis College-except Environmental Studies. By completing the Environmental Policy minor, students can enhance their preparation for graduate school or a career in areas such as environmental management, public policy, environmental justice, government, law, and tribal government or law. As described for the Environmental Studies major, the Environmental Policy minor is interdisciplinary and is designed to prepare dynamic leaders who can negotiate the ecological and sociocultural aspects of complex environmental problems. Students are strongly encouraged to work closely with their advisors to ensure they design a course of study that best suits their career goals and fulfills all prerequisites and general education requirements in a timely fashion. Students interested in completing the minor should contact the Environmental Policy Minor Coordinator to learn about courses, internships, and practicum opportunities.

There are three components to the minor:

Students select 18 credits from a list of existing courses representing the diverse perspectives on environmental issues. A maximum of four credits can be applied toward the minor from an Independent Study, Internship, Innovative Month, or Practicum with the prior approval of the Coordinator.
Students must also take a statistics course and at least two lab science courses; these are listed as auxiliary requirements and may be used to meet major or general education requirements as well as the minor. In addition, two courses must be taken outside the departments of Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences, and Physics/Engineering.
Finally there is an integrative capstone course, ENVS 495, taken in the junior or senior year, in which students and faculty of varied backgrounds come together to work on joint projects related to local, regional, or national environmental concerns.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY:

A student majoring in any discipline other than Environmental Studies may complete a minor in Environmental Policy upon satisfactorily completing the following requirements:

ENVS 495 - Environmental Colloquium Credits: 4

Additional Credits

18 additional credits chosen from the list below, at least nine credits of which must be upper-division. A maximum of four credits can be applied toward the minor from an Independent Study, Internship, Innovative Month, or Practicum with the prior approval of the Environmental Policy minor Program Coordinator. Students are strongly encouraged to work closely with their advisor to ensure all prerequisites for each selected course have been taken. (NOTE: NO MORE THAN ONE COURSE CAN BE DUPLICATED BETWEEN A MAJOR AND A MINOR WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ANY AUXILIARY REQUIREMENTS IN EITHER THE MAJOR OR THE MINOR.)

AG 301 - Range Management Credits: 4
ANTH 356 - Ecological Anthropology Credits: 4
BIO 125 - Conservation Biology Credits: 3
BIO 141 - People and the Planet Credits: 3
BIO 320 - Fundamentals of Ecology Credits: 4
BIO 376 - Field Ecology Credits: 5
CHEM 123 - Chemistry for Consumers Credits: 3
OR
CHEM 323 - Chemistry for Consumers Credits: 3
ECON 335 - Environment/Resource Economics Credits: 4
ENGR 205 - Surveying I Credits: 4
GEOG 110 - World Regional Geography Credits: 4
GEOG 120 - The North American Landscape Credits: 3
GEOL 325 - Introduction to Remote Sensing Credits: 4
PHIL 252 - Environmental Ethics Credits: 4
SOC 310 - Ecology and Society Credits: 4
SOC 311 - Ecology & Society Field School Credits: 8
HIST 181 - US/SW Environmental History Credits: 3
OR
SW 181 - US/SW Environmental History Credits: 3

Other Relevent Courses

Relevant courses from a variety of disciplines may also be offered as 190, 191, 390, or 391 courses. Other relevant courses can also be found in course lists from the Environmental Studies Options. Students are strongly encouraged to talk with an Environmental Studies advisor about current offerings that could be applied toward the Environmental Policy Minor. PRIOR APPROVAL FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY MINOR PROGRAM COORDINATOR MUST BE OBTAINED IN ORDER TO HAVE THESE COURSES INCLUDED AS PART OF THE MINOR.

Auxiliary Requirements:

One course in statistics (choose from PSYC 241 , MATH 201 ,BA 253 ) - Credits: 4
Two laboratory science courses, which may be taken as part of the major or general education - Credits: 8

TOTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY - CREDITS: 34

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