By LAUREN SEARS
News Editor
After four years of planning and seeing an interest among potential students at Saint Rose, the College has added a new environmental science degree. Students can now major in Environmental Science. The College announced this right before the beginning of the 2014-15 academic year. “The Environment Science major fills a gap in the curriculum. Environmental science is now offered in many high schools and is a popular major at peer institutions,” says Dr. Jacqueline Smith. She has been at Saint Rose since 2006.
The major offers two different concentrations, geoscience and ecology. “The key to developing a major that we were happy with was deciding to offer two tracks, geoscience and ecology. Once we achieved that breakthrough in 2013, it took about a year to finalize the proposal and get approval from the College, the Board of Trustees, and finally the NYS Education Department,” said Smith.
“We’re fortunate to have a group of professors with interest and experience in environmental science, including Dr. Paul Benzing and Dr. Harvey Alexander, both ecologists, and Dr. Stephanie Maes, Dr. Eric Eslinger, and me, all geologists with background and/or research interests in water resources and environmental geology,” says Smith.
Students regardless of concentration, take courses in biology, environmental science, environmental geology, chemistry, and physics at the beginning of the major. As students progress, they will also take upper level courses in oceanography, hydrogeology, environmental technology, ecology, environmental ethics, and quantitative analysis, says Dr. Smith.
Students who choose to concentrate in geoscience will go further into the geology side of environmental science. They will take courses that will educate them on earth materials, groundwater, and surface processes. Students who concentrate in ecology will focus on the biology side of environmental science. Courses include microbiology, comparative animal physiology, an additional ecology course, and another upper-level chemistry course, says Smith.
There is a difference between majoring in Biology with an ecology concentration versus majoring in Environmental Science with an ecology concentration. “In contrast to the Biology degree with an ecology concentration, the Environmental Science degree integrates the geosciences (environmental geology and aqueous systems) with ecology and does not require organic chemistry or genetics,” says Smith.
By offering the Environmental Science major at the College, it helps enhance the sciences that already have degree/degree programs. “Environmental Science is interdisciplinary by design and by necessity. The major will offer students and faculty endless opportunities to explore the many ways in which natural systems interact. I believe that understanding those interactions is going to be one key to keeping the Earth working in a way that we recognize going forward. Our Environmental Science graduates will have the tools to take on that challenge,” says Smith.
After graduating with an Environmental Science degree, students can have many different career options. Geoscience graduates could become environmental consultants who focus on groundwater investigation and cleanup, or geotechnical jobs dealing with slope stability hazards like landslides and debris flows. “Municipalities and state government agencies hire people who understand groundwater, rivers, and coastal issues. If a graduate is interested in moving out west, water resources in general are a huge issue–California’s current drought, for example– as are earthquake and volcanic hazards, and both government entities and private companies hire people with background in those areas,” says Smith. Ecology graduates could become employed by municipalities, state agencies and federal agencies. Or they can work in consulting firms. “Ecological restoration/mitigation is a fundamental part of modern construction projects, so large construction companies will hire environmental scientists either directly or as consultants,” said Dr. Smith. Or graduates from either concentration will be ready for graduate school in Environmental Science, Geology, Biology or Secondary Education programs.
Students who are interested in majoring in Environmental Science or who want to change their major to Environmental Science can contact Dr. Jacqueline Smith (smithj@strose.edu), Dr. Stephanie Maes (maess@strose.edu), or Dr. Paul Benzing (benzingp@strose.edu) for more information, or head to the Office of Academic Advising.
