(Note: The Tulane Earth & Environmental Sciences department launched this new unified major in Spring 2023. Both the previously offered Environmental Earth Science major and the previously offered Geology major are no longer offered to incoming students as of Fall 2023.)
Earth and Environmental Sciences are a broad interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth. This discipline includes the study of climate, water, landscapes, earthquakes, volcanoes, prehistoric life, planets, natural resources, and the impact of humans on the environment. To help solve some of the greatest challenges facing human society, students majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences will gain knowledge of Earth’s materials and the physical, chemical, and biological processes that have operated throughout Earth’s history. The curriculum also emphasizes active and collaborative learning and provides ample opportunities for research, field trips, and study abroad coursework around the world. Students graduating with a degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences will be prepared for graduate or professional programs or direct entry into the workforce. Earth and Environmental Sciences majors may go on to careers in industry, technology, consulting, nonprofits, government, education, and law.
Course requirements for the Earth and Environmental Sciences Major
One introductory course
* Can be satisfied by any introductory EENS course with lab (e.g., EENS 1110/1115, EENS 1300/1305, EENS 2220/2225, or any new 1000-level topical course with lab).
Five courses outside of the department
* Two math courses: MATH 1210 Calculus I and either MATH 1220 Calculus II or MATH 1230 Stats For Scientists.
* Three science courses: CHEM 1070 General Chemistry I with CHEM 1075, PHYS 1310 General Physics I with PHYS 1311 General Physics Laboratory (may be substituted for PHYS 1210/1211), and EBIO 1010 Diversity of Life with Laboratory.
Four core courses
1. Shaping the Earth’s surface (EENS 2090)
The region between the tops of trees to the surface of unweathered rock houses diverse ecosystems, natural resources, and where we as humans reside. This region is known as the critical zone, and processes shaping the critical zone can have profound impacts on vegetation, animals, and natural resources like soil and water. Students will learn the physics behind surface and shallow subsurface water flow in the critical zone and how the routing of water shapes the Earth’s surface from the top of mountains to the deep ocean. The role humans play in shaping the land surface and our impacts on the severity of natural disasters will also be covered.
2. Dynamic Planets (EENS 2100)
This course will explore the physical processes that operate within Earth, affecting how the geosphere interfaces with the biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere. We will examine different processes, like volcanism, and forces, like gravity, and how they effect the Earth and its inhabitants. Additionally, we'll cover topics related to alternative energy resources, earthquakes, water resources and sub-surface imaging.
3. How to Build a Habitable Planet (EENS 2110)
Within our solar system Earth is unique in that it has a chemical composition and distribution of those elements and molecules that makes it habitable towards life. This course will examine the chemical composition of and processes operating within and between Earth's systems. After this course, students will have a sound understanding of Earth's chemical systems and how the chemistry of Earth shapes and is shaped by climate and environments, solid Earth processes, and processes shaping Earth's surface across a range of spatial and temporal scales.
4. Climate and Extinction (EENS 2120)
Climate change and biodiversity loss are the two greatest threats to the planet. This course addresses the causes, consequences, and solutions to anthropogenic climate change and the current extinction crisis by exploring the relationship between climate and life over human and deep time scales. Students will learn the physics behind the climate system, how climate has changed in the past, and reasons why contemporary climate change is different from natural climate change. The course will also cover the fundamentals of ecology and evolution, major biotic events in earth’s history, and the relationship between climate change and mass extinctions.
One Senior Experiential Learning Course
* Either a field-based course, Internship, or Senior Thesis
Six electives in one of the two tracks (Environmental Science or Earth and Planetary Science). At least three electives must be at the 3000-level or above. Only two elective courses outside of EES may count towards the EENS major. No more than two GIS certificate course may count as electives towards the major in EENS.
Environmental Science Track Electives
EENS 2020 Environmental Geology
EENS 2060 Introductory Geography
EENS 2070 Weather and Climate
EENS 2080 Extreme Weather
EENS 2090 Surface Water Hydrology
EENS 2230 Oceanography
EENS 2240 Geology of Our National Parks
EENS 3050 Natural Hazards & Mitigation
EENS 3120 Soils and Soil Formation
EENS 3150 Introduction to GIS
EENS 3170 Geomorphology
EENS 3180 Making Landscapes
EENS 3270 Sedimentation and Stratigraphy
EENS 3550 Shark Paleobiology
EENS 3600 The Science of Climate Change
EENS 3650 Marine Environmental Geology
EENS 3730 Pathways to Urban Sustainability
EENS 3990 Field Geoscience
EENS 4030 Advanced GIS
EENS 4040 Coastal Marine Geology
EENS 4180 Introduction to Remote Sensing
EENS 4250 Isotopes in the Environment
EENS 4300 Groundwater Hydrology
EENS 4350 Geologic Dating Methods
EENS 4360 Environmental Geochemistry
EENS 4390 Geospatial and Numerical Methods
COLQ 4120 The Grand Canyon
ANTH 3560 Environmental Archaeology
EBIO 2040 Conservation Biology
EBIO 2600 Natural Resource Conservation
EBIO 3040 General Ecology
EBIO 3580 Urban Ecology
EVST 3310 Approaches to Environ Studies
CHEM 2500 Environmental Chemistry
CMPS1100/1500 - Foundations of Programming
CMPS 2170 – Discrete Math
COMM 3510 Environmental Comm
MATH 2210 Calculus III
MATH 2240 Intro To Applied Math
MATH 3070 Intro To Probability
MATH 3090 Linear Algebra
Earth and Planetary Science Track Electives
EENS 2240 Geology of Our National Parks
EENS 3050 Natural Hazards & Mitigation
EENS 3100 Planetary Geology
EENS 3150 Introduction to GIS
EENS 3170 Geomorphology
EENS 3180 Making Landscapes
EENS 3270 Sedimentation and Stratigraphy
EENS 3410 Structural Geology
3411Structural Geology Lab
EENS 3600 The Science of Climate Change
EENS 3990 Field Geoscience
EENS 4030 Advanced GIS
EENS 4060 Tectonic Geomorphology
EENS 4160 3D Stratigraphy
EENS 4180 Introduction to Remote Sensing
EENS 4230 Tectonics
EENS 4250 Isotopes in the Environment
EENS 4320 Subsurface Geology
EENS 4350 Geologic Dating Methods
EENS 4390 Geospatial and Numerical Methods
EENS 4440 Introduction to Geophysics
EENS 4840 Solid Earth & Planetary Geophysics
COLQ 4120 The Grand Canyon
CMPS1100/1500 - Foundations of Programming
CMPS 2170 – Discrete Math
MATH 2210 Calculus III
MATH 2240 Intro To Applied Math
MATH 3070 Intro To Probability
MATH 3090 Linear Algebra
