Earth and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Major
Earth and Environmental Sciences is 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.
What You'll Learn
You'll build a deep understanding of Earth's materials and the physical, chemical, and biological processes that have shaped our planet across its history — from climate and water systems to landscapes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and prehistoric life. You'll also have access to hands-on lab, computer, and field equipment. By graduation, you'll be equipped to tackle pressing environmental and geoscience challenges — ready for graduate study or a career in industry, environmental consulting, government research, energy, education, or law.
Career Outlook
Earth and Environmental Sciences graduates leave prepared for graduate or professional programs or direct entry into the workforce, with paths into industry, technology, consulting, nonprofits, government, education, and law. The major's field trips, research opportunities, and study-abroad coursework give students real-world experience that translates directly into these career paths, while its multidisciplinary science foundation keeps options open across a wide range of industries.
Meet Our Faculty
EENS faculty are research-oriented and known throughout the world, and deeply committed to educating students — meaning majors learn directly from scientists actively working at the frontiers of the field. Their expertise spans geochemical, geophysical, geological, atmospheric, geochronological, biogeochemical, GIS, and oceanographic disciplines, giving students exposure to a genuinely multi-disciplinary approach to studying the Earth.
Curriculum Requirements
The Earth and Environmental Sciences major offers a curriculum that emphasizes active and collaborative learning and provides ample opportunities for research, field trips, and study abroad coursework around the world. Field seminar courses include the annual Grand Canyon Colloquium and raft trip, and our course and fieldtrip to Death Valley National Park.
The major builds from a foundational introductory course into core coursework covering Earth's surface processes, plate dynamics, habitability, and climate and extinction, each paired with a lab, then rounds out with six electives (three at the 3000-level or above) plus supporting coursework in math, chemistry, physics, and biology. The major culminates in a senior experiential learning requirement — a field-based course, an internship, or an honors thesis — giving students hands-on, real-world application of what they've learned.
Students pursuing this bachelor’s degree must earn a minimum of 30 credit hours in the Newcomb-Tulane College core curriculum, 120 credit hours in their degree and a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.000.
Research
Research in Earth and Environmental Sciences tackles some of the planet's most pressing questions, from the cycling of water from land to oceans and human interactions and hazards, to magmatism and faulting at plate boundaries, and ice sheet retreat and sea level rise. This work directly informs water, mineral, and energy resource evaluation and management, natural hazard mitigation, air and water quality, coastal restoration, and site remediation and engineering — giving students the chance to contribute to research with tangible, real-world stakes.
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FAQs
Earth and Environmental Science is the interdisciplinary study of how the Earth formed and continues to evolve — using chemistry, biology, and physics to understand the workings of Earth and planetary systems, from climate and water to earthquakes, volcanoes, and the deep history of life on the planet. It's a field grounded in understanding how natural processes shape the world, and increasingly, how human activity is reshaping it in turn.
If you are planning to declare a major (or minor) in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, please fill out this form and return it to the department office (101 Blessey Hall), or email ees@tulane.edu. We will match you with a faculty advisor based on your responses.
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Tulane University
101 Blessey Hall
New Orleans, LA 70118