Earth and Environmental Sciences, BA

This is the first version of the 2025–26 General Catalog. Please check back regularly for changes. The final edition and the historical PDF will be published during the fall semester.

Earth and environmental sciences majors study the planet's geologic materials, water, air, and biota with an emphasis on local and global interactions between these spheres in the present and over deep time. Students examine planetary evolution, including Earth's interior and landform processes, life and ecosystems, and the complex interactions between Earth systems over time and space. The program also emphasizes human interactions with Earth’s water, air, and biota, and the present and future outcomes of those modifications. The integrated biological, chemical, physical, and geological components of the BA program offer students flexibility and exposure to the entire geoscience and environmental discipline while at the university, but with fewer supporting science and math requirements and more electives than the BS program.

The BA in earth and environmental science is intended for students who are interested in the fundamentals of geology or earth science and is most applicable as a second degree to students pursuing allied sciences, such as the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability’s environmental policy and planning or geographic and sustainability sciences majors, or an associated degree in the colleges of Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences, or another unit. 

Learning Outcomes

Graduates will: 

  • understand planetary and ecosystem processes across diverse spatial and temporal scales;
  • understand past and present interactions within the Earth-life system, including human interactions and interventions;
  • develop the ability to collect and interpret environmental field data within a focused subdiscipline of earth and environmental sciences; and
  • develop an analytical skill set to integrate the diverse array of earth sciences and related disciplines.