12 Credit Hours certificate | Advisor: Bryan Wee
The Environmental Science Education graduate certificate is intended to leverage disciplinary scholarship in environmental science as well as education, and to capitalize on a growing demand for pedagogical content knowledge that translates into and supports, careers. The careful integration of courses from various disciplines fosters collaboration by broadening opportunities for research and teaching activities related to environmental science education. This certificate is also offered as an area of specialization in the MS Environmental Sciences degree program in GES.
Upon successful completion of the certificate, students will:
- Synthesize content with culturally relevant practices
- Identify multiple stakeholders and perspectives on environmental issues
- Utilize critical thinking skills to broaden and deepen environmental knowledge
- Improve communication of environmental topics
Curriculum
Required Credit Hours (6 Hours)
This seminar examines literature related to issues of equity and diversity in science. Topics will be framed by an understanding of equity and how that informs, research, teaching and learning.
ENVS 5650 - Environmental Education (Online, Summer) :
This course utilizes place-based education for environmental literacy as an organizing theme to support teaching and learning, and to develop research/teaching applications of environmental science content.
Select Two Elective Courses (6 Hours)
Online/Hybrid Courses
ENVS 5470 - Sustainable Urban Ag II (Hybrid, Summer) : Provides a field-based overview of current practices in local agricultural production. Emphasis will be placed on sustainable practices and their most efficient situation, Special consideration will be given to plausible solutions for food insecure communities both local and global. This course involves online and a week of intensive field experience.
ENVS 5020 - Earth Environments and Human Impacts (Online, Fall) : Basic concepts describing earth’s biomes and physical environment are presented in a systems context. Global warming assessment, from both political and scientific perspectives, is then presented. Model visualization of these concepts to consider human impacts on Earth’s biomes is discussed. Earth system viewpoint, having links of Earth’s biomes to oceans and atmosphere, completes the course discussion.
OnCampus/in-person Courses:
ANTH 5170 - Culture and the Environment:
Examines the historical origins of Western and non-Western ideas of the environment and the place of people within it. The imposition of Western ideas on non-Western groups regarding environmental policy is also examined, with special attention given to practices of conservation, development and transnational monetary policy.
BIOL 5154 - Conservation Biology:
Basic concepts and theories in population biology and genetics as they apply to issues relating to the preservation of biodiversity, such as the genetics of small populations, captive propagation, restoration ecology and the design of nature reserves
GEOG 5265 - Sustainability and Resources Mgmt:
Sustainability and sustainable development are the dominant economic, environmental and social issues of the 21st century. Follows a multi-disciplinary approach to these concepts. Case studies demonstrate their implementation in different geographical, ecological and socio-economic conditions worldwide.
CMMU 5282 - Environmental Communication:
Studies the communication processes involved in policies and practices affecting natural and human environments. Restriction: Restricted to Graduate and Graduate Non-Degree majors. Undergraduates with senior standing may enroll with permission of instructor.
GEOG 5300 Children's Geographies:
This seminar is an interdisciplinary investigation of children, childhood and environment in the context of sustainability and equity. Theoretical and methodological perspectives are applied to understand children’s interactions with/in different spaces. Cross-listed with GEOG 4300, ENVS 4300 and ENVS 5300.
GEOG 5335- Contemporary Environmental Issues:
Provides an overview of environmental challenges facing society today, focusing on how humans impact and change the environment. Opposing views and environmental policy at the local, state, national, and international levels are explored.
GEOG 5440 Science, Policy and the Environment:
Examines the social, economic and political forces shaping scientific discovery and the development and enforcement of environmental policy. Students will examine perspectives on issues such as risk, expertise, uncertainty and objectivity that influence the problem-defining, standard-setting and policy-making process.
PSCI 5420 The Politics of Nature:
Examines how economic systems, scientific discovery, institutional policies, and environmental knowledge converge to shape the environment and mediate the way societies understand, manage and respond to environmental changes in both the United States and the developing world.