Major Requirements

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Wesleyan is designed to provide a solid foundation in the earth sciences as well as supporting coursework in chemistry, biology, and physics. In addition to mastering concepts, students will receive hands-on skills to include field methods, laboratory techniques, GIS (geographic information systems) and research.

Earth and Environmental Sciences (B.A.)

The B.A. program is designed to provide a broad background in the fundamentals of earth science for students who intend to have careers in secondary education, business, or law, or a double major.

Course Number And Title	Sem. Hrs.
EES 131: Physical Geology with Laboratory	4
EES 133: Environmental Geology with Laboratory	4
BIO 130: Principles of Biology I: Ecology and Evolution	4
CHEM 120: Introductory Chemistry	4
One of the following: CHEM 210: Analytical Chemistry EES/CHEM 270: Environmental Chemistry CHEM 200: Inorganic Chemistry CHEM 221: Organic Chemistry I	4
One of the following: EES 200: Oceanography EES 210: Meteorology	4
EES/CHEM 450: Biogeochemistry	4
Sixteen Credits from the following: EES 250: Field Experiences in Earth and Environmental Sciences (2 or 4) EES 300: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems EES 320: Energy and the Environment EES 330: Advanced Topics in Geology EES 340: Climatology EES 393: Scanning Electron Microscopy (2) EES 394: Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (2) EES 410: Physical Hydrology EES 470: Internship in the Natural Sciences EES 489: Research in the Natural Sciences	16
One of the following: BIO 316: General Ecology BIO 319: Field Studies in Coastal Environments BIO/EES 333: Conservation Biology BIO 340: Tropical Marine Ecology BIO 355: Marine Ecology BIO/EES 375: Topics in Tropical Biology	4
Total Hours Required	48

Earth and Environmental Sciences (B.S.)

The B.S. program is intended for students who plan to pursue a graduate degree in earth or environmental sciences and has additional mathematics requirements.

Course Number And Title	Sem. Hrs.
EES 131: Physical Geology with Laboratory	4
EES 133: Environmental Geology with Laboratory	4
BIO 130: Principles of Biology I: Ecology and Evolution	4
CHEM 120: Introductory Chemistry	4
One of the following: CHEM 210: Analytical Chemistry EES/CHEM 270: Environmental Chemistry CHEM 200: Inorganic Chemistry CHEM 221: Organic Chemistry I	4
One of the following: EES 200: Oceanography EES 210: Meteorology	4
EES 300: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems	4
EES 330: Advanced Topics in Geology	4
Three of the following: EES 320: Energy and the Environment EES 330: Advanced Topics in Geology EES 340: Climatology EES 410: Physical Hydrology EES 489: Research in the Natural Sciences	12
One of the following: BIO 316: General Ecology BIO 319: Field Studies in Coastal Environments BIO 355: Marine Ecology	4
EES/CHEM 450: Biogeochemistry	4
Four Additional Credits from the following: EES 250: Field Experiences in Earth and Environmental Sciences (2 or 4) EES elective at 300/400 level BIO 316: General Ecology BIO 319: Field Studies in Coastal Environments BIO 320: Ornithology BIO/EES 333: Conservation Biology BIO 340: Tropical Marine Ecology BIO 355: Marine Ecology BIO/EES 375: Topics in Tropical Biology BIO 377: Entomology and Arachnology BIO 482: Microbiology ENVS 283: Seminar in Alaska ENVS 326: Environmental Policy Analysis ENVS 420: Topics in Sustainability	4
Two of the following: PHYS 221: University Physics I MATH 210: Introductory Statistics MATH 172: Calculus II MATH 274: Ordinary Differential Equations MATH 310: Statistical Models	8
Total Hours Required	64

Minor Requirements

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Course Number And Title	Sem. Hrs.
One of the following: EES 131: Physical Geology with Laboratory EES 133: Environmental Geology with Laboratory	4
One of the following: EES 200: Oceanography EES 210: Meteorology	4
EES 270: Environmental Chemistry AND/OR Any 300/400-level courses	12
Total Hours Required	20

Marine Science

Course Number And Title	Sem. Hrs.
EES 200: Oceanography	4
BIO 355: Marine Ecology	4
Select three courses from the following: BIO 319: Field Studies in Coastal Environments BIO 340: Tropical Marine Ecology BIO 354: Marine Invertebrate Evolution BIO 373: Invertebrate Zoology BIO/EES 489: Research in the Natural Sciences* EES 300: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems EES 340: Climatology EES 450: Biogeochemistry	12
Total Hours Required	20

*Course requires approval from the department coordinator of either Biology or Earth and Environmental Sciences to ensure marine science related content.