University of Maryland, College Park
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The Environmental Science and Technology (ENST) major prepares students for graduate study and careers focusing on understanding the natural and built environments and resolving environmental problems and concerns for the benefit of humans and ecosystems. Specifically, the program encompasses impacts of human society on the natural environment, the effects of environmental conditions on humans and ecosystems, science-based management of ecosystems, watershed and soil-related processes related to environmental quality, and designing solutions to sustainably improve environmental quality of air, water, soil, and biological communities. The ENST major is a science- and math-based curriculum leading to a B.S. degree in Environmental Science and Technology with concentrations in Ecological Technology Design, Ecosystem Health, Soil and Watershed Science, or Natural Resources Management. These concentrations share a foundation in science and mathematics and offer specialization through restricted and free electives. The group of courses required for the concentrations are designed to provide students with a fundamental understanding of environmental systems and issues and the multidisciplinary quantitative design and analytical tools necessary to solve complex environmental problems.

The curriculum of Environmental Science and Policy comprises a core of courses at the introductory level in environmental science, environmental policy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, geography, economics, calculus, statistics, and government and politics. This is followed by in-depth and focused training in one of eleven areas of concentration in biological resources, earth systems, or the human dimensions of the field. The educational philosophy of the program is to train students broadly using a multi-disciplinary approach at the introductory level so that they are exposed to the myriad ways there are to learn about environmental systems and to address human-environment issues. This introductory approach precedes the concentration in which the students are prepared for post-graduate study or work in a discipline-based field. The combination of the lower-level core courses and upper-level depth in a concentration prepares graduates to work and study independently or as members of teams in which they will be asked to be experts in one area, while understanding and using effectively other natural and social science knowledge and investigative approaches.

The world is changing at unprecedented rates, primarily as a result of human actions. Opportunities for increased well-being of humans and the environment abound. On the other hand, competition for resources such as fresh water and oil is reaching crisis proportions.

The future of humanity depends on skillful management of our environment by planning the social, urban, suburban and rural settings where we work, live and play. Expert care of the environment is needed to maintain supplies of food, natural products, water, and the other resources on which life depends. New insights into the social, economic and urban environment can help control poverty and crime.

Geographical Sciences concerns the relations between people and the natural world, the effects of ecosystems on human beings and vice versa, the choices people make, the effects of past actions on people today, and the effects of today's choices on future generations.

Having completed the degree program, students should have acquired the following knowledge and skills:
1) Possess an understanding of the nature of the physical systems and processes of the Earth's environment and their interactions.
2) Understand the nature of the geographical approach and its value in understanding human-environment relationships.
3) Know the methods and techniques of data collection, display and analysis used in the study of environmental systems.

A list of programs with links to their websites is available at https://sustainability.umd.edu/education-and-research/majors-minors-graduate-programs

The study of sustainability examines each generation’s commitment to protect and preserve the quality of the natural environment for the benefit of succeeding generations. The stability of natural systems and the environment, economic progress, and promoting social justice are all important sustainability goals. Promoting these goals involves choices among competing ends.

The Sustainability Studies Minor at the University of Maryland provides students the opportunity to learn how human relationships, natural resources, and diverse environments can be understood and used to address creatively and positively the global challenges that will affect future human populations and cultures. It will complement any major on campus and provide both intellectual breadth and depth in a challenging area of inquiry that is gaining a high level of interest in businesses, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Together with a major in a discipline, this minor will provide students with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for them as citizens, employees, or graduate students.

The minor is co-sponsored by the School of Public Policy and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. To learn more, visit: https://agnr.umd.edu/sustainability-studies-minor or the link to follow.

Extreme environmental events are becoming more common in this time of global environmental change and it is essential that today's students be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be leaders in understanding the upheaval that these extreme environmental events are causing. The Remote Sensing of Environmental Change minor program (RESC) is designed to build students’ understanding global environmental change in order to assess their impacts on the physical and human landscapes, and to use remote sensing as an analytical tool for identifying the impacts. Students in the minor program will receive technical training in remote sensing to examine how extreme environmental events shape human society and ecosystems from the interdisciplinary perspective afforded by the field of Geography. The minor will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to apply the latest geographic science concepts and techniques in exploring, planning for, and responding to environmental events. These skills are in great demand in fields such as public policy, sustainable development, disaster preparedness, mitigation, and adaption, in the private, nonprofit, and governmental sectors.

The minor develops an awareness and understanding of the dimensions of global poverty, its causes and consequences, and the scope of policies aimed at poverty alleviation. Students will discover how incentives, resources, and social and political institutions influence the incidence of poverty across and within countries. The Minor will explore the relationships between poverty and determinants of human welfare such as hunger, health, education and environmental quality.

A list of programs with links to their websites is available at https://sustainability.umd.edu/education-and-research/majors-minors-graduate-programs

Only undergraduate majors and minors have been included in this credit. Concentrations and certificates have not been compiled here.