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 400: Scanning Electron Microscopy 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 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: |
4 |
| EES/CHEM 450: Biogeochemistry | 4 |
One of the following: |
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 130: Physical Geology without Laboratory EES 131: Physical Geology with Laboratory EES 132: Environmental Geology without 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 | 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 340: Tropical Marine Ecology |
12 |
| Total | 20 |
*Course requires approval from the department coordinator of either Biology or Earth and Environmental Sciences to ensure marine science related content.