Here at the dawn of the 21st century our planet faces daunting environmental challenges.  Global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, endangered species and loss of biodiversity, air and water pollution, toxic waste and resource depletion threaten irreversible damage.   Our efforts to address these issues seem only to have had a minor impact.

We have no choice. There is no easy solution.  To restore and maintain a quality environment will place increasing demands on people, industries and governments locally, nationally and internationally.  To prepare the leaders, thinkers and planners necessary to meet this challenge, the Environmental Studies Program at USC offers an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the serious environmental problems that we face in this century.

The Basics

The core requirements for the Environmental Studies major include:

       * one year of basic biology and chemistry
       * a introductory geology course
       * Introduction to Environmental Studies
       * an  ecology course
       * a statistics elective
       * an environmental Internship 
       * Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies
 

BA Concentrations
 
The Bachelor of Arts Environmental Studies program offers the opportunity to focus your coursework in  Public Policy, Business,  Geography or general  Social Sciences. Each requires additional preparation in that subject area plus a selection of upper division electives with an explicit environmental emphasis from courses in other fields.

BS Concentrations
 
The Bachelor of Science Environmental Studies program requires focused study in one of three basic sciences: Biology, Chemistry, or Earth Sciences.  However, each involves a breadth of study not usually found in a typical science major including a selection of upper division electives with an environmental emphasis from the social sciences as well as natural sciences.  In addition to the core courses there is a year of calculus and physics is required for these concentrations.
 
Minors

For those of you who love your current major, but would really like to enhance your education with an environmental theme, Environmental Studies also offers three distinctive minors:

• Environmental Studies– Social Science
• Environmental Studies– Natural Science
• Environmental Planning and Development