The Climate Science Minor provides the introduction to climate science needed to pursue climate-science-facing careers and make informed decisions as citizens on a changing planet.
Climate science is math, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science, applied together to understand how Earth's climate works, how it has changed in the past, and how it may change in the future. Whether a student is interested in policy making, sustainability, natural hazards, city planning, pollution, geoengineering, natural resources, energy, or conservation, a broad and accurate understanding of climate science is required.
Prerequisites
- There are no prerequisites for the minor.
Program of Study
- The Climate Science Minor requires 5 classes, including 2-4 core courses and 1-3 capstone electives from the list below.
- Students can substitute climate-related advanced capstone electives for the capstone courses with permission from the Director of Minors (DoM) or Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS).
- At most one of the capstone electives can be double-counted with courses they take for their major or other minor.
- Independent work is not required for the minor.
Core Courses (choose 2-4)
GEO 102 - Climate: Past, Present and Future
GEO 103 - Natural Disasters
GEO 202 - Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
GEO 203 - The Habitable Planet
Capstone Electives (choose 1-3)
GEO 360 - Topics in Environmental Justice in the Geosciences
GEO 362 - Earth History
GEO 366 - Climate change: Impacts, Adaptation, Policy
GEO 367 - Modeling the Earth System: Assessing Climate Mitigation Strategies
GEO 368 - Climate and Weather: Order in the Chaos
Advanced Substitutes for Capstone Electives (choose 0-3)
GEO 361 - Earth's Atmosphere
GEO 363 - Environmental Geochemistry: Chemistry of the Natural Sciences
GEO 369 - Environmental Materials Chemistry
GEO 370 - Sedimentology
GEO 402 - Methods of Chemical and Isotopic Analysis in Environment
GEO 416 - Microbial Life
GEO 417 - Environmental Microbiology
GEO 425 - Introduction to Ocean Physics for Climate
GEO 428 - Biological Oceanography
GEO 435 - Ocean Biogeochemical Cycles
GEO 470 - Environmental Chemistry of Soils
Admission to the Program
- Students register by submitting the Geosciences Climate Science Minor form linked above. Your information will be forwarded to Sheryl Robas, GEO Administrative Coordinator.
- Students interested in the minor are encouraged to meet with Professor Laure Resplandy, Director of the Minor (DoM).