Drone shot of a Carleton wind turbine on a foggy morning

Environmental Studies looks at environmental issues through multiple lenses: scientific, economic, ethical, social, political, historical, and aesthetic. We emphasize critical thinking and laboratory and field research. We encourage participation in internships and off-campus studies.

Drone shot of a Carleton wind turbine on a foggy morning

About Environmental Studies

The central mission of Carleton’s Environmental Studies Program is to educate the next generation of environmental scholars and professionals in the fundamental scientific, ecological, social, ethical, political, and economic forces that govern environmental issues and the long-term quality and viability of society. The complexities of environmental problems dictate that study of the environment be based in multiple disciplines to provide students with skill sets and knowledge bases in the following areas:

  • Scientific principles as applied to the environment
  • The political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of environmental problems
  • The historical and ethical context for environmental problems and policy
  • Literary and artistic explorations of the environment

Students who major in Environmental Studies can gain a broad knowledge base in the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities, which is intended to help them understand the complex environmental issues faced by societies around the world.

The major is designed to help students make connections across these key knowledge bases, while also allowing students to focus their studies within specific interdisciplinary content areas supported by the curriculum. Currently those focus areas include:

  • Conservation and Development
  • Food and Agriculture
  • Energy and Climate
  • Environmental Justice
  • Landscapes and Perception
  • Water Resources

The Environmental Studies major prepares students for meaningful involvement in a wide array of environmental and governmental organizations, as well as for graduate study in many environmental fields, law, public policy, and other areas of inquiry.

Requirements for the Environmental Studies Major

In most cases, majors must complete 78 credits in the course categories listed below, which includes nine credits devoted to a group-based comprehensive exercise. This comprehensive exercise is described in detail on the Environmental Studies website. In exceptional circumstances, majors may do an individual comprehensive exercise for six credits, in which case they must complete 75 credits for the major.

I. Introductory Courses (12 credits):

Introductory Lab Science Course (6 credits): Pick any one of the following:

  • BIOL 126: Energy Flow in Biological Systems and Lab
  • CHEM 128: Principles of Environmental Chemistry and Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • GEOL 110: Introduction to Geology & Lab
  • GEOL 120: Introduction to Environmental Geology & Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • GEOL 125: Introduction to Field Geology & Lab
  • GEOL 130: Geology of National Parks & Lab
  • GEOL 135: Introduction to Climate Science & Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • PHYS 131: Introduction to Physics: Newtonian Mechanics and Lab
  • PHYS 152: Introduction to Physics: Environmental Physics and Lab

and one of its prerequisites (Physics 131, 143, 144 or 145)

Introductory Economics (6 credits)

  • ECON 111 Principles of Microeconomics. This requirement may be waived with an Economics AP score of 5 or Economics IB score of 6 or 7.

II. Quantitative Methods (12 credits):

  • Take ENTS 120 Introduction to Geospatial Analysis

and one of the following:

  • STAT 120 Introduction to Statistics or
  • STAT 230 Applied Regression Analysis or
  • MATH 240 Probability or
  • STAT 250 Introduction to Statistical Inference (6 credits).
  • This requirement may be waived with a MATH Stats AP Score of 4 or 5, and with the completion of a higher level STAT course.

III. Research Design and Methods (3 credits)

IV. Core Courses (18 credits): Take all of the following:

  • BIOL 210: Global Change Biology
  • ECON 271: Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment
  • HIST 205: American Environmental History

V. Electives (24 credits):

Twelve credits should consist of Society, Culture, Policy electives and twelve credits should consist of Environmental Science electives. Any one of these elective courses may be used to satisfy the 300-level topical seminar requirement in section VI, below.

In addition, students will work with their adviser to develop an interdisciplinary focus within environmental studies, such as food and agriculture, conservation and development, energy and climate, landscapes and perception, environmental justice, or water resources. This focus will be exhibited and explained in an e-portfolio (the “ENTS Profile”), to be completed by the end of Fall term senior year. Electives should be chosen to reflect this focus.

Society, Culture and Policy: Take 12 credits from the following list:

  • ARTH 267: Gardens in China and Japan · not offered in 2024-25
  • ARTS 113: Field Drawing
  • ARTS 212: Studio Art Seminar in the South Pacific: Mixed-Media Drawing
  • ARTS 275: Studio Art Seminar in the South Pacific: The Physical and Cultural Environment
  • ECON 240: Microeconomics of Development
  • ECON 268: Economics of Cost Benefit Analysis · not offered in 2024-25
  • ECON 269: Economics of Climate Change
  • ECON 273: Water and Western Economic Development · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 236: American Nature Writing · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 247: The American West · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 248: Visions of California · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENGL 288: California Program: The Literature of California · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 210: Environmental Justice · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 215: Environmental Ethics · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 220: Sovereignty and Sustainability
  • ENTS 244: Biodiversity Conservation and Development · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 248: Environmental Memoir · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 249: Troubled Waters · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 250: Food, Forests & Resilience · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 251: Field Study in Sustainability in Oaxaca · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 275: The Arts and Environmental Justice · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 307: Wilderness Field Studies: Grand Canyon · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 310: Topics in Environmental Law and Policy · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 318: Trees, Forests, and Climate Justice · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 306: American Wilderness · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 308: American Cities and Nature
  • LTAM 220: Eating the Americas: 5,000 Years of Food
  • POSC 268: Global Environmental Politics and Policy · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 274: Covid-19 and Globalization · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 333: Global Social Changes and Sustainability
  • POSC 335: Navigating Environmental Complexity–Challenges to Democratic Governance and Political Communication · not offered in 2024-25
  • POSC 379: Political Economy and Ecology of S.E. Asia: Diversity of Social Ecological Systems in Southeast Asia
  • RELG 239: Religion & American Landscape · not offered in 2024-25
  • RELG 243: Native American Religious Freedom · not offered in 2024-25
  • RELG 257: Asian Religions and Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • SOAN 203: Anthropology of Good Intentions
  • SOAN 233: Anthropology of Food · not offered in 2024-25
  • SOAN 323: Mother Earth: Women, Development and the Environment
  • SOAN 333: Environmental Anthropology · not offered in 2024-25

Environmental Science: Take 12 credits from the following list:

  • BIOL 215: Agroecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 224: Landscape Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 225: Landscape Ecology Laboratory · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 238: Entomology · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 262: Ecological Physiology
  • BIOL 321: Ecosystem Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 350: Evolution
  • BIOL 352: Population Ecology
  • BIOL 363: Seminar: Ecomechanics
  • BIOL 374: Seminar: Grassland Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 225: Carbon and Climate · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 254: Topics in Landscape Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 288: Abrupt Climate Change · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 289: Climate Change and Human Health
  • GEOL 210: Geomorphology and Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • GEOL 260: Coastal Marine Ecology & Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • GEOL 340: Hydrogeology: Groundwater & Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • GEOL 358: Soils and Lab
  • GEOL 370: Geochemistry of Natural Waters & Lab

VI. Topical Seminar (6 credits):

All students must take one 300-level seminar that includes an individual research paper. This course may also count as an elective. Courses that fulfill this requirement are:

  • BIOL 321: Ecosystem Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 355: Seminar: The Plant-Animal Interface · not offered in 2024-25
  • BIOL 363: Seminar: Ecomechanics
  • BIOL 374: Seminar: Grassland Ecology · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 307: Wilderness Field Studies: Grand Canyon · not offered in 2024-25
  • ENTS 310: Topics in Environmental Law and Policy · not offered in 2024-25
  • GEOL 340: Hydrogeology: Groundwater & Lab · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 306: American Wilderness · not offered in 2024-25
  • HIST 308: American Cities and Nature
  • POSC 333: Global Social Changes and Sustainability
  • POSC 335: Navigating Environmental Complexity–Challenges to Democratic Governance and Political Communication · not offered in 2024-25
  • SOAN 313: Woke Nature: Towards an Anthropology of Non-Human Beings
  • SOAN 323: Mother Earth: Women, Development and the Environment

VII. Senior Seminar/Comprehensive Exercise (9 credits): Most students will take a 3-credit senior seminar, which is normally offered fall term, and then pursue a 6-credit group-based comprehensive exercise the following term. In exceptional circumstances, students may pursue an individual comprehensive exercise.

Environmental Studies Courses

  • ENTS 110 Environment and Society

    This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to a number of the pressing environmental changes currently facing human societies around the world. We will seek to understand and integrate the social, economic, scientific and political dimensions of these challenges. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the complexity of environmental issues and the interdisciplinary nature of the search for appropriate solutions. Topics will include global warming, population pressures, energy use, industrial waste and pollution, biological diversity, and sustainable agriculture.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 120 Introduction to Geospatial Analysis & Lab

    Spatial data analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, global positioning, and related technologies are increasingly important for understanding and analyzing a wide range of biophysical, social, and economic phenomena. This course serves as an overview and introduction to the concepts, algorithms, issues, and methods in describing, analyzing, and modeling geospatial data over a range of application areas.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 210 Environmental Justice

    The environmental justice movement seeks greater participation by marginalized communities in environmental policy, and equity in the distribution of environmental harms and benefits. This course will examine the meaning of “environmental justice,” the history of the movement, the empirical foundation for the movement’s claims, and specific policy questions. Our focus is the United States, but students will have the opportunity to research environmental justice in other countries.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 212 Global Food Systems

    The course offers a survey of the world’s food systems–and its critics–from the initial domestication of plants and animals to our day. We will begin by examining the critical theoretical and foundational issues on the subject, and then turn to a series of case studies that illuminate major themes around the world. Topics will include land and animal husbandry, the problem of food security, food politics, the Green Revolution, biotechnology, and the implications of global climate change. Throughout the course, students will assess and seek to integrate differing disciplinary and methodological approaches. The class will include field experiences.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 215 Environmental Ethics

    This course is an introduction to the central ethical debates in environmental policy and practice, as well as some of the major traditions of environmental thought. It investigates such questions as whether we can have moral duties towards animals, ecosystems, or future generations; what is the ethical basis for wilderness preservation; and what is the relationship between environmentalism and social justice.Β The Academic Civic Engagement aspect of the course for Spring 2024 will involve beaver monitoring in the Arb and participation in planning the BeaverFest campus and community event in May.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 220 Sovereignty and Sustainability

    This course explores the legal, cultural, and environmental foundations of Tribal and Indigenous environmental stewardship and natural resource management. Students will examine the historical significance of treaties, Tribal sovereignty, and federal trust responsibility, as well as key laws that have shaped Tribal resource use. The evolution of Tribal co-management with federal and state agencies will be analyzed through case studies, highlighting challenges and successful partnerships. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and Indigenous worldviews on land stewardship will complement critical discussions on climate change, environmental justice, and the ongoing balance between economic development and ecological sustainability in Tribal resource use.Β 

  • ENTS 225 Carbon and Climate

    This course will focus on the interconnections between the Earth’s carbon cycle and climate system. Particular interest will be given to how Earth system processes involved in the carbon cycle operate on geologic timescales and how these systems are responding to anthropogenic emissions. Required weekly laboratories will explore carbon cycle processes in local environments and will include outdoor field work, lab analyses, and computer modeling.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 232 Research Methods in Environmental Studies

    This course covers various methodologies that are used to prosecute interdisciplinary academic research relating to the environment. Among the topics covered are: identification of a research question, methods of analysis, hypothesis testing, and effective rhetorical methods, both oral and written.

  • ENTS 244 Biodiversity Conservation and Development

    How can the need for intensive human social and economic development be reconciled with the conservation of biodiversity? This course explores the wide range of actions that people take at a local, national, and international level to address this question. We will use political ecology and conservation biology as theoretical frameworks to examine the role of traditional and indigenous approaches to biodiversity conservation as well as contemporary debates about integrated conservation development across a spectrum of cultures in North America, Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 248 Environmental Memoir

    Through close readings of contemporary and classic environmental memoirs, this course explores the connections between nature and identity; race, belonging, and landscape; and memory, justice, and hope. Issues of environmental justice and injustice will serve as a key interpretive lens for approaching the texts. Authors include Robin Wall Kimmerer, Aldo Leopold, Terry Tempest Williams, and J. Drew Lanham.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 249 Troubled Waters

    This course considers the contrast between the ways various religions conceive of water as sacred, and the fact that today’s intersecting environmental crises mean that drought, flooding, sea level rise, and lack of access to clean water and safe sanitation have made the human relationship with water more fraught and complex than ever before. We will look at specific situations of environmental injustice (including Flint, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; and the protests at Standing Rock) as well as reading more theoretical and theological takes on water, water justice, and water activism.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 250 Food, Forests & Resilience

    The course will explore how the idea of sustainability is complicated when evaluated through a socio-ecological framework that combines anthropology and ecology. To highlight this complexity, the course is designed to provide a comparative framework to understand and analyze sustainable socio-ecological propositions in Minnesota and Oaxaca. Key conceptual areas explored include: coupled human-natural systems, resilience (ecological and cultural), self-determination, and social justice across stakeholders. The course includes a series of fieldtrips to nearby projects of interest. This course is part of the OCS winter break Oaxaca program, involving two linked courses in fall and winter terms. This class is the first class in the sequence.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 251 Field Study in Sustainability in Oaxaca

    A field-based investigation of socio-ecological systems in Oaxaca, Mexico that will allow students to draw comparisons with similar systems in Minnesota. During winter break, we will visit the city of Oaxaca and neighboring villages to document and research systems of agriculture, sustainable forestry, and ecotourism, emphasizing the integration of methodologies in anthropology and ecology. Following the winter break trip, students will complete and present their research projects. This course is the second part of a two term sequence beginning with Environmental StudiesΒ 250.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 254 Topics in Landscape Ecology

    Landscape ecology is an interdisciplinary field that combines the spatial approach of the geographer with the functional approach of the ecologist to understand the ways in which landscape composition and structure affects ecological processes, species abundance, and distribution. Topics include collecting and referencing spatial data at broad scales, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), landscape metrics, simulating change in landscape pattern, landscape connectivity and meta-population dynamics, and reserve design.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 255 Ecology & Anthropology Tanzania Program: Field Methods in Ecology and Anthropology

    This course enables students with interests in both Ecology and Anthropology to conduct studies in partnership with Tanzanian host communities. The challenges facing cultural groups and socio-ecological systems in northern Tanzania are inherently multi-disciplinary, and students must be able to bridge disciplines. This Field Methods course provides students with a common set of skills from both the ecological and anthropological disciplines to be applied in their Independent Study projects. Topics covered in the course include: introduction to research ethics; conducting a literature review; design and implementation of data collection protocols and survey questionnaires; summary, analysis and presentation of qualitative and quantitative data.

  • ENTS 275 The Arts and Environmental Justice

    How are artists today engaging with climate change, pollution, and other aspects of the planet’s environmental crisis? And are their creative works making any difference? In The Great Derangement, novelist and social anthropologist Amitav Ghosh argues that today’s literary fiction has failed to engage climate change in a meaningful and transformative way: we will read several “climate novels” to test his claim. We will also look at visual arts and music, including work by Maya Lin, Patricia Johanson, and collaborative artist/science/community projects such as those led by CALL, City as Living Laboratory.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 288 Abrupt Climate Change

    Abrupt climate change is very fast change related to “tipping points” and threshold crossings. Such change is evident in historical climate records going back millions of years. Includes interpretation of historical paleoclimate data and proxy measurement methods, evolving theories for abrupt change, the role of complex earth systems processes, and trends in global climate change today. Link to human concerns will be made by exploring several case studies on past human civilizations affected by abrupt climate change. Includes a final project on the emerging science of abrupt climate change.

    Not offered in 2024-25

    • 6
    • No Exploration QRE, Quantitative Reasoning
    • Student has completed any of the following course(s): BIOL 125 – Genes, Evolution and Development & Lab or BIOL 126 – Energy Flow in Biological Systems & Lab or CHEM 123 – Principles of Chemistry I & Lab or CHEM 124 – Principles of Chemistry I with Problem Solving & Lab or CHEM 128 – Principles of Environmental Chemistry & Lab or one 100 Level Geology course or 6 credits of Physics from courses 131-165 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 or better on the Biology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Biology IB exam.

    • ENTS Environmenal Science PPOL Envir Pol & Sustainablty CL: 200 level
  • ENTS 289 Climate Change and Human Health

    This course will survey the relationship between climate change and human health. The course will begin by exploring the science of the Earth’s climate before turning to an exploration of topics that illuminate the intimate relationship between climate change and human health. These include short-lived climate forcers and the climate and health impact of mitigation measures, extreme heat/drought, mosquito-borne diseases, indoor air pollution/biomass combustion/cookstoves, and biodiversity conservation.

    • Fall 2024
    • 6
    • QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
    • Student has completed any of the following course(s): BIOL 125 – Genes, Evolution and Development & Lab or BIOL 126 – Energy Flow in Biological Systems & Lab or CHEM 123 – Principles of Chemistry I & Lab or CHEM 124 – Principles of Chemistry I with Problem Solving & Lab or CHEM 128 – Principles of Environmental Chemistry & Lab or one 100 Level Geology course or 6 credits of Physics from courses 131-165 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 or better on the Biology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Biology IB exam.

    • ENTS Environmenal Science PPOL Envir Pol & Sustainablty CL: 200 level
    • Deborah Gross 🏫 πŸ‘€
  • ENTS 307 Wilderness Field Studies: Grand Canyon

    This course is the second half of a two-course sequence focused on the study of wilderness in American society and culture. The course will begin with an Off-Campus Studies program at Grand Canyon National Park, where we will learn about the natural and human history of the Grand Canyon region, examine contemporary issues facing the park, meet with officials from the National Park Service and other local experts, conduct research, and experience the park through hiking and camping. The course will culminate in spring term with the completion and presentation of a major research project.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 310 Topics in Environmental Law and Policy

    This seminar will examine topical issues in domestic and international environmental law and policy. We will aim to understand how environmental laws work to achieve policy objectives, with attention also to debates about the role of markets and community-based environmental management. The specific topics may change from year to year, but may include approaches to sustainable development, sustainable agriculture, protection of endangered species, and conservation and management of water resources. This course has no prerequisites and is suitable for students of environmental studies, political science, international relations and political economy.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 318 Trees, Forests, and Climate Justice

    Will planting one trillion trees save us from climate change? Will deforestation and wildfires doom us? This course will examine the ways that contemporary worries, hopes, and dreams about forests and the ways their fate is entangled with that of humanity are rooted not only in science and practical policy choices, but in the folklore, sacred stories, and great literature that have long shaped our engagement with “the deep dark woods.” The course is constructed as a multi-disciplinary approach to forests in the Anthropocene; each student will pursue an original, interdisciplinary research project leading to a ca. 25-page research paper.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • ENTS 355 Ecology & Anthropology Tanzania Program: Ecology and Conservation of Savanna Ecosystems in Northern Tanzania

    This course focuses on the foundational principles necessary to understand the ecology and conservation of savanna ecosystems in northern Tanzania, and the important roles that people and protected areas play within them. The course is based on the premise that a thorough understanding of Tanzania’s ecosystems and the challenges facing them cannot be achieved without understanding the human and political contexts in which they exist. The course incorporates primary literature, frequent guest lecturers, stakeholder interactions and student-facilitated discussions. The experiential, site-based approach allows students to gain insight into the practical application of ecological concepts in monitoring and maintaining savanna ecosystems.

  • ENTS 392 Ecology & Anthropology Tanzania Program: Independent Research

    Students spend three weeks of the program working on a field research project with a small team of other students. The research projects are designed to be carried out in collaboration with local communities, NGOs or regional research organizations. The multi-disciplinary nature of the projects encourages students to identify roles on the team which align with their academic interests and abilities. Projects may be carried out over a number of years, giving each year’s students the opportunity to build on the research carried out in the previous year. Students present their research at the end of the ISP.

  • ENTS 395 Senior Seminar

    This seminar will focus on preparing Environmental Studies majors to undertake the senior comprehensive exercise. The seminar will be organized around a topic to-be-determined and will involve intensive discussion and the preparation of a detailed research proposal for the comps experience. The course is required for all Environmental Studies majors choosing the group comps option. Prerequisite: Completion of all other ENTS core courses except comps.

  • ENTS 400 Integrative Exercise

    In this course, ENTS majors complete a group-based comprehensive exercise. Each group is expected to research and execute a group project on the topic chosen by the group, under the guidance of an ENTS faculty member. Toward the end of winter term, all groups present their research at a symposium sponsored by ENTS.

    • Winter 2025
    • S/NC
    • 6
    • Student has completed the following course: ENTS 395 – Senior Seminar with grade of C- or better

    • Mark Kanazawa 🏫 πŸ‘€