School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Catherine Clark, Ph.D., Associate Dean

Professors: Clark, de Bruyn, Kafatos, Piper, Singh;

Associate Professors: El-Askary, Kim, O'Neill, Ouzounov, Wright;

Assistant Professors: Funk, Gartner, Keller, Schwartz.

Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Policy

The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers degree programs and courses that prepare students for scientific careers and graduate studies in the examination, understanding, and modeling of the earth’s interconnected systems (biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and geosphere). The school’s degree programs develop students’ knowledge, interpersonal skills, and practical expertise through a combination of a comprehensive didactic classroom education and practical experiences. The school is committed to helping students develop communication and critical thinking skills using an evidence-based empirical approach to problem-solving. The school’s faculty are teacher-scholars who engage students in scientific discovery and exploration through interdisciplinary faculty-mentored research projects addressing environmental issues on a local, regional, and global scale. Our students’ abilities to adapt skills and knowledge to new settings are grounded in knowledge of the natural world, intellectual and practical skills like creative thinking and problem-solving, and a recognition of personal and social responsibilities on a regional and global scale.

School Honors

Students graduating with a BS in biological sciences, BS in chemistry, or BS in environmental science and policy will earn school honors at graduation by meeting the following criteria. Students must have a cumulative GPA of a 3.500 or higher and must have completed independent research. Completion of independent research includes the submission of a scientific manuscript to the biological science, chemistry or environmental science and policy faculty, oral presentation to the faculty, poster presentation at the Schmid College Student Research Day, and a vote by the appropriate faculty group that the research, paper, and presentations were of sufficient quality to merit honors.

Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences

Students graduating with a BS in biological sciences, will earn school honors at graduation by meeting the school honors criteria, and in addition students must complete BIOL 494 Senior Research: Data Analysis and Presentation, with a grade of "C" or better.

No course in the major can be taken for pass/no pass credit except BIOL 384, 490, 499. Students must complete 71 credits.

biology core (12 credits)

science core (32 credits)

biology electives (24 credits)

capstone course (3 credits)

Program Learning Outcomes and Educational Effectiveness Evaluation Plans for BS Biological Sciences.

*these courses may be waived with the appropriate test scores, as noted below:

PHYS 107/107L - minimum score of 5 on IB Physics HL waives students from this class.

MATH 110/110L - minimum score of 4 on AP Calculus AB or 5 on MATH HL exam waives students from this class. Minimum score of 4 on AP Calculus BC waives students from MATH 110/110L and 111/111L.

MATH 111/111L - minimum score of 3 on AP Calculus BC exam waives students from this class. Minimum score of 4 on AP Calculus BC waives students from MATH 110/110L and 111/111L.

CHEM 140/140L - minimum score of 4 on AP Chemistry or 5 on IB Chemistry HL exam waives students from this class.

BIOL 204/204L - minimum score of 4 on AP Biology or IB Biology HL exam waives students from this class.

CPSC 230 - minimum score of 4 on AP Computer Science waives students from this class.

**CHEM 230/203L - students who are pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, pre-veterinary medicine will need to take CHEM 331/331L.

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

No course in the major can be taken for pass/no pass credit, except CHEM 384, 490, 499.

introductory courses (8 credits)

cognate courses (14 credits)

chemistry foundation courses (20 credits)

chemistry in-depth courses (13-15 credits)

electives

minimum of 9 credits, 6 credits must be CHEM courses

Program Learning Outcomes and Educational Effectiveness Evaluation Plans for BS Chemistry.

exit exam requirement

All majors will take a standardized exit exam on the Saturday after spring break in their senior year.

capstone requirement

Students are required to complete a capstone project before graduation. Students cannot graduate until the capstone project has been successfully completed, and the faculty advisor has notified the Office of the University Registrar that the capstone requirement has been fulfilled. This requirement shall be fulfilled by completing one of the listed options. Students seeking honors must complete option 1, or 2, or 4.

Option 1: Successful completion of undergraduate research experience in between junior and senior year funded by National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society, Chapman SURF, or other national research agency that sponsors undergraduate research. The research experience must be at least 8 weeks long, require full-time work in a laboratory setting, and lead to the completion of a well-defined research project. A student selecting this option will submit a formal research paper modeled after a formal lab report to the academic advisor by April 10 of the senior year and present this research in poster format at the undergraduate research day. Students will also give an oral presentation of their research to the Chemistry faculty at the end of spring semester in their senior year.

Option 2: Successful completion of a pre-approved research internship immediately preceding or during senior year that results in the completion of a research project. The student must register for 3 credits of CHEM 490, and work with a faculty member and research supervisor to identify the student's research project. A student selecting this option will submit a formal research paper modeled after a formal lab report to the faculty internship supervisor by April 10 of the senior year and present this research in poster format at the undergraduate research day. Students will also give an oral presentation of their research to the Chemistry faculty at the end of spring semester in their senior year.

Option 3: Successful completion of a significant review of the literature. The student must register for 2 credits of CHEM 384, or 499 in the fall semester senior year to begin work on this project and 1 credit in the spring semester of the senior year. The student shall expect to invest considerable time and effort researching and writing this review, which will be 30 to 40 pages in length and appropriately cited. The review is due to the faculty mentor April 10 of the senior year. The review will be graded. Students will give an oral presentation of their paper to the Chemistry faculty at the end of spring semester in their senior year.

Option 4: Successful completion of independent research overseen by a faculty member in the sciences (this will satisfy chemistry in-depth course requirements). The student will register for CHEM 384, or 499 for a minimum of 3 credits over 2 consecutive semesters in their senior year and complete a faculty-mentored student research project. The student will write a formal research paper modeled after the formal lab report and will present this research in poster format at the undergraduate research day. The report is due on April 10 of the senior year. When appropriate, a faculty member may substitute a team research project for an individual research project. When a team project is substituted, all members of the team must write a research paper modeled after the formal lab report. The team will present this project in poster format at the undergraduate research day. Students will give an oral presentation of their research to the Chemistry faculty at the end of spring semester in their senior year.

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Policy

All students must complete required course work in six competency areas for a total of 48-49 credits (32-33 lower-division and 16 upper-division credits). The competency areas include quantitative foundations, science foundations, environmental science and policy, data acquisition and analysis, systems approach to decision making, and communication and service learning. Students then select to concentrate their studies in one of three areas of study: ecology, earth systems, or environmental policy. Students must complete 15 to 20 credits in their selected area of study. There is an undergraduate graduation requirement of 2.000 GPA or higher for all major course work.

Students must complete at least 21 upper-division credits in the major at Chapman University to earn a degree in environmental science and policy. Transferability of credits from other institutions will be determined at the discretion of the program director.

writing/communication requirement

Environmental science and policy requires skills in oral and written communication. General, technical and laboratory report writing are skills developed in each class. Public, class and professional speaking skills are developed through class presentations, department symposia, presentations at meetings and the capstone presentations. Computer skills have become essential for data acquisition, analysis and visualization, simulations of environmental processes and molecular modeling. Chapman environmental science and policy students construct their knowledge of environmental processes through gathering, organizing and critically analyzing information. Additionally, students learn to present their research logically and persuasively.

quantitative competency (6 credits)

science competency (16 credits)

environmental science and policy competency (16-17 credits)

data acquisition, analysis, and display (4 credits)

systems approach to environmental decision making (3 credits)

effective communication and service learning (3 credits)

area of study requirements (15-20 credits)

complete all the requirements within one of the following areas of study

ecology area of study (15-20 credits)

three of the following (9-12 credits)

select two additional courses (6-8 credits)

one course from each of the other areas of study

earth systems area of study (15-20 credits)

three of the following (9-12 credits)

select two additional courses (6-8 credits)

one course from each of the other areas of study

environmental policy area of study (15-20 credits)

three of the following (9-12 credits)

select two additional courses (6-8 credits)

one course from each of the other areas of study

Program Learning Outcomes and Educational Effectiveness Evaluation Plans for BS Environmental Science and Policy.

*12 credits that satisfy the undergraduate major or the 124 credits required for the bachelor's degree may also count towards the requirements of the graduate program.

Students with sufficient high school background or appropriate AP, IB test scores may waive BIOL 205/205L, CHEM 140/140L, ENV 101, MATH 110/110L and/or PHYS 107/107L.

Minors in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Minor in Chemistry

A minimum of 22 graded credits in chemistry. 10 credits must be upper-division (a course number 300 or higher), and at least 6 of the upper-division credits must be completed at Chapman University. Upon completion of the minor core chemistry courses, at least one course of three or more credits must be taken from group A, the analytical/inorganic/physical chemistry area, plus one course of three or more credits from group B, the biochemistry area.

Courses in group A and group B that are required for the student's major do not count towards the chemistry minor, i.e., a student must complete one additional course of three or more credits in group A and also group B beyond what is required for the major in order to satisfy the chemistry minor requirements. A minimum of 9 credits must be upper-division.

minor core chemistry courses (16 credits)

group A-analytical/inorganic/physical chemistry area (3 or more credits)

group B-biochemistry area (3 or more credits)

Minor in Environmental Science

A minor in environmental science requires a minimum of 18 credits selected from the following list. At least 9 credits should not be duplicated with the course work taken towards the student's major. In addition, a minimum of 9 credits must be at the upper-division level.

required courses (6 credits)

science lab electives (4 credits)

upper-division electives (minimum of 9 credits)

Minor in Organismal Biology

A minor in organismal biology is a concentrated study of organisms and the relationship they form with each other and their environment. Students learn theoretical information and lab techniques to study organisms and these relationships. A minimum of 9 credits must be upper-division.

required courses (8 credits)

elective courses (12 credits)

select any combination of courses