Climate Change Studies Minor

Steven Running, Director

Climate Change Studies is an interdisciplinary program open to all majors. The program educates students in three areas of the climate change issue: science, society, and solutions. Coursework in the minor provides a foundation that enables students to engage the scientific, societal, and political dimensions of global climate change. Further, the focus on solutions with its orientation toward applied learning will help students develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Participating students will enhance their major field of study. They will be better prepared to enter a broad range of professions and graduate programs where they can meet the emerging challenges and opportunities arising from climate change. Climate Change Studies is a joint program between the College of Forestry and Conservation, College of Humanities and Sciences, and Missoula College’s Energy Technology program.

Minor - Climate Change Studies (Minor)

College of Forestry & Conserv

Catalog Year: 2014-2015

Degree Specific Credits: 21

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Required course

Rule: must take the following course

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description CCS 103X - Intro Climate Change:Sci & Soc
Offered autumn. This is an introductory and foundational course on the scientific and social dimensions of global climate change. The goal of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of the fundamental scientific, social, political and technological issues arising from rapid climatic change. As a result, it provides students with a breadth of knowledge and builds connectedness across these varied dimensions of the complex global issue.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

Climate Change Science

Rule: Must take at least 6 credits from the following list

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description ERTH 303N - Weather and Climate
Offered spring. Origin, composition, structure, and dynamics of the atmosphere, gas and radiation laws, energy budget and balance, weather elements, North American weather systems, and climate change. To succeed in this course students should have comfort with basic algebra.
 3 Credits
Show Description GEO 482 - Global Change
Offered Spring. Same as CCS 482. Prereq., upper division/higher standing in Geosciences or consent of instructor. Lectures, readings, discussions and practicum on the complexity of global climate. Emphasizes the physical, geochemical and geologic processes affecting climate change over geologic and recent time scales.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRSM 291 - Special Topics
(R 12) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors; new courses or one time offerings of current topics.
 1 To 12 Credits
Show Description NRSM 408 - Global Cycles and Climate
Offered spring even-numbered years.  An analysis of the earth’s major global biogeochemical cycles with a focus on the ways and extent to which each of them influences and interacts with the global climate system.  
 3 Credits
Show Description NRSM 418 - Ecosystem Climatology
Interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere to advanced undergraduate students and graduate students. This course will explore the interactions between Earth’s biosphere and atmosphere and how they affect climate over a range of scales. We will focus on the exchange of energy, mass, and important elements between the biosphere and atmosphere and how this exchange can lead to fascinating feedbacks in Earth’s climate system. Basic physics and math is not required but it is recommended.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRSM 491 - Special Topics
(R 9) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors; new courses or one time offerings of current topics.
 1 To 9 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Climate Change and Society

Rule: Must take at least 6 credits from the following list

Note: NRSM 395 Climate Change Effects and Adaptation in the Mekong; Wintersession also cross-listed with ENST 391, ANTY 391 and GPHY 391 - 6 total credits - 3 count toward Society Area
Also NRSM 321 AND ENST 311 Cycle the Rockies: Engery and Climate Change in Montana 6 cr. in Summer

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description COMX 349 - Comm Consump & Climate
Offered every other year. Same as CCS 379. Not open to PCOM. Analyzes consumption as a communication practice, investigates discourses that promote consumption, and illuminates environmental impacts on consumption.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 445 - Int Env Econ & Clim Change
Offered autumn every other year.  Same as CCS 445, EVST 445.  Prereq., ECNS 201S. An introduction to the economics of various policy approaches towards climate change and other international environmental issues such as trans-boundary pollution problems, international trade and the environment and pollution haven hypothesis.
 3 Credits
Show Description ENST 367 - Envr Politics & Policies
Offered autumn. Foundation in public lands history, bedrock environmental laws, policy processes and institutions.  Research and analysis of current environmental and natural resource policy issues.  Focus is domestic illustrated by case studies.
 3 Credits
Show Description GPHY 421 - Sustainable Cities
Offered spring even-numbered years. Prereq., upper-division or graduate standing. A discussion of sustainability efforts in cities around the world.  Topics include, for example, urban sprawl and smart growth, alternative energy, public transportation, integrated waste management, integrated water management, green architecture, and urban agriculture.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRSM 426 - Climate and Society
Offered spring. Co-convened with NRSM 526. This course examines the social and political aspects of climate change, with a focus on international and domestic processes and cases. Cannot get credit for both NRSM 426 and NRSM 526.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRSM 449E - Climate Change Ethics/Policy
Offered autumn. Same as CCS 449E. This course focuses on the ethical dimensions of climate change policy. It will cover the following major topics: (1) climate change, personal and collective responsibilities, (2) ethics, climate change and scientific uncertainty, (3) distributive justice and international climate change negotiations, (4) intergenerational justice and climate change policy.
 3 Credits
Show Description PSCI 324 - Climate Policies: China & U.S.
Offered every other year.  Prereq., CCS 203 or consent of instructor.  Explores historic, current, and future greenhouse-gas emissions of the United States and China, reasons why both are the two largest C02 emitters, and prevailing national and subnational government policies and nongovernmental actions that affect emissions mitigation and adaptation.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Climate Change Solutions

Rule: Must take at least 6 credits from the following courses with at least one course from category "A"

6 Total Credits Required

Category A: Practical Application

Rule: Must take at least 1 course but a total of 6 credits between both categories A and B

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description CCS 391 - Climate Change Practicum
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq., consent of instructor. Provides an opportunity for students to design and implement a capstone project involving creative solutions to climate change.
 2 To 4 Credits
Show Description CCS 398 - Clmt Change Internship/SERV
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. This course gives students an opportunity to gain hands-on, "real world" experience working with a local, regional, national or international group to address climate change. Students gain supervised, practical work experience with specific projects and organizations; create a network of professional contacts; and have opportunity to apply ideas and approaches studied in the Climate Change Studies minor.
 2 To 4 Credits
Show Description ENST 476 - Environmental Citizenship
Offered spring. Prereq., open to juniors and seniors only or by consent of instructor. Same as CCS 485. Develops leadership and environmental citizenship skills, values and virtues through student-initiated projects informed by principles of organizing and sustainable behavior change theories of social marketing.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRGY 298 - Internship
Offered every term. Prereq., M 121 and consent of instructor. Same as CCS 298. Extended classroom experience providing practical application of classroom learning through on the job training in a student's field of study. This experience increases student skills, prepares them for initial employment, and increases occupational awareness and professionalism.
 2 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3-6 Total Credits Required

Category B

Rule: May take 1 of the following courses

Note: Commentary: NRSM 395 Climate Change Effects and Adaptation in the Mekong; Wintersession also cross-listed with ENST 391, ANTY 391 and GPHY 391 - 6 total credits - 3 count toward Solutions Area
Also NRSM 321 AND ENST 311 Cycle the Rockies: Engery and Climate Change in Montana 6 cr. in Summer

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description BGEN 160S - Issues in Sustainability
Offered autumn and spring.  Same as CCN 160S. This literature-intensive course is intended to expose the student to a variety of essays addressing the balance of economic development with the principles of sustainability and social equity.  The student is offered an introduction to sustainability concepts, natural systems/cycles and environmental economics.  Natural capitalism and triple bottom line maximization is explored, along with the role of corporations and small businesses in sustainable development.  A survey of issues surrounding corporate social responsibility and sustainability-driven innovation will be conducted.
 3 Credits
Show Description CCS 352 - Climate Field Studies
Offered summer. This is an interdisciplinary field course focused on climate change impacts and adaptation.  Through site visits and meetings with key decision-makers, students gain knowledge of projected impacts due to climate change (water availability, wildfire, beetle kill, biodiversity), the impacts to various sectors of human society (land management, food and water security, economic stability, and livelihoods), and different mitigation and adaptation responses. 
 3 Credits
Show Description GPHY 421 - Sustainable Cities
Offered spring even-numbered years. Prereq., upper-division or graduate standing. A discussion of sustainability efforts in cities around the world.  Topics include, for example, urban sprawl and smart growth, alternative energy, public transportation, integrated waste management, integrated water management, green architecture, and urban agriculture.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRGY 102 - Intro to Sustainable Energy II
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq., NRGY 101 or consent of instructor.  Same as CCS 102.  A survey of renewable energy systems and technologies.  Addresses physical and technical aspects of wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, tidal, biological, and wave energy systems.  Consideration is given to engineering, economic, social, environmental, and political factors that determine implementation and sustainability.  Credit not allowed for both NRG 102 and CCS 102.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRGY 195 - Practicum
Offered summer only. Prereq., NRGY 101, M 121 or consent of instructor. Same as CCS 191. The practicum provides students with a supervised field experience. Students will gain hands-on experience with energy specific technologies in a fast-paced creative environment. This course increases students' occupational awareness and professionalism.
 2 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 0-3 Total Credits Required