Environmental Studies B.A.

Offered autumn. Provides students with opportunities to use class knowledge to make a difference; helps students build all of the following: scientific literacy; skills in critical thinking, research and self-instruction; an understanding of the scientific basis of environmental issues, policies and laws; habits of sustainable living, scientifically-informed, active participation in social decisions, and service to their community and to the earth.

Offered autumn and spring. Students learn how to find, evaluate and use existing information to increase understanding of environmental issues and resolve controversies. Students will research a subject using a variety of sources (refereed literature, government sources, internet sources, interviews); evaluate sources critically; write a literature review and give an oral presentation on their topic. Focus is on critical thinking and dealing with the information explosion.

Offered autumn.  Same as SOCI 225.  Exploration of the ways that communities address their environmental concerns.  Introduction of relevant social science concepts.

UM campus course offered spring. Explores the relationship between ideas about nature and the development of political and social ideas, institutions, and practices, primarily in western (Euro-American) society. Complements ethics offerings in philosophy aimed at environmental studies majors.

Offered autumn and spring. First semester of an introduction to general, inorganic, organic and biological chemistry.

Offered every term. Prereq. M 090 with a grade of B- or better, or M 095, or ALEKS placement >= 3, or ACT score of 22, or SAT score of 520. Systems of linear equations and matrix algebra. Introduction to probability with emphasis on models and probabilistic reasoning. Examples of applications of the material in many fields.

Offered every term. Contemporary exploration of the organization and complexity of living organisms and the systems in which they live.  The central question of biology--relationship between form and function, acquisition and use of energy, and continuity between generations will be addressed through lectures and laboratory investigations.  Credit not allowed toward a major in biology. Credit not allowed for both BIOB 101N and BIOB 160N.

Offered autumn and summer. Unifying principles of biological structure-function relationships at different levels of organization and complexity. Consideration of reproduction, genetics, development, evolution, ecosystems, as well as the inter-relationships of the human species to the rest of life. Students requiring a laboratory should also register for BIOB 161N. Credit not allowed for both BIOB 101N and 160N.

Offered spring and summer.  Survey of the diversity, evolution and ecology of life including prokaryotes, viruses, protista, fungi, plants and animals.

Offered autumn. Prereq., M 115 or M 121 or M 122 or M 151 or M 162 or M 171 or M 172. Introduction to probability and statistical methods for forestry and environmental sciences covering natural resource applications of common probability distributions, data analysis, hypothesis testing, and regression.

Offered every term. Prereq., PSYX 120; M 115, M 162 or 171. Application of statistical techniques to psychological data. Credit not allowed for both PSYX 222 and SOCI 202.

Offered every term. Prereq., or coreq. M 115, Sociology majors only, or consent of instr. Application of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques to sociological data. Required of all majors.

Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 115 (preferred), or one of M 121, 132, 151, 162 or 171, or ALEKS placement >= 4. Introduction to major ideas of statistical inference. Emphasis is on statistical reasoning and uses of statistics.

Offered autumn. Prereq., BIOB 272. Analysis of the distribution and abundance of plants and animals. Includes individual, population and community-level processes (e.g., population growth and regulation, competition, predation, succession, nutrient cycling, energy flow and community organization).

Offered autumn. Prereq or coreq ENST 201. To succeed in this course, students also need college level courses in general biology, chemistry & statistics. Principles and concepts of ecology and how they can be applied to inform real life decisions about human interactions with the environment. Emphasizes the science of sustainability and the conservation of watersheds and biodiversity.

Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., FORS 210 or ENSC 245N or NRSM 210N; and BIOO 105N or BIOB 170N or BIOE 172 or BIOB 160N or FORS 240; and FORS 201 or STAT 216 or SOCI 202 or WILD 240 or PSYX 222. Examination of physical and biological factors affecting forest structure, composition, and function, including biodiversity, disturbance, and nutrient cycling. Field labs throughout Northern Rockies including developing skills in field observation, data interpretation and problem solving.

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.

Offered spring.  Introduction to the history, law and theory of environmental regulation in the United States using public and private land regulation mechanisms as case studies.  Basic principles of constitutional and administrative law relevant to environmental regulation, substantive public and private land use law and the history of environmental problems and their regulation.

Offered autumn.  Provides background, overview, interpretations, and understanding of key concepts, themes, approaches, and forms in American nature and environmental nonfiction as well as that literature’s response to and influence on environmental events, figures, and movements.

Offered intermittently. Examines traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) of Native peoples with a special focus on ancient peoples of the Northern Great Plains.

Offered spring, from start of semester to mid-April.  Surveys treatment of farmers and farming in the humanities.  Course covers specific agricultural crops and their effect on social and environmental history, artistic commentary on agricultural life and farmer philosophy.  Themes range from agriculturally influenced historical events to Wendell Berry's poetry to Albert Borgmann's philosophy.

(R-12) Offered intermittently. May be restricted to EVST majors. May require consent of instructor. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

Offered autumn. Study of current trends in economic globalization and its effects on efforts to work for social justice and environmental sustainability, particularly in the Global South.  Examination of different models and theories of globalization, analysis of ethical issues raised, and assessment of alternatives proposed.

Offered autumn. Examination of evidence, causes and consequences of social inequality in the distribution of environmental risks and in access to natural resources and environmental amenities. Community, government and industry responses and service approaches for addressing environmental inequities.

Offered autumn and spring. Requires consent of instructor. Practical application of classroom learning through internship with governments, organizations or industry. A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (198, 298, 398, 498) may count toward graduation.

(R-10) Offered Fall (2 cr.), Spring (2 cr.); Summer intensive, (6 cr.). Students learn small scale sustainable vegetable farming in a hands-on work environment at the PEAS farm (15 minute bike ride from campus). Lectures, readings and reflection inform the work. Summer students also visit local farms on once-a-week field trips. PEAS is repeatable, as the curriculum changes across the season, and students can attend any semester, though the 6 credit summer intensive course is the heart of the program.

Offered autumn and spring. Consent of instructor required. Practical application of classroom learning through internship with governments, organizations or industry.  A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (198, 298, 398, 498) may count toward graduation.

Offered intermittently. Examines traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) of Native peoples with a special focus on ancient peoples of the Northern Great Plains.

Offered Autumn and Spring.  An examination of Native American environmental ethics and tribal and historical and contemporary use of physical environmental resources.

Offered Autumn and Spring.   A study of selected ethical systems; origins, world views; religious beliefs and the way they have been affected by western civilization.

Offered spring and summer.  Survey of the diversity, evolution and ecology of life including prokaryotes, viruses, protista, fungi, plants and animals.

Offered spring. Prereq., one college-level course in Biology or consent of instr. Elements of the evolution, geography and natural affinities of flowering plants. Identification using a manual of native plants of Montana.

Offered spring. Same as CCS 303N. 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.

Offered autumn.  The geoscience perspective on the earth’s climate system.  Climate processes and feedbacks, climate history from early earth to the ice ages, present and future changes due to natural processes and human activities.

Prereq., M 115 or M 121 or M 122 or M 151 or M 162 or M 171 or M 172. The factors affecting earth’s terrestrial ecosystems are rapidly changing, and understanding their impact on ecosystem services to humanity is becoming increasingly important and yet complex. In this course, students will explore how climate, water and soils interact to shape Earth’s biosphere. We will introduce students to a number of fundamental concepts in climate, hydrology, and soil science to gain a comprehensive view of the factors that shape and affect all terrestrial ecosystems. Through a series of lectures and field-based laboratories, students will be introduced to the fundamental principles of climate and hydrology that influence soil development, how they vary across small spatial scales, and how these physical, chemical, and biological processes interact to affect soil development. Ultimately, this class will introduce students to intimate relationship between climate, water, and soils, and how they interact to affect patterns of vegetation we see across the biosphere.

Offered autumn. Prereq., one course in the ecological or biological sciences: BIOO 105N, BIOB 160N, BIOB 170N, BIOB 172, BIOE 370, BIOE 428, BIOE 447 or BIOE 448; or FORS 330; or NRSM 271N or NRSM 462 or consent of instructor. Overview of the natural and social science elements of ecological restoration, including the ecological foundations of restoration, practices used to restore terrestrial and aquatic habitats, philosophical and ethical challenges involved, and current initiatives in Montana and the United States. Includes Saturday field trips.

Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 115 or M 121 or M 122 or M 151 or M 162 or M 171 or M 172. An introduction to physical and biological controls over water movement and storage in the environment, and how those controls are affected by land management practices.