The B.S. program in Environmental Science prepares students to evaluate complex environmental issues in an interdisciplinary manner. We study the underlying physical material of the biosphere (geology), how energy and moisture enter the system and are moved around the planet (climatology), and how life responds to these environmental constraints (ecology). AREA OF EMPHASIS AT DELAWARE The program emphasizes scientific understanding of the character and function of working, natural, environmental systems. Because environmental problems and issues change as new problems arise, the program places its strongest emphasis on the research methods and fundamental scientific background used for analyzing the environment. For example, our understanding of the details and implications of carbon dioxide-induced global warming is very different from what we understood ten years ago. However, ten years ago, this program was teaching students about the role of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the planet’s radiation balance, how atmospheric responses to radiation changes are calculated, and how biological and climatological data can be collected and analyzed to help determine the response of these systems to a changed energy balance. Even though the world’s understanding of the problem has changed, the skills our students acquire remain valid and useful in the changing world.
