Environmental Foundations and Principles

This course investigates the field’s history, current actives and issues, ethics, systems, and economics; and an overview of key necessary knowledge and skills to work and learn within the field. Students will: gain a strong historical understanding of how environmental and natural resource issues have influenced economic development and societal growth throughout the ages; learn about the complexity of environmental issues and the value of interdisciplinary and systems thinking when applied to making decisions about natural resource usage; understand the role that empirical science, policy analysis and advocacy play in how governments and private companies address complex environmental issues; become aware of the stressors that ecosystems around the globe are experiencing and the value of multidisciplinary approaches to addressing these challenges; and understand the diverse organizations and employment opportunities available in the environmental field.