Climate Change Studies - Natural Sciences Track, BS
Introduction
Please click here to see Climate Change Studies program information.
The Climate Change Studies program offers BS and BA degrees, and three tracks (e.g., natural science, society and policy) that includes a range of courses across multiple departments, colleges, and schools at CU Denver.
These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
- This is an on-campus program.
Declaring This Major
- Click here to go to information about declaring a major.
General Requirements
To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.
- CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
- CU Denver Core Curriculum
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
- Click here for information about Academic Policies
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum 51 credit hours and of those 18 must be upper division credit hours from the approved courses.
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A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed in courses taught by faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at CU Denver.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Only three credits of Travel Study may be counted toward graduation requirements.
- Undergraduate students may count up to 6 credit hours of independent study or internship (any combination of CCST 3840 Independent Study: CCST 4840 Independent Study: CCST 4880 Directed Research, or CCST 3939 Internship) towards elective credit in the major as approved by the undergraduate coordinator. Students may not receive more than three credit hours per independent study section. No more than three credit hours of independent study may be taken with the same instructor or in the same term.
- CCST 3939 Internship: Community/Professional Experience optional, but highly recommended.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the following required courses: | ||
| CCST 1001 | Climate Change Seminar | 1 |
| CCST 4001 | Climate Change Capstone | 3-4 |
| Complete the following climate literacy courses: | ||
| ENVS 1044 & ENVS 1045 | Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Laboratory | 3-4 |
| or GEOG 1202 | Introduction to Physical Geography | |
| GEOG/ENVS 3232 | Weather and Climate | 3 |
| Complete the list of the following foundation natural/climate sciences courses: | ||
| BIOL 2010 | Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) (Complete the list of the following foundation natural/climate sciences courses:) | 3 |
| or BIOL 2030 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | |
| BIOL 2011 | Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | 1 |
| or BIOL 2031 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | |
| BIOL 2020 | Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | 3 |
| or BIOL 2040 | Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | |
| BIOL 2021 | Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | 1 |
| or BIOL 2041 | Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | |
| CHEM 2031 | General Chemistry I | 3 |
| or CHEM 2081 | Honors General Chemistry I | |
| CHEM 2038 | General Chemistry Laboratory I | 1 |
| or CHEM 2039 | Majors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
| or CHEM 2088 | Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
| CHEM 2061 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| or CHEM 2091 | Honors General Chemistry II Lecture | |
| CHEM 2068 | General Chemistry Laboratory II | 2 |
| or CHEM 2069 | Majors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
| or CHEM 2098 | Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
| GEOG/ENVS 4720 | Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions | 3 |
| PSCI 2365 | Politics of Climate Change | 3 |
| Complete two quantitative methods courses from the following list: | 6-7 | |
| Biostatistics (Complete two quantitative methods courses from the following list:) | ||
| Data Wrangling & Visualization | ||
| Applied Statistics | ||
| Environmental Modeling with Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Applied Spatial Statistics | ||
| Complete two courses from the following natural sciences list: | 6-7 | |
| Principles of Ecology | ||
| Advanced Ecology | ||
| Colorado Climates | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Applied Microbial Ecology | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Anthropocene Futures | ||
| Landscape Biogeochemistry | ||
| Earth Environments and Human Impacts | ||
| Applied Geomorphology | ||
| Glacial Geomorphology | ||
| Mountain Biogeography | ||
| Beeography: Geography of Bees | ||
| Urban Climate and Air Quality | ||
| Complete one course from the following policy list: | 3 | |
| Environmental Communication | ||
| The Politics of Nature | ||
| Science, Policy and the Environment | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Health | ||
| Perspectives in Global Health | ||
| Climate Justice | ||
| Policy and Advocacy | ||
| Managing and Leading in Environmental Organizations | ||
| Community Resilience, Climate, and Emergency Response | ||
| Sustainable Energy Policy | ||
| Transportation, Planning and Policy | ||
or URPL 4555 | Transportation, Land Use and the Environment | |
| Indigenous Political Systems | ||
| Indigenous Politics | ||
| Complete one course from the following society list: | 3 | |
| History of Human Environmental Impacts | ||
| Environmental Communication | ||
| Economics of Natural Resources | ||
| Environmental Economics | ||
| Climate Change & Society | ||
| Urban Sustainability and Resiliency: Perspectives and Practice | ||
| Nature and Power in American History | ||
| Science, Technology, and Society in the Modern World | ||
| Ethnicity, Health and Social Justice | ||
| Health in the City: Urban Health | ||
| Global Ecological Crises | ||
| Total Hours | 51-55 | |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.
To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.