All students must meet the Degree and University Requirements.
All students must meet the Catamount Core Curriculum Requirements.
All students must meet the Rubenstein Core Curriculum Requirements.
Three concentrations are available under the Sustainability, Ecology and Policy major:
Environmental Planning, Policy and Law Concentration
Integrated Natural Resources Concentration
Dual-Degree Programs: The University of Vermont (UVM) and Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) also offer unique 3+2 and 3+3 dual-degree programs. The dual-degree programs enable highly-focused students to earn both degrees in less time and at less cost from two distinguished institutions. In addition to the dual-degree programs, VLGS offers a guaranteed admission program for UVM graduates. Students who select the concentration in Environmental Planning, Policy and Law are well-positioned to complete the UVM/VLGS 3+2 and 3+3 programs, and earn a BS in Sustainability, Ecology and Policy and a Juris Doctor (JD) in five or six years. Students who wish to pursue this opportunity should consult with the Director of the Sustainability, Ecology and Policy Program about their academic plans.
Applied Ecology Concentration
The Applied Ecology curriculum explores the biology and ecology of plants and animals in both aquatic and terrestrial systems and allows students to select courses around specific individual interests. Please note that courses taken for concentrations may NOT be double-counted for distribution requirements.
A total of 120 credits is required for the degree.
Required Courses
| BIOL 1400 | Principles of Biology 1 | 4 |
| BIOL 1450 | Principles of Biology 2 | 4 |
| CHEM 1100 | Outline: General Chem w/lab | 4-8 |
| or CHEM 1400 & CHEM 1450 | General Chemistry 1 and General Chemistry 2 | |
| CHEM 1150 | Outline: Organic & BIOC w/lab | 4-8 |
| or CHEM 1580 | Intro Organic Chemistry w/lab | |
| or CHEM 2580 & CHEM 2585 | Organic Chemistry 1 and Organic Chemistry 2 | |
| FOR 2110 | Nat Res Ecol and Assessment 1 | 4 |
| ENSC 2490 | Climate Change II 4 | 1 or 3 |
| or SEP 2880 | Sustainability Science | |
| or NR 2740 | CR: Sustainability Theory&Prac | |
| MATH 1212 | Fundamentals of Calculus I 1 | 3 |
| NR 2400 | Applied Environ Statistics 1 | 4 |
| NR 2430 | Intro to Geog Info Systems | 3 |
| or NR 2460 | Remote Sensing | |
| Students chose at least 9 credits in strong ecological content courses from the following list, in consultation with their advisor. | 9 | |
| Advanced Agroecology | ||
| Soil Ecology | ||
| Ecology and Evolution | ||
| Introduction to Marine Science | ||
| Plant-Animal Interactions | ||
| Community Ecology | ||
| Behavioral Ecology | ||
| Evolution | ||
| Global Environmental Change | ||
or GEOG 2250 | Global Environmental Change | |
| Recovery&Restor Altered Ecosys | ||
| Forest Ecosystem Analysis | ||
| Forest Ecosystem Health | ||
| Environmental Microbiology | ||
| Tropical Ecology in CR | ||
| Global Change Ecology | ||
| Landscape Ecology | ||
| Ecosystem Ecology | ||
| Limnology | ||
| Stream Ecology | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology | ||
| Students choose up to 18 credits (to total 27) in courses to contribute to, or expand ecological understanding, or strong ecological content, in consultation with their advisor. | 18 | |
| Weed Ecology & Management | ||
| Fundamentals of Soil Science | ||
| Ecological Landscape Design | ||
| Chemistry of Soil & Water | ||
| Sociobiology | ||
| Field Zoology of Arthropods | ||
| Mammalogy | ||
| Population Genetics | ||
| Speciation and Phylogeny | ||
| Climate Change II 4 | ||
| Dendrology | ||
| Wildland Fire | ||
| Multi-Resource Silviculture | ||
| Weather, Climate & Landscapes | ||
| Climatology: Concepts & Tools | ||
| The Circumpolar Arctic | ||
| Environmental Geology | ||
| Environmental Geochemistry | ||
| Geomorphology | ||
| Field Geology | ||
| Geochemistry of Natural Waters | ||
| Intro to Geog Info Systems 4 | ||
| Remote Sensing 4 | ||
| Landscape Natural History | ||
| Plant Physiology | ||
| Morph & Evo of Vascular Plants | ||
| Plant Systematics | ||
| How Plants Can Save World | ||
| Plant Anatomy | ||
| Biology of Fungi | ||
| Biology of Ferns | ||
| Tropical Plant Systematics | ||
| Water as a Natural Resource | ||
| Sustainability Science 4 | ||
| Ecological Design & Living Tec | ||
| Ornithology | ||
| Field Ornithology | ||
| Field Herpetology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Wildlife Behavior | ||
| Additional Options: | ||
| Internship 2 | ||
| Independent Study 2 | ||
| Undergraduate Research 2 | ||
| Internship 2 | ||
| Independent Study 2 | ||
| Honors 3 | ||
- 1
MATH 1212 and NR 2400 also fulfill Catamount core general education requirements.
- 2
A maximum of 6 credits may count toward either strong ecological content OR expands ecological understanding with the Program Chair's approval.
- 3
A maximum of 3 credits may count toward either strong ecological content OR expands ecological understanding with the Program Chair's approval.
- 4
May not double count for required courses.
Any course substitution request should be approved prior to the end of the add/drop period for the semester in which the student plans to enroll in the substitute course.
Environmental Planning, Policy and Law Concentration
The Environmental Planning, Policy and Law curriculum explores interactions among individuals, communities, and society with nature, resources, and the environment. It allows students to select courses around specific individual interests such as natural resource planning and community, policy and economic dimensions of resource planning, and international dimensions of resource planning. Please note that courses taken for concentrations may NOT be double-counted for distribution requirements.
A total of 120 credits is required for the degree.
Required Courses
| ANTH 1100 | Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| or GEOG 1760 | Global Environments & Cultures | |
| ENSC 2490 | Climate Change II | 1 or 3 |
| or SEP 2880 | Sustainability Science | |
| or NR 2740 | CR: Sustainability Theory&Prac | |
| CDAE 1020 | World Food,Pop & Develop | 3-4 |
| or ENVS 1510 | Solutions in Enviro Studies | |
| ECON 1400 | Principles of Macroeconomics | 3 |
| or ECON 1450 | Principles of Microeconomics | |
| or CDAE 1610 | Principles of Comm Dev Econ | |
| POLS 1300 | US Political System | 3 |
| or POLS 1700 | Comparative World Politics | |
| or POLS 1500 | Intro International Relations | |
| PHIL 1600 | Ethics | 3 |
| or PHIL 1635 | Ethics of Eating | |
| or PHIL 1630 | Environmental Ethics | |
| or CDAE 3080 | Agricultural Policy and Ethics | |
| SOC 1500 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| or SOC 1100 | Social Problems | |
| Students choose 21 credits in Content Courses from the following list in consultation with their advisor. | 21 | |
| Environmental Anthropology | ||
| Zoos, Exotics & Endang Species | ||
| Adv Top:Zoo,Exotic,Endang Spec | ||
| Sustainable Community Dev | ||
| Community Develpmt:St Lucia I | ||
| The Real Cost of Food | ||
| Agricultural Policy and Ethics 3 | ||
| Community Org & Development | ||
| Economics of Sustainability | ||
| Contemp Policy Iss:Comm Dev | ||
| Smart Resilient Communities | ||
| Economics of Climate Change | ||
| Econ of Environmental Policy | ||
| Rural Geography | ||
| Gender, Space & Environment | ||
| Political Ecology | ||
| Urban Geography | ||
| Rural Lives in Global World | ||
| Human Ecology & Health-Arctic | ||
| US Environmental Politics | ||
| Int'l Environmental Governance | ||
| Tourism Planning | ||
| Ecotourism | ||
| Outdoor Recreation Planning | ||
| Environmental Interpretation 4 | ||
| Water as a Natural Resource | ||
| Environmental Justice | ||
| Intro to Ecological Economics | ||
| Intro to Environmental Policy | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Legal Aspects of Envi Planning | ||
| Energy and Climate Law | ||
| Environmental Education | ||
| Our Consuming Society | ||
| Population, Environment & Soc | ||
| Sociology of Disaster | ||
| C Ross Env Pb Srv Practicum 4 | ||
| Students choose 6 credits in Tools Courses from the following list, in consultation with their advisor. | 6 | |
| Landscape Design Fundamentals | ||
| Ecological Landscape Design | ||
| Ethnographic Field Methods | ||
| Media-Policy-Action | ||
| Project Development & Planning | ||
| Global Environmental Assessmnt | ||
| Geog Info:Cncpts & Applic | ||
| Intro to Geog Info Systems | ||
| Remote Sensing | ||
| Adv Geospatial Techniques | ||
| C Ross Env Pb Srv Practicum 4 | ||
| GIS Practicum | ||
| Social Research Methods | ||
or SOC 2500 | Social Research Methods | |
| Environmental Interpretation 4 | ||
| Kincentric Ecology | ||
| Ecological Design & Living Tec | ||
| Environmental Education | ||
| Debating Global Issues | ||
6 credits of a modern foreign language | ||
| Additional Options: | ||
| Internship 1 | ||
| Independent Study 1 | ||
| Undergraduate Research 1 | ||
| Internship 1 | ||
| Independent Study 1 | ||
| Honors 2 | ||
- 1
A maximum of 6 credits may count toward either content courses OR tools courses with the Program Chair's approval.
- 2
A maximum of 3 credits may count toward either content courses OR tools courses with the Program Chair's approval.
- 3
May not double count for both required courses and option electives.
- 4
May be counted as either content or tools but may NOT be double counted.
Any course substitution request should be approved prior to the end of the add/drop period for the semester in which the student plans to enroll in the substitute course.
Integrated Natural Resources Concentration
Integrated Natural Resources (INR) is a self-designed major. INR is the right choice for students who have strong interests in natural resources and the environment, clear academic direction, and the motivation to develop a well-focused, personally meaningful course of study. Working closely with a faculty advisor, the student builds on a solid foundation of natural resources courses to create an individualized program that combines course work from disciplines within and outside the school.
A total of 120 credits is required for the degree.
Required courses
(minimum nine credits)
| Students select from a list of approved courses, at least one course in each of three areas: | ||
Biology/ecology | ||
NR courses in social sciences and communications | ||
Quantitative and analytical methods | ||
| These courses are in addition to those taken to fulfill RSENR's general education requirements. The list of approved courses is available on the RSENR website. | ||
Individualized Program of Study
(minimum 39 credits)
The student develops an Individualized Program of Study composed primarily of intermediate level RSENR courses (ENSC, FOR, NR, SEP, PRT or WFB prefix). This must include at least 24 credits inside the school and no more than 6 credits below the 2000-level. With careful selection of courses, students develop concentrations such as Environmental Education, Sustainable Resource Management, Environmental Health, and Spatial Analysis of Natural Resources. All programs of study must be endorsed by the advisor, then approved by the faculty. If not approved, the student may not continue in the INR concentration and must seek another major. The program of study is to be approved by the end of the sophomore year (sixty credits). Transfer students with more than sixty credits must have a program of study approved as part of the transfer application. It is expected that transfer students will be active in the program for at least 2 years (4 semesters) after transferring into the INR concentration. Any course substitution request should be approved prior to the end of the add/drop period for the semester in which the student plans to enroll in the substitute course.