Degree Offered
- Bachelor of Science
Nature of the Program
The Bachelor of Science in Earth and Environmental Science exposes students to Earth systems, the processes that drive them, their impacts on human society, and how to apply the scientific method to investigate real-world problems. Graduates will be prepared for both specific and evolving career pathways including: environmental, hydrologic, geochemical, and geospatial consulting; the evolving energy industry (e.g., geothermal energy production, carbon extraction, and sequestration, and discovery and recovery of minerals critical to the battery/electronic production (e.g., rare earth elements)); regulatory agencies at state and federal levels; and entrepreneurial efforts to capitalize on the societal shifts that necessarily accompany our global shift towards a more sustainable future. They will also be well prepared for admission to graduate and professional schools.
Students in the Earth and Environmental Science BS will take courses that focus on geohazard assessment and mitigation, exploration and efficient use of land, water, energy and mineral resources, and developing adaptation and mitigation strategies to environmental and climate change.
Minors
All students have the possibility of earning one or more minors; a list of all available minors and their requirements is available. Please note that students may not earn a minor in their major field.
Faculty
Chair
- Brent McCusker - Ph.D. (Michigan State University)
Associate Chair
- Joseph Lebold - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Professors
- Kathleen Benison - Ph.D. (The University of Kansas)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Sedimentary Geology - Planetary Geology - Dengliang Gao - Ph.D. (Duke University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Exploration Geophysics, Petroleum and Structural Geology - Amy Hessl - Ph.D. (University of Arizona)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Biogeography, Forest Ecosystems, Climate Variability - Brent McCusker - Ph.D. (Michigan State University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Livelihood Systems & Climate Change, Africa, Policy Making - Brendan McNeil - Ph.D. (Syracuse University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, GIS, Environmental modeling, Forest Ecosystem Services - Shikha Sharma - Ph.D. (University of Lucknow)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Isotope Geochemistry - Jaime Toro - Ph.D. (Stanford University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Structure and Tectonics - Dorothy Vesper - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Aqueous Geochemistry, Hydrogeology
Associate Professors
- Jamison Conley - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Spatial Analysis, Geocomputation, Health Geography - Karen Culcasi - Ph.D. (Syracuse University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Geopolitics, Identity, Middle East - Cynthia Gorman - Ph.D. (Rutgers University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Gender, Migration, Human Rights, Refugee Communities - James Lamsdell - Ph.D. (The University of Kansas)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Paleobiology, Arthropods, Macroevolution, Heterochrony, Paleoecology, Phylogenetics - Rick Landenberger - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Forest ecology, Land use Management and Restoration - Joseph Lebold - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Paleoecology, Paleontology, Regional Geology - Maria Alejandra Perez - Ph.D. (University of Michigan)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Cultural Geography, Science & Technology Studies, Speleology, Latin America and the Caribbean - Amy Weislogel - Ph.D. (Stanford University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Sedimentology - Bradley Wilson - Ph.D. (Rutgers University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Social Movements, Local/Global Food Systems, Food Justice
Assistant Professors
- Michael Harman - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
3D visualization, modeling complex landforms and processes, GIS - Jacob Hileman - Ph.D. (University of California, Davis)
Environmental Science, Sustainability - Aaron Maxwell - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Regular Graduate Faculty, Geospatial Instruction, Remote Sensing, Image Analysis, Spatial Modeling - Holly Moulton - Ph.D. (University of Oregon)
Feminist political ecology, Gender, Climate change adaptation, Indigenous studies, Critical development studies, ice loss, and Andean communities
Professor Emeriti
- Robert Behling - Ph.D. (The Ohio State University)
- Timothy Carr - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin - Madison)
- Joe Donovan - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
- Greg Elmes - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
- Trevor Harris - Ph.D. (University of Hll)
- Thomas Kammer - Ph.D. (Indiana University)
- Steven Kite - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin)
- Kenneth C. Martis - Ph.D. (Michigan University)
- Henry Rauch - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
- Robert C. Shumaker - Ph.D. (Cornell University)
- Richard Smosna - Ph.D. (University of Illinois)
- Timothy Warner - Ph.D. (Purdue University)
- Thomas Wilson - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Admissions for 2026-2027
- First Time Freshmen are admitted directly to the major.
- Students transferring from another WVU major or from another institution with fewer than 30 credits and 2.0 overall GPA are admitted directly to the major.
- Students transferring from another WVU major or from another institution with 30 hours or more must have at least a 2.0 overall GPA and meet the following requirement prior to being admitted to the major: completion of MATH 124 or MATH 126 with a C-.
Major Code: 14F6
General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations | ||
| F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
| F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
| F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
| F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
| F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
| F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
| F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
| F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 31-37 | |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Degree Requirements
Students must complete WVU General Education Foundations requirements, Eberly Edge Program requirements, major requirements, and electives to total a minimum of 120 hours.
Departmental Requirements for the B.S. in Earth and Environmental Science
-
Calculation of the GPA in the Major: A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required in all courses applied to major requirements, with a minimum grade of C- in SUST 101/101L, SUST 102, SUST 201/201L, GEOL 286/286L, CHEM 115/115L, and CS 110/110L. If a course is repeated, all attempts will be included in the calculation of the GPA, unless the course is eligible for a D/F repeat.
-
Writing and Communication Requirement: Earth and Environmental Science Bachelor of Science students fulfill the Writing and Communication Skills requirement by completing ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 (or ENGL 103), and two additional SpeakWrite Certified CoursesTM.
-
Areas of Emphasis: Earth and Environmental Science majors will choose a curriculum from one of these Areas of Emphasis: Climate and Environmental Science; Geoscience and Sustainable Energy; GIS Methods.
-
Capstone Requirement: The university requires the successful completion of a Capstone requirement. In Earth and Environmental Science, based on the Area of Emphasis (AoE): GEOL 403, GEOL 404, GEOG 452, or GEOL 496. The course selected for the capstone should not be already used to meet any other major requirement; students who complete GEOL 404 may apply the course to EDG 6.
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| University Requirements | 32 | |
| Eberly Edge Requirements | 15 | |
| Earth and Environmental Science Major Requirements | 73 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
University Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations (GEF) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (31-37 Credits) | ||
| Outstanding GEF Requirements 1, 4, 5, and 6 | 15 | |
| SUST 191 | First-Year Seminar | 1 |
| General Electives | 16 | |
| Total Hours | 32 | |
Eberly Edge Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| EDG 1: Data and Society | 3 | |
| EDG 2: Effective and Civil Communication | 3 | |
| EDG 3: Ethics and Civil Responsibility | 3 | |
| EDG 4: Global and Regional Perspectives (SUST 102) | ||
| EDG 5: Practicing Arts and Sciences (ARSC 380) | 3 | |
| EDG 6: High Impact Experience | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Earth and Environmental Science Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| STEM FOUNDATIONS * | 22 | |
| Applied Calculus | ||
or MATH 155 | Calculus 1 | |
| Elementary Statistical Inference | ||
| Select one pair of science courses: | ||
| Introductory Physics 1 and Introductory Physics 1 Laboratory and Introductory Physics 2 and Introductory Physics 2 Laboratory | ||
| General Physics 1 and General Physics 1 Laboratory and General Physics 2 and General Physics 2 Laboratory | ||
| Select one pair of science courses: | ||
| Principles of Biology and Principles of Biology Laboratory and Introductory Physiology and Introductory Physiology Laboratory | ||
| Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 and Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 Laboratory and Fundamentals of Chemistry 2 and Fundamentals of Chemistry 2 Laboratory | ||
| FOUNDATION COURSES | 19 | |
| Sustainable Earth and Sustainable Earth Laboratory | ||
| Global Sustainability | ||
| Earth System Science and Earth System Science Laboratory | ||
| Earth Data Analytics | ||
| Digital Earth and GIS and Digital Earth and GIS Laboratory | ||
| Careers in Sustainability | ||
| AREA of EMPHASIS: | 16 | |
Climate and Environmental Science | ||
Geoscience and Sustainable Energy | ||
GIS Methods | ||
| UPPER-DIVISION ELECTIVES ** | 12 | |
Select 12 credits of GEOL, GEOG or SUST at the 300-or above | ||
| CAPSTONE: | 3 | |
Select one from the following based on the AoE selected: | ||
| Geological Data Analysis | ||
| Geology Field Camp | ||
| Geographic Information Science: Applications | ||
| Senior Thesis | ||
| Total Hours | 72 | |
- *
Courses listed under the STEM Foundation section are excluded from the count of major courses at the lower and upper division.
- **
Courses used to fulfill an AoE requirement may not be used to fulfill upper-division electives.
Suggested Plans of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| SUST 101 & 101L (F2A) | 4 | CHEM 115 & 115L (F8 Course 1) | 4 |
| SUST 102 (EDG 4; F7) | 3 | ENGL 101 (F1) | 3 |
| SUST 191 | 1 | SUST 240 | 3 |
| MATH 155 (F3) | 4 | EDG 2: Effective and Civil Communication | 3 |
| EDG 1: Data and Society | 3 | F4 | 3 |
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| CHEM 116 & 116L (F8 Course 2) | 4 | ENGL 102 (F1) | 3 |
| SUST 201 & 201L | 4 | PHYS 101 & 101L (F8 Course 3) | 4 |
| SUST 250 & 250L (F8) | 4 | AoE Course 1 | 3 |
| EDG 3: Ethics and Civil Responsibility | 3 | General Elective | 4 |
| 15 | 14 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| SUST 388 | 1 | ARSC 380 (EDG 5) | 3 |
| PHYS 102 & 102L | 4 | SUST Studies Elective Course 1 | 3 |
| AoE Course 2 | 3 | SUST Studies Elective Course 2 | 3 |
| AoE Course 3 | 4 | AoE Course 4 | 3 |
| F5 | 3 | F6 | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| AoE Course 5 | 3 | Capstone | 3 |
| SUST Studies Elective Course 3 | 3 | SUST Studies Elective Course 4 | 3 |
| EDG 6: High Impact Experience | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| STAT 211 | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total credit hours: 120 | |||
Areas of Emphasis
Climate and Environmental Science Area of Emphasis Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CORE COURSES: | 10 | |
| Climate System Science and Climate System Science Laboratory | ||
| Geologic Field & Computer Methods Laboratory | ||
| Environmental Geology | ||
| CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE ELECTIVES: | 6 | |
| Select 2 courses from the following: | ||
| Geomorphology | ||
| Physical Hydrogeology | ||
| Climate Modeling | ||
| Total Hours | 16 | |
Geoscience and Sustainable Energy Area of Emphasis Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GEOL 275 | Geologic Field & Computer Methods Laboratory | 3 |
| GEOL 286 & 286L | Introduction to Minerals & Rocks and Introduction to Minerals & Rocks Laboratory | 4 |
| GEOL 311 & 311L | Stratigraphy and Sedimentation and Stratigraphy and Sedimentation Laboratory | 4 |
| GEOL 341 & 341L | Structural Geology and Structural Geology Laboratory | 4 |
| SUST 372 | Sustainable Energy | 3 |
| Total Hours | 18 | |
GIS Methods Area of Emphasis Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GIS METHODS CORE COURSES: | 10 | |
| Geospatial Problem Solving and Geospatial Problem Solving Laboratory | ||
| Introduction to GIS Programming | ||
| Introduction to Remote Sensing and Introduction to Remote Sensing Laboratory | ||
| GIS METHODS ELECTIVES: | 6 | |
| Select 2 courses from the following: | ||
| Geographical Data Analysis | ||
| Applied International Development | ||
| Geographic Information Science: Applications | ||
| Spatial Databases | ||
| Environmental Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Remote Sensing Applications | ||
| Open-Source Spatial Analytics | ||
| Web GIS | ||
| Digital Cartography | ||
| Research for Sustainable Development | ||
| Total Hours | 16 | |
Degree Progress
- Majors are expected to maintain a 2.0 GPA overall and a 2.0 in all SUST, GEOG and GEOL courses.
- By the end of the 4th semester in the major, students should have completed SUST 201, 240, and 250 and should be making satisfactory progress through the sequence of STEM requirements for the major (CHEM 115 or CS 110; PHYS 101 or 111; and MATH 150 or 153 or 155)
- All majors must meet with their departmental advisor each semester to evaluate progress.
Students who do not meet these benchmarks may be removed from their major.
Major Learning Outcomes
Earth and Environmental Science
- Apply knowledge of the relationship between earth systems and society to sustainability challenges.
- Develop and evaluate sustainable solutions using quantitative, qualitative, computational, or geospatial skills.
- Identify, document, and describe relationships between rock, water, air, and life in the context of Earth as a complex and dynamic system.
- Apply the scientific method to generate, interpret, model and evaluate 2D, 3D, and temporal data to address Earth Science and Sustainability-related problems.
- Communicate technical information clearly and effectively in written, oral, graphical, and geospatial format to diverse audiences in order to inform evidence-based decision-making.