Conservation and Development
This track offers a great deal of flexibility, but it is quite broad. Students are strongly advised to find a subfocus. ** Most of the courses in this track are offered at least every other year.
- Students who are primarily interested in conservation and natural resource management should take at least one ecology course and ENTS 244 (Biodiversity Conservation and Development). BIO 350 (Evolution) complements these courses by studying evolutionary change in wild populations. Remote sensing and Topics in Landscape Ecology are particularly useful for students who want to develop advanced skills in spatial analysis of landscape-level phenomena.
- Students interested in climate and energy should take ENTS 262 (Materials Science, Energy and the Environment) and ENTS 287 (Climate Science), ENTS 265 (Modeling Environmental Systems), and/or ENTS 288 (Abrupt Climate Change). We don’t currently have a course that focuses directly on climate and energy policy, but these issues do receive considerable attention in the economics and political science courses.
How the climate courses relate to each other:
- ENTS 287 focuses on the physical science behind global warming and how scientists study it. Particular attention is paid to understanding, using, and interpreting results from a global climate model (GCM)
- ENTS 288 applies systems theory to explain abrupt climate change. It also focuses on interpretation of historical climate data and lessons to be learned from ancient climate change
- ENTS 265 explores ways to model complex environmental systems, especially biogeochemical cycles relating to the rates of transport of matter and energy among water, soil, and the atmosphere
- Students interested in environmental justice and developing nations are advised to take POSC 212 (Environmental Justice) and Econ 240 (Microeconomics of Development). Which science courses you take will depend on your specific interest (eg agricultural productivity; pollution; energy production; etc). But climate science is likely to be useful no matter what you’re interested in.
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- Note: Students interested in environmental justice are also strongly advised to take either POSC 358 (Comparative Social Movements) or SOAN 225 (Social Movements). SOAN 115 (Inequality in America) is also very useful.
(i)Environmental Science:
BIOL 221 Ecosystem Ecology
BIOL 350 Evolution
BIOL 352 Population Ecology
BIOL 361 Tropical Rainforest Ecology
BIOL 362 Field Investigation in Tropical Rainforest Ecology
BIOL 371 Seminar: Human-Dominated Ecosystems
BIOL 374 Seminar: Grassland Ecology
BIOL 375 Natural History of Minnesota
ENTS 254 Topics in Landscape Ecology
ENTS 262 Materials Science, Energy, and the Environment
ENTS 265 Modeling Environmental Systems
ENTS 272 Remote Sensing
ENTS 287 Climate Science
ENTS 288 Abrupt Climate Change
*Australia Program: This OCS is usually offered every other year. Students may count up to six credits from an OCS program toward the ENTS major. A course from this program counts as a science elective for this track.
(ii) Society, Culture and Policy:
ECON 240 Microeconomics of Development
ECON 268 Economics of Cost Benefit Analysis
ECON 271 Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment
ECON 272 Economics, Property Rights and Institutions
ENTS 200 Food and Agriculture
ENTS 215 Environmental Ethics
ENTS 244 Biodiversity Conservation and Development
ENTS 247 Agroforestry Systems
ENTS 310 Topics in Environmental Law and Policy
HIST 306 American Wilderness
HIST 308 American Cities and Nature
PHIL 243 Animal Ethics
POSC 212 Environmental Justice
POSC 268 International Environmental Politics and Policies
POSC 333 Global Change and Sustainability*
SOAN 234 Ecology, Economy, and Culture
SOAN 302 Anthropology and Indigenous Rights
*Tanzania Program: This OCS runs every two or three years. Students may count up to six credits from an OCS program toward the ENTS major. A course from this program counts as a non-science elective for this track.