University of California, San Diego
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The environmental engineering major focuses on conveying an understanding and awareness of the fundamental processes associated with human industrial activity that have environmental implications, and on equipping the next generation of engineers with the tools to develop technologies that enable sustainable economic growth.

Environmental Systems – 4 majors
• Environmental Policy
• Ecology, Behavior and Evolution
• Environmental Chemistry
• Earth Science

There can be little doubt that in the twenty-first century the global human community is facing a substantial growth in the environmental consequences of providing food, energy, materials, and basic services to a population of more than six billion inhabitants. The Environmental Systems Program recognizes the growing demand for environmental specialists and is designed to prepare undergraduates to enter a broad spectrum of environmental careers and graduate programs in, for example, the natural sciences, the social sciences, public policy, law, and business.

This interdisciplinary program recognizes that local, national, regional, international, and global environmental problems do not fit neatly into traditional academic departments. A measurable part of society’s inability to effectively manage complex environmental problems stems from the lack of specialists who can apply analytical tools that cross disciplinary boundaries. Many environmental specialists possess little training in the natural sciences including both the fundamental ideas and methodologies of the earth and environmental sciences. The environmental systems major was created to address both of these shortcomings.

Undergraduates in this major will develop an understanding of the biology of marine organisms and the biological and physical processes that affect these organisms, their populations, and their coastal and oceanic ecosystems. The major requires a foundation in the natural sciences, a rigorous core of marine biology courses and a unifying laboratory/field course that engages students more directly in the discovery process and in analyzing and interpreting data.

Majors select electives from a growing set of upper division Scripps Institution of Oceanography courses in marine biology and related disciplines. The marine biology curriculum takes advantage of UC San Diego's unique physical location along the Pacific Ocean. Laboratory work and field trips to intertidal zones, salt marshes, and other marine ecosystems are important components of the instructional program.
Ocean sciences are relevant to many contemporary environmental issues and problems and central to understanding earth-system evolution, dynamics, climate and sustainability. A major in marine biology is an appropriate start for students who are seeking a career or graduate studies in marine biology and related biological disciplines, a career in fields such as marine conservation, or simply interested in the major to broaden their base of knowledge and experience in the biological sciences.

Environmental Chemistry Major – http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/undergraduate/majors-minor/environmental-chemistry.html
Urban Studies and Planning Major – http://usp.ucsd.edu/
Ecology, Behavior and Evolution Major –http://biology.ucsd.edu/undergrad/majors/ecology-behavior-evolution.html
Earth Sciences Major – https://scripps.ucsd.edu/undergrad/earth-sciences-bs

The Environmental Studies minor offers students from every major a basic grounding in the scientific, technical, social, and cultural issues presented by the interaction of human beings with their environment and the need to build a more environmentally sustainable future.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography offers an undergraduate minor program in Marine Science. The minor curriculum is designed to complement the strong disciplinary training of UC San Diego basic science majors by providing a broad interdisciplinary perspective with an environmental focus. Ocean-related science is relevant to many contemporary environmental issues and problems and central to understanding earth-system evolution, dynamics, climate and sustainability.

A minor in earth sciences consists of twenty-eight units of earth sciences courses, at least twenty of which must be upper-division, focused on geology, geochemistry, or geophysics. Students interested in the earth sciences minor should meet with the earth sciences academic advising staff to discuss their curriculum choices.

Urban Studies and Planning Minor –
http://usp.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/minor.html
Environmental Systems Minor –
http://physicalsciences.ucsd.edu/programs/esys/esys-minor.html