The Environmental Science Program at SMSU was developed with three goals in mind:

• To prepare students for a variety of career opportunities in the environmental field

• To provide students with basic skills and knowledge needed for advanced study in professional or graduate school

• To promote an appreciation and understanding of the natural world.

To meet these goals, the Environmental Science Program offers a diversified selection of courses in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences. Supporting courses in biology, chemistry and geology are an important part of this curriculum in that they provide additional skills and knowledge required of environmental scientists.

As part of the Environmental Science major at SMSU, students complete an original research project. In the spring of their junior year students take a Research Methods (ENVS 390) course in which they select a project, design the study and complete a research prospectus. Students may then work on data collection over the summer (if they have selected a field based project) or in the fall when they enroll in the Environmental Science Capstone Course (ENVS 400). At the end of the fall semester, Environmental Science majors present a 10-12 minute PowerPoint presentation at the SMSU Undergraduate Research Conference.