Agricultural Systems Management
An engineering-focused program that covers the mechanical, natural resource, processing, and electronic technologies applied in agricultural systems.

Climatology
Draw on the fields of meteorology, geography, and geosciences to gain an understanding of the physical processes that govern the present-day climate.

Earth and Sustainability
Explore global sustainability issues in the context of marine, land, and atmospheric systems.

Environmental and Renewable Resource Economics
An introduction to how fundamental economic principles can be applied to explain and address environmental degradation and the unsustainable use of natural resources.

Environmental Resource Management
Explore environmental resource issues of varying scales through the application of biological, physical, and social sciences in solution-based coursework.

Environmental Soil Science
For those interested in environmental careers, become an expert in soil, particularly in its restoration, food systems, and its relationship to ecosystems.

Environmental Studies
An interdisciplinary introduction to the natural environment and human interactions with it.

Forest Ecosystems
Introduction to the functions and values of forested ecosystems with options in climate change, invasive species, agroforestry, and conservation.

International Agriculture
An interdisciplinary analysis of the global network of food systems exploring environmental, social, economic, political, and technological challenges and opportunities.

Landscape Architecture
Learn the art of design, planning, or management of the land and of the natural and built elements upon it.

Natural Resources
Dive into natural resources with options in environmental assessment, forest and wetland evaluation and management, and wildlife management, and more.

Plant Pathology
For those interested in botany, become an expert on the causes and management of plant diseases, including pathogen biology, environmental indicators, and integrated pest management.

Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
Explore the theoretical, managerial, and technical facets of recreation, parks, and tourism to enhance sustainable engagement and management.

Sustainability Leadership
Promote environmental, social, and economic sustainability in personal and professional lives through studying systems thinking, change agency, ethics, and more.

Watersheds and Water Resources
Learn the fundamental processes governing the transport and chemical evolution of surface and subsurface waters through the application of chemistry, biology, geoscience, and landscape evolution.

Agricultural Stewardship and Conservation
Gather enhanced knowledge for planning, designing, and implementing best management practices on agricultural lands that contribute to soil health.

Earth Sustainability
Study geoscience and address key sustainability issues, including the impact of climate change on Earth and its inhabitants, access to clean drinking water, and the pursuit of sustainable energy.

Geospatial Big Data Analytics
Learn how to collect, process, analyze, and communicate a wide range of geospatial big data from sources including satellites, cameras, and smartphones.

Global Environmental Systems
Characterize and analyze Earth’s physical environment across time and space through the study of physical geography.

Landscape Ecology
Make inferences about ecological dynamics at landscape scales through training in spatial analysis, environmental modeling, and geographically relevant ecosystem processes.

Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Gain expertise in several areas that relate to the world’s most important sociotechnological and sustainability challenges, including energy, environment, crop/food production, and health.

Ecology
Become an expert in the properties of ecosystems by focusing on the interactions of single organisms, populations, and communities with their environment.

Forest Resources
Understand the research, education, and scientific technology in the professions of forest products and forestry.

Homeland Security, Ag Biosecurity Option
Become a leader in the field of homeland security in agricultural biosecurity and food defense.

Landscape Architecture
Learn the art of design, planning, or management of the land and of the natural and built elements upon it.

Plant Pathology
For those interested in botany, become an expert on the causes and management of plant diseases, including pathogen biology, environmental indicators, and integrated pest management.

Transdisciplinary Research in Ecology and Society
A dual-title program with tracks to focus on anthropology, energy and mineral engineering, education policy and leadership, and more.

Turfgrass Management
Utilize a systems approach to turfgrass management using both theory and practice.

Wildlife and Fisheries Science
Understand the biology and management of terrestrial or aquatic wildlife species and their environments, and undergo training in fish and wildlife ecology, nutrition, physiology, behavior, and pathology of wildlife species.

AGECO122: Atmospheric Environment: Growing in the Wind
This course examines the impact of atmospheric processes, including energy, temperature, moisture, pressure, and wind, on ecosystems, weather, and climate, with a focus on the role of solar energy distribution and human influences on atmospheric conditions.

AGECO134N: Sustainable Agriculture Science and Policy
This inter-domain course explores the science, socioeconomics, and politics of managing food and fiber production systems, as well as the sustainability implications of current practices and future options.

AGECO144: Principles and Practices of Organic Agriculture
This course introduces the science and practices of organic agriculture through the lens of agroecology, covering topics like soil health, crop diversity, pest management, and organic regulations, with hands-on labs, field trips, and group projects.

AGECO201: Introductory Agroecology
This course provides an introduction to the processes and considerations that lead to the development of integrated solutions to crop production problem-solving.

AGECO418: Nutrient Management in Agricultural Systems
This course applies the fundamentals of animal, plant, and soil sciences to the issues and solutions that arise where livestock production intersects with water and air quality.

AGECO438: Principles of Weed Management
This course examines the biology, ecology, and management of weedy plants across diverse ecosystems, emphasizing integrated and alternative control methods beyond herbicides, including identification, control tactics, and the development of sustainable weed management plans.

AGECO457: Principles of Integrated Pest Management
This course provides an advanced, ecology-based study of integrated pest management (IPM) across agricultural, natural, and urban systems, emphasizing diverse control strategies, decision-making tools, and the social, economic, and regulatory contexts of pest management.

ANSC300: Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic Animals
This course provides an overview of the anatomy and physiology of domestic animals and how they relate to animal management practices.

ANSC332N: Science and Policy of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Management
This course introduces the science and policy of greenhouse gas emissions from natural, energy, and food systems, with a global perspective on climate policy and mitigation strategies in both developed and developing countries.

BE307: Principles of Soil and Water Engineering
This course focuses on the utilization and engineering of soil-water resources, including rainfall-runoff, soil-water movement, erosion/sediment transport and flow processes.

BE467: Design of Stormwater and Erosion Control Facilities
This course equips students with the ability to design sediment and stormwater impoundments, as well as erosion control structures, used in agricultural development and the agricultural-urban interface.

BE477: Land-based Waste Disposal
The course focuses on the exploration of the fundamental principles and processes that determine the fate of nutrients and pollutants in liquid and semi-solid wastes that are applied to the soil for recycling and disposal.

BE487: Simulation Modeling for Water Resources Management
This course provides hands-on experience with industry-standard simulation models used in natural resources engineering to analyze water resource issues, focusing on watershed responses to management scenarios, and covering key modeling concepts such as calibration, validation, and uncertainty analysis.

BIOL415: Ecotoxicology
This course introduces the science of ecotoxicology, exploring contaminant classes, their effects on organisms and ecosystems, toxicity testing, and environmental regulations.

BIOL435: Ecology of Lakes and Streams
This course examines the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of freshwater environments, with a special emphasis on the factors that regulate productivity in freshwater ecosystems.

BIOL436: Population Ecology and Global Climate Change
This course explores how individuals, populations, and communities respond ecologically to environmental variation, with a focus on climate change, by examining key concepts in climate science and population ecology.

BIOL463: General Ecology
This course illustrates the science of ecology from individual, population, and community-level perspectives, and discusses the applications of this science to issues of biodiversity conservation.

BISC3: Environmental Science
This course examines the root causes of the global environmental crisis, exploring scientific, technological, sociological, psychological, and personal responses to inspire critical thinking and empower students to contribute to the healing of Earth.

BRS393: Bioresources Industry Tour
This week-long course offers students the opportunity to tour bioproducts manufacturing facilities and agricultural systems.

EARTH100/100H: Environment Earth
This course introduces students to the environmental challenges of sustaining human civilization, emphasizing the impacts of population growth and resource use on the Earth system, while developing critical thinking skills through the analysis of scientific data and the evaluation of complex environmental issues.

EARTH103: Earth in the Future: Predicting Climate Change and Its Impacts Over the Next Century
This course explores Earth’s interconnected climate system through hands-on activities and modeling tools to understand past, present, and future climate changes, emphasizing their impacts on resources, society, and sustainability, and examining strategies for addressing climate-related challenges.

EARTH105N: Environments of Africa: Geology and Climate Change
This course examines the natural features of Africa, focusing on the interplay between geology, climate history, and human activities—highlighting case studies like the Nile, climate change, and natural resources—to develop scientific reasoning and understanding of environmental and political challenges on the continent.

EARTH107: Coastal Processes, Hazards, and Society
This course provides a global overview of coastal landscapes and the dynamic processes shaping them, focusing on environmental hazards like sea level rise and exploring real-world data, community impacts, and policy and engineering responses to biophysical changes in low-elevation coastal zones.

EARTH150: Dinosaur Extinctions and Other Controversies
This course explores Earth’s history, the evolution of life, and major events like the dinosaur extinction, while examining how scientific theories are developed, debated, and influenced by social and historical contexts.

EARTH2: The Earth System and Global Change
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to Earth as a dynamic system, examining natural and human-driven global changes—such as climate change and biodiversity loss—within the context of Earth’s long-term evolution, to help students understand system interactions and make informed judgments about environmental issues.

EARTH240: Coral Reef Systems
This course examines the ecology, geology, and chemistry of coral reef ecosystems, their environmental threats, and methods for reef surveying and monitoring, including hands-on fieldwork focused on global and local reef systems, such as those in the Bahamas.

EARTH400: Earth Sciences Seminar
This course features an interdisciplinary study of environmental problems in the earth sciences.

ECON428: Environmental Economics
This course explores environmental pollution, the market economy, and optimal resource allocation while focusing on alternative control procedures, levels of environmental protection, and public policy.

EGEE439: Alternative Fuels from Biomass Sources
This course examines bio-based energy technologies for power and transportation, their environmental implications, and the feasibility of developing biomass fuels and biorefineries to meet energy needs sustainably.

ENT222: Honey Bees and Humans
This course explores honey bee biology, behavior, and health, their vital role in ecosystems and agriculture, the global history of human-bee interactions, and the social and political dimensions of addressing bee health challenges.

ENT457: Principles of Integrated Pest Management
This course provides an advanced, ecology-based study of integrated pest management (IPM) across agricultural, natural, and urban systems, emphasizing diverse control strategies, decision-making tools, and the social, economic, and regulatory contexts of pest management.

ERM210: Environmental Factors and their Effect on Your Food Supply
This course examines how urban environmental issues impact food systems and natural resources, using insects as a lens to explore human effects on ecosystems, while integrating biological, chemical, physical, and social principles to assess sustainability, scientific inquiry, and environmental interactions.

ERM300: Basic Principles and Calculations in Environmental Analysis
This course demonstrates the dependence of environmental science on biology, chemistry, and physics, and provides a contextual link between principles learned in basic science courses and more advanced environmental concepts.

ERM309: Measurement and Monitoring of Hydrologic Systems
This course introduces students to fundamental measurement and monitoring techniques in hydrologic systems, including rainfall and flow assessment, as well as GIS-based watershed mapping, with hands-on applications that support real-world water resource planning and sustainability projects.

ERM412: Resource Systems Analysis
This course develops quantitative problem-solving skills for environmental and resource-related issues through the application of biological, chemical, and physical principles.

ERM413W: Case Studies in Ecosystem Management
This course covers the application of biological, physical, and social science principles to ecosystem management problems with an introduction to environmental impact analysis.

ERM430: Air Pollution Impacts to Terrestrial Ecosystems
This course explores the sources, transport, and ecological effects of air pollutants, covering diagnostic methods, regulatory frameworks, and the long-term impacts of pollutants such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides on ecosystems.

ERM431: Environmental Toxicology
This course covers the effects of pollutants on animal health at the chemical, physical, and cellular levels.

ERM435: Limnology
This course examines the physical, chemical, biological, and ecological principles that govern freshwater ecosystems, utilizing case studies and current research to investigate environmental issues and inform management strategies for lakes, ponds, and rivers.

ERM440: Chemistry of the Environment: Soil, Water, and Air
This course deepens students’ understanding of chemical principles through their application to environmental soil and atmospheric chemistry, covering topics such as soil mineralogy, sorption, redox reactions, aquatic pollution, and climate-related atmospheric processes.

ERM447: Stream Restoration
This course introduces students to stream restoration by examining the causes of stream impairment, assessment tools, stream classification systems, and restoration strategies, with hands-on experience in stream surveys and the development of a preliminary restoration design for an impaired stream reach.

ERM450: Wetland Conservation
This course provides an interdisciplinary study of wetlands, covering their types, ecological functions, and roles in ecosystem services, while exploring wetland management, restoration, regulation, and policy, with emphasis on hydrological, biological, and chemical interactions.

FOR201N: Global Change and Ecosystems
This course examines the diversity of Earth’s ecosystems and the human-driven global changes that affect them, including climate change, land use, and pollution, while exploring ecological and societal responses and strategies for sustainability.

FOR303: Herbaceous Forest Plant Identification and Ecology
This course focuses on developing herbaceous plant identification skills with emphasis on important plant structural features, common taxonomic terms, dichotomous keys, and botanical nomenclature.

FOR401: Urban Forest Management
This course examines the planning and management of trees and natural landscapes to support community development, with a focus on arboriculture, urban forestry programs, land-use policy, and the role of natural resources in civic environmentalism and sustainable community planning.

FOR403: Invasive Forest Plants: Identification, Ecology, and Management
This course addresses the impacts and challenges associated with “exotic” plant invasions in eastern North American forests through an interdisciplinary exploration of topics including invasive plant identification and management, ecological interactions and impacts, human roles and influences, and management and policy options.

FOR410: Elements of Forest Ecosystem Management
This course examines the shift in forest management from commodity production to sustaining ecological integrity through ecosystem management, exploring its ecological, social, and economic dimensions, with a focus on biodiversity, sustainability, and balancing human and environmental needs.

FOR418: Agroforestry: Science, Design, and Practice
This course explores the science, design, and practice of agroforestry—integrating trees with crops and/or animals for ecological and economic benefits—through interdisciplinary study, critical discussion, and hands-on project design at both local and global scales.

FOR421: Silviculture: Applied Forest Ecology
This course teaches how to apply ecological principles and silvicultural techniques to manage forest ecosystems sustainably, balancing biodiversity conservation with timber production and other societal goals through practical forest stand prescriptions and ecosystem-based approaches.

FOR430: Conservation Biology
This course applies basic principles of ecology and genetics to issues regarding the conservation of forested ecosystems and their associated fisheries and wildlife.

FOR450W: Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
This course addresses the human needs and desires of individuals and nations, focusing on the social, ecological, and economic benefits derived from decisions regarding natural resources.

GEOG1N: Global Parks and Sustainability
This course examines parks and protected areas as dynamic socio-ecological systems to explore global themes of sustainability, conservation, and cultural values through historical context, case studies, and future challenges in conservation management.

GEOG210: Geographic Perspectives on Environmental Systems Science
This lecture, lab, and field course examines Earth’s physical environment and its dynamic interactions with human activities, focusing on spatial and temporal patterns of climate, landforms, hydrology, soils, and vegetation, while highlighting human impacts on natural systems worldwide.

GEOG310: Introduction to Global Climatic Systems
This intermediate climatology course explores geographic patterns and physical processes of interannual climate variability, including teleconnections and human impacts on climate, to help students understand regional to global climate dynamics and changes.

GEOG412W: Climate Change and Variability
This course explores the science of past, present, and future climate change and variability, emphasizing collaborative research, scientific communication, and writing-intensive analysis of key concepts, including radiative forcing, climate models, and climate phenomena.

GEOG412W: Climatic Change and Variability
This course explores the science of past, present, and future climate change and variability, emphasizing collaborative research, scientific communication, and writing-intensive analysis of key concepts such as radiative forcing, climate models, and climate phenomena.

GEOG414: Principles and Applications in Landscape Ecology
This course examines the interactions between spatial patterns and ecological processes across landscapes, informing conservation and land management decisions by emphasizing human impacts, ecological responses, and the application of landscape ecology tools and theories.

GEOG431: Geography of Water Resources
This course explores the natural processes of freshwater ecosystems, the uneven global distribution of water, and the complex human, ecological, and policy challenges surrounding water resource management, quality, quantity, and conflict.

GEOG444: African Resources and Development
This course examines the ecological, economic, political, and cultural factors shaping development in sub-Saharan Africa, critically analyzing historical legacies, global influences, and dominant narratives around issues like poverty, conservation, food security, and foreign intervention.

GEOG494: Research Project in Geography
This course provides an avenue for supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.

GEOSC2: Historical Geology
This course covers the history of the Earth and its life, the fundamentals of evolution, correlation, and paleogeography, and a practicum that includes field trips, the study of geologic maps, geologic problems, and fossils, with an emphasis on Appalachian geology.

GEOSC303: Introduction to Environmental Geology
This course explores the origin of Earth and its materials, natural resources, geologic barriers and hazards, and their relationships to human use of the environment.

GEOSC320: Geology of Climate Change
This course covers geologic evidence for climate change and mechanisms of change, especially from the Ice Age through the near future.

GEOSC40: The Sea Around Us
This course covers the origin of the ocean’s rock-walled boundaries, the evolution of its coastlines, the motion of currents, waves, tides, and their destructive power, the source and composition of seawater, and the role of the ocean in local and global climate.

GEOSC450: Risk Analysis in the Earth Sciences
This course introduces quantitative risk analysis methods and concepts, including probability, uncertainty, and decision-making, as applied to Earth system risks such as drought, flooding, nuclear waste storage, and climate change.

GEOSC451: Natural Resources: Origins, Economics and Environmental Impact
This course examines the geological origins, economic factors, and environmental implications of extracting and utilizing non-renewable natural resources, including metals, minerals, fossil fuels, and industrial materials.

HORT150N: Plants in the Human Context
This course explores the vital role of plants in human life and history, examining how they sustain us through food, medicine, and culture, and highlighting their influence on global events, such as the spread of tea, the American Civil War, the Irish Potato Famine, and the development of forensic science.

INTAG100N: Everyone Eats: Hunger, Food Security & Global Agriculture
This course examines the global impacts of agriculture through an interdisciplinary lens, exploring how interconnected natural and social factors, such as climate change, technology, resource use, and cultural practices, shape agricultural systems, particularly in the global South, with implications for food security, sustainability, and global equity.

LARCH 145: Ecology and Plants I
This course introduces students to the ecological roles of plants and the foundational concepts of plant communities, ecosystems, and environmental design, emphasizing how landscape architects apply ecological principles across scales to create healthy, sustainable landscapes.

LARCH 245: Ecology and Plants II
This course emphasizes ecological planting design using native plant communities, teaching students to apply systems-based knowledge of plants, soil, and water to create sustainable, low-maintenance landscapes that support biodiversity, cultural heritage, and climate resilience.

LARCH 247N: Restoring the Earth – Designing Landscapes for Ecological Restoration
This course explores the ecological and aesthetic principles of landscape design for restoring degraded environments, with a focus on techniques to rehabilitate ecosystems, including prairies, wetlands, woodlands, and wildlife habitats.

LARCH 336: Design Implementation IV: Stormwater
This advanced landscape architecture studio course focuses on technical aspects such as landform design, site grading, hydrology, stormwater management, and site systems stewardship, integrating ecological principles with technical drawing and CAD production.

LARCH 405N: Bicycling Culture and Urban Design
This course covers bicycle culture, allows students to observe bicycle infrastructure and multi-modal transportation solutions, learn from programs and policies that support bicycling, and learn about the role of bicycling in sustainable, livable communities.

METEO469: From Meteorology to Mitigation: Understanding Global Warming
This course explores the science of global warming and climate change, their environmental and societal impacts, and strategies for mitigation, using climate models and IPCC frameworks to understand future scenarios and policy implications.

METEO470: Climate Dynamics
This course covers the fundamental physical processes driving Earth’s past, present, and future climate, including atmospheric dynamics, energy budgets, and ocean circulation, with applications to anthropogenic climate change.

PLANT461: Emerging Issues in Plant Sciences
This is an interdisciplinary course with a focus on balancing plant production and environmental conservation, covering subjects like conservation cropping, soil health, transgenic crops, ecosystem services, climate change, pest and nutrient management, biofuels, and food systems.

PPEM430: Air Pollution Impacts to Terrestrial Ecosystems
This course covers air pollutant sources, transport, and effects on terrestrial ecosystems, focusing on pollutants like ozone and sulfur dioxide, their role as plant pathogens, ecosystem impacts, diagnostics, pest interactions, and regulatory frameworks, including the Clean Air Act and air quality standards.

RPTM220: Sustainability, Society, and Well-Being
To develop students’ understanding of the concept of sustainability, this course explores how interconnected social, economic, and environmental systems have resulted in the contemporary sustainability challenges we face at multiple scales and in multiple contexts, from the local to the national to the global.

RPTM325: Principles of Environmental Interpretation
This course introduces students to the history, principles, and practices of environmental interpretation, emphasizing effective program design, presentation skills, career opportunities, and hands-on service learning in natural and cultural history settings.

RPTM326: Natural History Interpretation
The primary objective of this course is to give students the basic skills and resources to research and interpret the natural history of a given park or natural area; they will continue to apply and practice principles that help create effective outdoor programming.

RPTM327: Cultural History Interpretation
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the cultural resources within central Pennsylvania and to learn how to effectively interpret these resources through interactive programs and experiences.

RPTM335: Outdoor Recreation Consortium
This course is designed to increase students’ understanding and appreciation of outdoor recreation resources, the agencies managing those resources, the management strategies used, and the factors affecting management, including issues related to the nearby “gateway communities” and a National Park’s broader environment.

RPTM430: Environmental Education Methods and Materials
This course teaches methods and materials for developing, implementing, and evaluating environmental education programs in formal and non-formal settings, with practical experience at Shaver’s Creek and a focus on place-based pedagogy and access to resources.

SOILS101: Introductory Soil Science
This course provides a broad introduction to soil science, exploring soil properties, functions, and their relationships to land use, plant growth, environmental quality, and society, while developing technical skills for soil observation and management decisions.

SOILS418: Nutrient Management in Agricultural Systems
This course applies the fundamentals of animal, plant, and soil sciences to the issues and solutions in the area where livestock production intersects with water and air quality.

SOILS419: Soil Environmental Chemistry
This course introduces the chemical constituents and processes in soils, including mineral weathering, soil solution chemistry, and solute adsorption, enabling students to understand soil chemical reactivity and apply these concepts to real-world environmental issues.

SOILS71: Environmental Sustainability
This introductory course explores environmental sustainability by examining key global challenges (e.g., Feeding the World), the role of soils in human-environment interactions, and sustainable solutions to balance feeding a growing population with protecting the environment.

STS201: Climate Change, Energy, and Biodiversity
This course examines the studies of global warming, energy options, and biodiversity, and their interrelations as scientific and societal issues.

WFS209: Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation
This course introduces students to fisheries and wildlife conservation and management by applying basic ecological principles and exploring the biological, environmental, and human dimensions involved in sustaining these natural resources.

WFS430: Conservation Biology
This course applies ecological and genetic principles to the conservation of biodiversity in forested ecosystems, addressing topics such as species protection, habitat fragmentation, ecosystem management, and human impacts on natural resources.

WFS450: Wetland Conservation
This course examines the diverse range of wetland types and classification schemes, emphasizing the complex hydrological, biological, chemical, and physical interactions that occur within wetlands.