ENVSS 1040 Planet Earth 4 Credits

This course is an introduction to the physical environment of the Earth (lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere) and to the processes that shape the surface of the Earth through space and time. Through this course, you will investigate diverse landscapes and the processes that create them, explore the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere, tour Earth's biomes and examine the climates that produce them, analyze components of climate change and environmental conservation, and investigate how people influence and are influenced by our world. A course trip is required.
Components: Laboratory, Class
GE: NSWL Nat Sci + Lab
Typically Offered: Fall - Spring

ENVSS 1230 Cultural Geography 3 Credits

An introduction to the culture of peoples, with a focus on the constructing of culture and the primary components of culture: ethnicity, language, religion, and popular culture. The course concentrates on cross-cultural comparisons in an attempt to broadly describe cultures from around the world.
Components: Class
GE: SBS Social & Behavioral Sci
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 2120 Forest Stewardship 2 Credits

Forests are a key component of the ecological and cultural landscapes of Wisconsin, the Driftless Area, and the world. They also play fundamental roles in supporting biodiversity, ecosystem function, and climate adaptation. Changes in species composition resulting from changes in disturbance regimes, the arrival of non-local beings, climate change, and shifting societal relationships with forests highlight the fact that people are key contributors to the composition, health, and resilience of forest ecosystems, and therefore carry the responsibility of understanding how these systems work and in what ways people can support their stewardship. This course will help students understand the interactions of forest species and successional dynamics, their relationships with resource availability such as water and sunlight, and the ways in which humans can engage with forests to promote diverse and resilient landscapes. Learning will primarily be field-based and applied, and will include chainsaw safety certification and skills development to safely and effectively promote forest health.
Components: Field Studies
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or ECORES 1010 or BIOLOGY 1750
Typically Offered: Winter

ENVSS 2230 Cartography 3 Credits

This course employs hands-on and project-based learning to explore the concepts, principles, and techniques related to crafting well-designed and ethical maps using contemporary tools.
Components: Laboratory, Class
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 2370 The Land Ethic 3 Credits

This course takes as its premise that land is a relationship that is cultivated through land practices. Students will engage with an overview of central theories and approaches to environmental ethics, environmental history, and land politics with special emphasis on Indigenous land relations and land stewardship. Students will analyze the racialized, gendered, and colonial dynamics of land relations. Additionally, this course aims to help students deepen their connection with the land and grow their knowledge and skills for participating in dialogue about the role of land and place in relationship to societies today. This course may be taken in conjunction with The Land Ethic Practicum (ENVSS 2380) for hands-on experiences with land practices.
Components: Class
GE: SBS Social & Behavioral Sci
Typically Offered: Spring

ENVSS 2380 Land Ethic Practicum 3 Credits

This is a companion course to ENVSS 2370. The practicum offers students hands-on experiences with important land practices. The knowledge learned in ENVSS 2370, The Land Ethic, will be applied to a land stewardship context outside of the classroom for experiential and place-based learning. This course may be repeated for credit.
Components: Practicum
Prereqs/Coreqs: P or C: ENVSS 2370
Typically Offered: Fall - Spring

ENVSS 3120 Geography of the Driftless Area 3 Credits

The Driftless Area is unique in its geology, landscape, culture, economy, and environment. This place-based course will use a regional approach to examine what makes the Driftless Area distinct and in the process explore ways in which people create identity and express themselves through their relationships with the land and each other.
Components: Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or ENVSS 1230
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 3140 Geomorphology 4 Credits

This course is the study of Earth's ever-changing landscapes. Students will analyze how landforms evolve through tectonic, hydrologic, atmospheric, and anthropogenic forces. Topics will expand upon concepts of the lithosphere that are introduced in ENVSS 1040. Relevance to environmental change and human impacts on natural systems is stressed. Regional field trips are required.
Components: Laboratory, Class
GE: NSWL Nat Sci + Lab
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or GEOLOGY 1140 or BIOLOGY 1650 or BIOLOGY 1750 or Instructor Consent
Typically Offered: Fall

ENVSS 3170 Space, Place, and Gender 3 Credits

An introduction to gender and geography. The role of gender in the study of geography, which is concerned with places, linkages, patterns of flow, locations, landscape, and the social/political/economic production of space.
Components: Discussion, Class
Cross Offering: WOMGENDR 3170
Typically Offered: Fall - Spring

ENVSS 3230 Geographic Information Systems 4 Credits

An in-depth and hands-on introduction to the core GIS concepts including map projections and coordinate systems, raster and vector data models, digital data sources, digitizing, map design and production, attribute data, data manipulation, and fundamental spatial analysis.
Components: Laboratory, Class
Typically Offered: Fall

ENVSS 3240 Meteorology 4 Credits

This course is the study of Earth's atmosphere and weather. Topics include atmospheric composition and structure, solar radiation and seasons, atmospheric pressure and wind, clouds, precipitation, storms, forecasting, and the impacts of climate change on weather. Weekly lab meetings will engage students in hands-on meteorological exercises.
Components: Laboratory, Class
GE: NSWL Nat Sci + Lab
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or Instructor Consent
Typically Offered: Spring

ENVSS 3330 Environmental Conservation 3 Credits

How to adequately conserve our environment in the face of global changes is one of the big questions of our time and depends on both science and policy to create effective solutions. This course explores the relationship between societies and the natural environment with an emphasis on conservation strategies, policies, and conflicts. Students will analyze the use and misuse of natural resources, global conservation initiatives, and the history of conservation thought and practice to understand the critiques and promise of various approaches to conservation.
Components: Class
GE: SBS Social & Behavioral Sci
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: Junior standing or (ENGLISH 1230 and ENVSS 1040)
Typically Offered: Fall - Spring

ENVSS 3340 Biogeography 3 Credits

This course examines life on Earth, the biosphere, which extends from the deepest ocean miles into the atmosphere. Students will study the distribution of life worldwide, both past and present, and the factors that determine these patterns. Topics discussed include evolution, extinction, dispersal, altitudinal zonation, zoogeographic provinces, regional climate, vegetation structure, ecological succession, species richness, global climate change, biomes, and island biogeography.
Components: Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or BIOLOGY 1150 or BIOLOGY 1650 or BIOLOGY 1750 or consent of instructor
Typically Offered: Fall

ENVSS 3380 Leadership in Land Practices 3 Credits

Students enrolled in this course will take on a leadership role in campus land stewardship activities, including the land practices featured in ENVSS 2380. Students will gain experience planning a project and leading teams of students in land stewardship and land management practices. Students may also design and conduct assessments of stewardship activities to improve the course curriculum.
Components: Practicum
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 2380 and consent of instructor
Typically Offered: Spring

ENVSS 3510 Drones: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Operations and Imaging 3 Credits

This course is designed to provide students with hands-on experience with drone safety, operations, and image collection and processing. Students will learn the background and knowledge to successfully pass the FAA Part 107 licensing exam. Topics will include regulations, airspace classification and operating requirements, weather, loading and performance, and operations. Students will demonstrate their understanding through quizzes on content, classroom engagement, flight demonstration, and a course project. Students will also learn how drones are used by professionals in industry and government.
Components: Laboratory, Class
Typically Offered: Fall - even year

ENVSS 3520 Remote Sensing of the Environment 3 Credits

Introduction to the study of the environment through air photos and satellite imagery. Topics covered includes the principles of remote sensing, interactions of the electromagnetic spectrum with the atmosphere and earth's surface, aerial photographs, satellite systems, and sensors. The emphasis is on applications to climate change, landcover mapping, forestry, agriculture, and oceanography.
Components: Class, Laboratory
Typically Offered: Fall

ENVSS 3530 Topics in Regional Geography 2-3 Credits

Selected world regions are studied in a traditional regional or topical format.
Components: Class
GE: SBS Social & Behavioral Sci
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 3550 Fire Behavior, Science, and Stewardship 2 Credits

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of wildland fire science and management. Students will explore key aspects of fire behavior, fire weather, fuels, risk management, and suppression tactics. Through lectures, hands-on labs, and applied projects, students will gain foundational knowledge and practical skills in prescribed fire planning, implementation, monitoring, and smoke management, while critically examining trade-offs and management objectives in fire-prone landscapes.
Components: Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or ENVSS 2370 or BIOLOGY 1750 or ECORES 1010 or Instructor Consent
Typically Offered: Winter

ENVSS 3570 Fire Ecology 3 Credits

This course will integrate learning in the classroom, on the land, and in the laboratory to explore the key role of fire in nearly all of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. Students will examine the relationship between fire and vegetation patterns from ecological to evolutionary time scales, with emphasis placed on the role of people in shaping historical patterns of fire and how we engage with fire as a society. Students will translate course content to application through management, conservation, and stewardship actions.
Components: Field Studies, Laboratory, Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or ENVSS 2370 or BIOLOGY 1750 or ECORES 1010 or Instructor Consent
Typically Offered: Spring

ENVSS 3580 Fire Practicum 1-3 Credits

This course provides students with opportunities to translate their understanding of fire science and ecology into applied lands stewardship through hands on learning activities, including burn unit design, burn break design and preparation, ignition techniques, burn crew organization, and active fire exercises. Students who complete this course will be well prepared to step into jobs that include working with fire as a land stewardship practice, as well as being equipped to incorporate fire in their own relationship to land and place.
Components: Practicum
Cross Offering: ECORES 3580
Prereqs/Coreqs: P or C: ENVSS 3570 or ECORES 3020
Typically Offered: Every Term

ENVSS 3630 Latin American Environments Field Course 3 Credits

Latin American environmental issues are explored through a field-based experience in this short-term faculty-led (STFL) study abroad course. The interconnections among environmental protection, ecosystems, natural resources, culture, history, development, and/or policy will be engaged with through hands-on learning that advances critical thinking and development of a global perspective. An accompanying course trip to the area studied is a required element of the course.
Components: Field Studies
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: a 1000-level course in ENVSS or consent of instructor
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 3750 The Western Trip: Regional Studies of Environment and Society in the Western United States 1-4 Credits

This course trip is built around an extended place-based experience in selected regions of the western United Sates. Topics of study include physical, human, and environmental geography.
Components: Field Studies
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: consent of instructor
Typically Offered: Summer

ENVSS 3850 Public Lands 3 Credits

This course examines publicly managed lands. Environmental issues, politics, culture, and Indigenous rights will be explored. Accompanying course trips are required.
Components: Discussion, Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: a previous course in ENVSS or consent of instructor
Typically Offered: Spring - odd year

ENVSS 3950 Research Practicum 3 Credits

Students participate and lead in various phases of the research process in close collaboration with a faculty mentor. This course develops students' research and professional skills and culminates in a formal presentation, written report, and/or other scholarly product.
Components: Practicum
Typically Offered: Fall - Spring

ENVSS 4040 Python for GIS 3 Credits

This course will introduce Python within the context of ArcGIS, starting with the basics and foundations of Python then working up to creating tools and tasks within Python for ArcGIS. Knowledge of Python can enhance the GIS experience and make available tools and processes not accessible through ArcGIS desktop. A working knowledge of Python will make produce a more efficient GIS user and a more attractive job candidate. No previous programming experience is assumed, but knowledge of ArcGIS is critical.
Components: Class, Laboratory
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 3230 or equivalent
Typically Offered: Spring

ENVSS 4120 Special Topics in Environment and Society 2-3 Credits

An in-depth exploration of a specific environmental topic developed by the faculty instructor.
Components: Seminar, Laboratory
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: junior standing
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 4150 Global Environmental Change 3 Credits

Environmental change, especially climate change, creates the framework in which all economic, conservation, and policy decisions are made and is a key issue in pursuing a sustainable society. This course will introduce you to the diverse methods used to study past and current environmental change and will give you a broad understanding of the state of knowledge in this critical area.
Components: Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or BIOLOGY 1750 or consent of instructor
Typically Offered: Spring - odd year

ENVSS 4330 Advanced Geographic Information Systems 4 Credits

This course builds on concepts covered in ENVS 3230 Geographic Information Systems with an emphasis on spatial analysis using advanced methods for rasters and vectors.
Components: Class, Laboratory
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 3230
Typically Offered: Spring

ENVSS 4660 Cooperative Field Experience 1-8 Credits

In this course, the student will partner with a cooperating agency, business, organization, or institution. The nature of the partnership, assignment, experience, number of credits, and method of evaluation will be stipulated in a learning contract between the student, faculty mentor, and external partner.
Components: Field Studies
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: consent of department chair
Typically Offered: Based on Student Demand

ENVSS 4670 Environmental Monitoring 3 Credits

This course covers the applied and practical reasons for measuring physical aspects of the environment. Techniques covered include air, water, soil, and sound monitoring, indoor vs. outdoor pollutants, microplastics, flora and fauna monitoring, and remote sensing as an environmental monitoring tool.
Components: Field Studies
Prereqs/Coreqs: P : junior standing
Typically Offered: Fall

ENVSS 4720 Dendrochronology: The Science of Tree Rings 3 Credits

An introduction to dendrochronology, the science of tree-ring research. This course will provide students with an overview of the fundamentals of dendrochronology and examine applications of the science using real-world examples. Tree rings help researchers address questions in diverse topics such as ecology, archaeology, and climatology. A hands-on class project collecting, preparing, and analyzing tree-ring samples to generate dendrochronological data will be an integral part of the course. At least one field trip will be required.
Components: Field Studies, Laboratory, Class
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: ENVSS 1040 or BIOLOGY 1650 or BIOLOGY 1750 or BIOLOGY 1350 or BIOLOGY 1910
Typically Offered: Fall

ENVSS 4760 Place-Based Pursuits in Environmental Sciences and Society 1-8 Credits

Place-based, experiential learning that will span one to eight weeks duration to study environmental systems and their relation to society firsthand in North America or overseas.
Components: Field Studies
Typically Offered: Occasionally

ENVSS 4920 Independent Study in Environmental Science and Conservation 1-3 Credits

Independent work on a particular topic or problem proposed by the student that is approved and overseen by a faculty and/or instructional staff member.
Components: Independent Study
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: consent of department chair
Typically Offered: Fall - Spring

ENVSS 4950 Environment and Society Seminar 3 Credits

Students participate in a community of learning dedicated to special topics in Environment and Society. The specific course topic and content will vary by offering and will support the growing mastery of department student learning outcomes through readings, discussion, library research, and/or organization and presentation of research data.
Components: Seminar
Prereqs/Coreqs: P: Completion of 24 credits of ENVSS courses and department consent
Typically Offered: Spring