Program: Ecology and Conservation, BS - Southern Oregon University - Modern Campus Catalog™

Apr 09, 2025

2024-2025 Catalog

(total credits 96 -107)

Core Classes

Lower Division (35-39 credits)

ES 100 - The Southern Oregon Bioregion 2 credits or ES 230 - EcoAdventure / ES 430 - EcoAdventure
ES 101 - Introduction to Environmental Science: Earth Science 4 credits
BI 211 - Principles of Biology: Molecules, Cells, and Genes 5 credits
BI 212 - Principles of Biology: Evolution and Diversity 5 credits
BI 213 - Principles of Biology: Function and Ecology of Organisms 5 credits or ES 102
ES 255 - Intro to Scientific Computing 4 credits
MTH 111Z - Precalculus I: Functions 4 credits
and

Two terms of Chemistry (7 - 10 credits):
BI 346 - Biogeochemistry 3 credits
CH 101 - Environmental Chemistry 4 credits
CH 101L - Environmental Chemistry Laboratory 0 credits
or
CH 221 - General Chemistry I 3 credits
CH 227 - General Chemistry Laboratory I 2 credits
CH 227R - General Chemistry Laboratory I Recitation 0 credits
CH 222 - General Chemistry II 3 credits
CH 228 - General Chemistry Laboratory II 2 credits
CH 228R - General Chemistry Laboratory II Recitation 0 credits
or

CH 101 - Environmental Chemistry   / CH 101L - Environmental Chemistry Laboratory

CH 221 - General Chemistry I

CH 227 - General Chemistry Laboratory I   / CH 227R - General Chemistry Laboratory I Recitation

Upper Division (34 credits)

BI 340 - Ecology 4 credits
BI 348 - Evolution 4 credits
ES 310 - Environmental Research Design 4 credits
ES 330 - Environmental Field Methods 4 credits
ES 349 - Maps, Cartography, and Geospatial Technology 5 credits
ES 486 - Environmental Data Analysis 5 credits
and

Take one course in Functional Biology (4 credits):
BI 314 - Comparative Animal Physiology 4 credits
or BI 341 - Genetics /BI 314L or BI 331 - Plant Physiology /BI 331L
and

Take one course in Conservation (4 credits):
BI 438 - Conservation Biology 4 credits or ES 448 - Wildlife Management and Conservation or ES 483 - Restoration Ecology

Electives (22 - 26 credits)

Field Ecology (8 credits):

Take two courses from the following:

BI 454 - Plant Ecology 4 credits
or
BI 475 - Aquatic Ecology 4 credits
or
ES 480 - Fire Ecology 4 credits
or
ES 483 - Restoration Ecology 4 credits (only for credit if not taken to fulfill Conservation requirement)

Organismal Biology (8 credits)

Take two courses from the following:

BI 314 - Comparative Animal Physiology 4 credits (only if not taken to fulfill the Functional Biology requirement above)
BI 331 - Plant Physiology 5 credits (only if not taken to fulfill the Functional Biology requirement above)
BI 414 - Environmental Physiology 5 credits
BI 415 - Mammalogy 4 credits
BI 417 - Vertebrate Natural History 4 credits
BI 480 - Animal Behavior 4 credits

Focus Areas (6 - 10 credits)

Take two courses from one or more of the following focus areas:

Social and Policy

ES 220 - Environmental Justice 4 credits
ES 351 - Environmental Policy and Impact Analysis 4 credits
ES 354 - Marine Conservation: Science, Policy, and Management 4 credits
ES 437 - Conservation in the United States 4 credits
SOAN 420 - Environment, Culture, and Society 4 credits
NAS 380 - Native American Ecological Knowledge 4 credits
and

An additional course from the Conservation category above (4 credits)

Computational and Geo-Spatial

ES 451 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems 5 credits
ES 453 - Introduction to Remote Sensing 5 credits
ES 475 - Environmental Modeling 4 credits
BI 435 - Biogeography 4 credits

Molecular

BI 425 - Molecular Biology 4 credits
BI 426 - Genomics 3 credits

Abiotic and Physical

BI 346 - Biogeochemistry 3 credits (only for credit if not taken to fulfill Chemistry requirement)
ES 482 - Climatology 4 credits
ES 433 - Soil Science 4 credits
ES 353 - Oceanography 4 credits
ES 360 - Environmental Geology 4 credits
ES 314 - Hydrology 4 credits

Capstone (5 - 8 credits)

Choose one research capstone option:

Faculty-Mentored Research (5-8 credits)

BI 402 - Capstone Research 1 to 12 credits and BI 404 Capstone Thesis (2 credits)
or
ES 494A - Environmental Science and Policy Capstone I 4 credits and ES 494B - Environmental Science and Policy Capstone II (4 credits)

Faculty-Approved, External Research Experience (5-6 credits)

BI 409 - Practicum 1 to 9 credits and BI 404 Capstone Thesis (2 credits)
or
ES 498 - Internship 1-16 credits and BI 404 Capstone Thesis (2 credits)