Earth Sciences and Economics Domain
(66 credits including Core)
Mentor
jeannep [at] eps.mcgill.ca (Jeanne Paquette) , 514-398-4402
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
This Domain is open only to students in the B.Sc. Major Program in Environment.
The resources necessary for human society are extracted from the earth, used as raw materials in our factories and refineries, and then returned to the earth as waste. Geological processes produce the resources humans depend on, and they also determine the fate of wastes in the environment. Understanding Earth's geologic processes provides us with the knowledge to mitigate many of our society's environmental impacts due to resource extraction and waste disposal. Additionally, economics frequently affects what energy sources power our society and how our wastes are treated. Earth sciences and economics are essential for our understanding of the many mechanisms, both physical and social, that affect Earth's environment.
This Domain includes the fundamentals of each discipline. Students learn of minerals, rocks, soils and waters and how these materials interact with each other and with the atmosphere. Fundamental economic theory and the economic effects of public policy toward resource industries, methods of waste disposal, and the potential effects of global warming on the global economy are also explored.
See also Information for Students for details concerning:
- Suggested First Year Courses
- Taking courses on the Macdonald campus
- ENVR course sections - beware!
Program Requirements
NOTE: Students are required to take a maximum of 34 credits at the 200 level and a minimum of 15 credits at the 400 level or higher in this program. This includes Core and Required courses.
Core: Required Courses (18 credits)
ENVR 200 - The Global Environment
ENVR 201 - Society,Environ&Sustainability
ENVR 202 - The Evolving Earth
ENVR 203 - Knowledge, Ethics&Environment
ENVR 301 - Environmental Research Design
ENVR 400 - Environmental Thought
Core: Complementary Course — Senior Research Project
(3 credits*)
AGRI 519 - Sustainable Development Plans (not offered; Barbados)
ENVR 401 - Environmental Research
ENVR 451 - Research in Panama (in Panama)
* Only 3 credits will be applied to the program; extra credits will count as electives.
Domain Required courses (21 credits)
ECON 230D1 - Microeconomic Theory
ECON 230D2 - Microeconomic Theory
ECON 405 - Natural Resource Economics
EPSC 210 - Introductory Mineralogy
EPSC 212 - Introductory Petrology
EPSC 220 - Principles of Geochemistry
EPSC 240 - Geology in the Field
Domain Complementary courses (24 credits)
3 credits in statistics
AEMA 310 - Statistical Methods 1 (M)
or GEOG 202 - Statistics & Spatial Analysis
or MATH 203 - Principles of Statistics 1
or equivalent
12 credits from Economic Resources:
AGEC 333 - Resource Economics (M)
ECON 209 - Macroeconomic Analysis&Applic
ECON 305 - Industrial Organization
ECON 313 - Economic Development 1
ECON 314 - Economic Development 2
ECON 326 - Ecological Economics
ECON 347 - Economics of Climate Change
ECON 408 - Public Sector Economics 1
ECON 409 - Public Sector Economics 2
ECON 416 - Topics in Econ Development 2 (not offered)
ECON 511 - Energy, Economy & Environment
ECON 525 - Project Analysis (not offered)
ENVB 437 - Assessing Environmental Impact (M)
ENVR 422 - Mtl Urban Sustainability Anal (not offered 2022-2023)
9 credits from Natural Resources:
*Note: ANTH 451 or GEOG 451 can be taken but not both; BIOL 451 or NRSC 451 can be taken but not both; ENVB 529 or GEOG 201 can be taken but not both.
AGRI 550 - Sustained Tropical Agriculture (M) (offered in alternate years; in Panama)
ANTH 451 - Res in Society & Dev in Africa * (in Africa)
BIOL 451 - Res in Ecol&Develop in Africa * (in Africa)
BIOL 553 - Neotropical Environments (in Panama)
ENVB 500 - Advanced Topics Ecotoxicology (M)
ENVB 529 - GIS for Natural Resource Mgmt *(M)
ENVR 421 - Mtl:Envr Hist & Sustainability (not offered 2022-2023)
EPSC 331 - Field School 2
EPSC 341 - Field School 3
EPSC 355 - Sedimentary Geology (offered winter 2023 and alternate winters)
EPSC 425 - Sediments to Sequences (not offered)
EPSC 435 - Applied Geophysics (not offered)
EPSC 452 - Mineral Deposits
EPSC 519 - Isotopes in Earth & Env Sci (not offered)
EPSC 549 - Hydrogeology
EPSC 590 - Applied Geochemistry Seminar (offered winter 2023 and alternate winters)
GEOG 201 - Intro Geo-Information Science *
GEOG 302 - Environmental Management 1
GEOG 305 - Soils and Environment
GEOG 322 - Environmental Hydrology
GEOG 451 - Res in Society & Dev in Africa * (in Africa)
MIME 320 - Extraction of Energy Resources
NRSC 451 - Res in Ecol&Develop in Africa * (in Africa)
SOIL 300 - Geosystems (M) (no longer offered)
SOIL 315 - Soil Nutrient Management (M)
SOIL 535 - Soil Ecology (M)