In the twenty-first century, it’s becoming essential to go green. The environmental management major prepares students to engage in the holistic, adaptive management of the health and resilience of the systems at the human-nature interface necessary to support both stewardship of the natural environment and long-term improvement in the human condition.
The major emphasizes the management of social systems at the human-nature interface, and is aimed primarily at students interested in sustainability-focused careers in business, consulting, community economic development, interest group politics, law, public administration, and related fields. Depending on their career goals, students seeking an edge in the sustainability job market or in pursuing a graduate or professional degree in fields such as business administration (M.B.A.), community economic development (M.S.), public administration (M.P.A.), or law (J.D.), may combine the environmental management major with a minor in a related field, such as business, international business, economics, finance, project management, organizational leadership, political science, or sociology, or with a certificate in pre-law.
SNHU is a great setting in which to obtain this new knowledge, as sustainability is part of our mission. SNHU is the first carbon-neutral campus in New Hampshire and one of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s top national Green Power Challenge partners. Plus, our new academic center and dining hall were built with sustainability in mind.
download the major sheet (PDF)
Required Core Courses
School of Arts and Sciences Required Courses
POL-210: American Politics
This course offers a broad introduction to the structure and function of the American political system at the national level including the roles played by the president Congress the courts the bureaucracy political parties interest groups and the mass media in the policy making and electoral processes This course places special emphasis on how the efforts of the framers of the Constitution to solve what they saw as the political problems of their day continue to shape American national politics in ours
PSY-108: Introduction to Psychology
This course is an introduction to various areas of psychology including scientific investigation motivation personality intelligence behavioral deviation perception learning and human development It provides a basis for further study in related areas Offered every semester
SOC-112: Introduction to Sociology
This course studies the organization of social behavior and its relationship to society and social conditions Culture norm stratification systems structure social institutions and social change are emphasized Offered every semester
Environmental Management Major Courses
BIO-315: Ecological Principles and Field Methods
This course introduces students to the principles of ecology and practical methods used in the field Students will explore theoretical topics in the ecological systems including the level of the population community and ecosystem energy flow and biogeochemical cycles and the concept of sustainability Students will read literature and conduct research projects in the field and will use critical thinking to evaluate research design studies present findings and debate on the issues
Prerequisites:
ENV-101,
ENV-219: Environmental Issues
Students in this course examine major environmental problems to make them aware of current and potential environmental issues from the perspectives of society business and the individual Global marker
ENV-319: US Environmental Law and Politics
How can businesses governments and public interest groups achieve environmental sustainability goals in legal and political contexts that were designed with other goals in mind This interdisciplinary course explores the options in the United States and provides a comprehensive point of comparison for topics explored in ENV 329 and ENV 349 Students spend about half of the course learning how to spot facts that give rise to compliance issues for businesses and other private parties under a full spectrum of federal environmental laws and to identify opportunities for achieving broader sustainability goals within the constraints imposed by the law In the other half students learn both how to predict environmental law and policy outcomes and how to shape them adaptively in pursuit of sustainability goals in a fragmented system of governance that was designed to privilege special interests and to favor the status quo
Prerequisites:
POL-210
ENV-322: Environment and Development
How can businesses governments and civil society organizations work together to build environmentally sustainable economies and livable local communities in an increasingly crowded and globalized world This interdisciplinary course looks to human ecology environmental and ecological economics community economic development and related fields for answers to this question Students use the theoretical insights of these fields to identify assumptions about human nature and nurture that lead to environmentally unsustainable economic and development practices and apply them to the practical problems of building robust national economies and healthy local communities through public private partnerships and other means
Prerequisites:
ENV-219
ENV-325: Industrial Ecology
How can industrialized societies industrial economic sectors and industrial firms maintain and enhance productivity without exceeding the capacity of the natural environment to serve as a source of raw materials and to absorb wastes This interdisciplinary course looks to the field of industrial ecology for answers to these questions Industrial ecology aims to minimize the environmental costs of industrial activities by applying lessons learned from ecosystems in which all wastes are consumed as raw materials by other parts of the system At scales ranging from whole societies to individual firms students in this course learn how to stretch resources manage risks protect human health and pursue environmental sustainability through strategies for preventing reducing reusing and recycling the wastes that otherwise would be released to the environment as pollution
Prerequisites:
ENV-219
GEO-200: World Geography
This course examines the implications of global location and topography for the people of planet Earth Students will explore how geography shapes the dynamics of human societies with an emphasis on the geoenvironmental geopolitical and geosocial phenomena that help to define the modern world Global marker
MAT-240: Applied Statistics
This is a fundamental course in the application of statistics In this course students will learn to apply statistical techniques to a variety of applications in business and the social sciences Students will learn how to solve statistical problems by hand and through the use of computer software Topics will include probability distribution functions sampling distributions estimation hypothesis testing and linear regression
PHL-363: Environmental Ethics
This course analyzes the application of ethical theory to moral questions about the environment A number of different traditions in environmental ethics will be discussed and their strengths and weaknesses evaluated by applying them to practical moral problems
SCS-224: Social Science Research Methods
This course offers a broad introduction to research methods in the social sciences including surveys case studies experiments and quasi experiments Students learn to spot design flaws in research intended to generate scientifically sound conclusions about social phenomena and to evaluate critically the interpretations of social science research results by third party observers such as reporters Students also learn how to draft a research proposal that would satisfy the requirements of peer review within the community of professional social scientists
Prerequisites:
MAT-240
SCS-444: Capstone Colloquium
This colloquium serves as the capstone course for students in the sociology law and politics and environmental management majors Students learn from their instructor and from each other as they apply the knowledge and skills acquired in their other course work to a directed research project in the appropriate discipline or field Prerequisite Senior standing in the sociology law and politics or environmental management major
SOC-318: Sustainable Communities
How do we build a society fit for living This sustainable community development ESCD for answers to this question Students explore the principles and practices of ESCD using pattern mapping of community needs site visits and other experiential learning tools that turn communities into classrooms and bring the challenge of building environmentally sustainable communities to life In the process students identify assumptions that lead to unsustainable social practices and develop the skills necessary to help create livable local landscapes and sustainable local futures through individual and community action
Prerequisites:
ENV-219
Select Nine (9) Credits from the Following:
ENV-305: Global Climate Change
This interdisciplinary course brings students up to date on what is known and not known about the causes and consequences of global climate change and about viable response options Topics include analysis of climate drivers such as greenhouse gas emissions and land use changes and investigation of some climate system responses such as increased storm intensity and increased surface temperature Students also explore some of the societal and economic impacts of global climate change By reference to the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paleoclimate studies and other authoritative sources students learn how to separate fact from fiction in the often publicized debate about the dynamics of global climate change and about how we should respond to it
Prerequisites:
ENV-219
ENV-329: International Environmental Law and Negotiation
How can we resolve environmental disagreements without picking winners and losers or merely agreeing to disagree This interdisciplinary course explores the most effective strategy for doing so in negotiating agreements of all kinds using the multilateral agreements that are at the center of international environmental law as illustrative examples Students spend about half of the course exploring the nature of international law salient features of the international system and the content of multilateral environmental agreements of interest to them In the other half students first learn the art of win win negotiation and then put their skills to work as they assume the roles of member states of the International Whaling Commission to negotiate the fate of a controversial proposal to end the international ban on commercial whaling
Prerequisites:
ENV-349
ENV-349: Comparative Environmental Law and Sustainable Development
How effective is environmental law as a strategy for achieving sustainable development How does its diversity across countries and cultures constrain the ability of businesses governments and civil society organizations to achieve environmental sustainability goals in an increasingly globalized world This interdisciplinary course examines the many legal political cultural and other factors that shape the answer to these questions using China India Russia and the European Union as illustrative examples Students explore the implications of these factors not only for businesses governments and civil society organizations pursuing sustainability goals within their own countries but also for their counterparts in other countries to whom the former are linked through bilateral trade relationships and global supply chains Students spend the last third of the course playing and critiquing their own performance in Stratagem a computer assisted simulation game in which they assume the roles of government ministers in a less developed country and try to chart a course of environmentally sustainable development for that country over a period of sixty years
Prerequisites:
POL-219
ENV-404: Environmentally Sustainable Field Experience I
This course offers students an opportunity to undertake an experiential learning project that contributes to the environmental sustainability of human societies Students work with a supervising faculty member to design a field experience appropriate to their educational and career goals
Prerequisites:
ENV-319,
ENV-405: Environmentally Sustainable Field Experience II
This course offers students the opportunity to undertake an experiential learning project contributes to the environmental sustainability of human societies Students work with a supervising faculty member to design a field experience appropriate to their educational and career goals
Prerequisites:
ENV-319,
ENV-410A: Semester in Washington D C Political Science Field Experience
This course is the vehicle through which students receive ENV course credit for participation in all but the seminar component of SNHU s Semester in Washington D C The program promotes experiential learning through civic engagement and other activities The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars which hosts the program provides students with housing and places them in internships appropriate to their interests Space in the program is limited so students must notify the SNHU environmental management program coordinator of their intention to enroll a year in advance of SNHU course registration for the relevant semester For more information about the program see the Washington Center s web site www twc edu and the SNHU environmental management program coordinator This course is taken concurrently with ENV 410B
Prerequisites:
ENV-319,
ENV-410B: Seminar in Washington DC Environmental Policy Field Experience
This course is the vehicle through which students receive ENV course credit for the seminar component of SNHU s Semester in Washington D C The Semester in Washington is hosted by the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars Space in the program is limited so students must notify the SNHU environmental management program coordinator of their intention to enroll a year in advance of SNHU course registration for the relevant semester For more information about the program see the Washington Center s web site www twc edu and the SNHU environmental management program coordinator This course is taken concurrently with ENV 410A
Prerequisites:
ENV-319,
MAT-240, SCS-224, and SCS-444 are courses taken as a part of the BA/BS Core (Required Courses may differ based on program).
Students who choose to spend a semester in Washington, D.C. count nine of the fifteen credits awarded for ENV-410A and ENV-410B combined toward the requirements of the major, and the rest as free electives.
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