At UWM, students with a passion for nature and the environment can obtain a solid education in the natural sciences that are central to environmental science - biology, geosciences, and chemistry - and the social sciences of geography, economics, and politics which guide the application of conservation and environmental science in the real world.

Students at UWM can focus their conservation and environmental science work around land resources, water resources, biological resources/biodiversity, or environmental analysis. Internships and field work complement classroom learning. These opportunities can be found locally at UWM's own Field Station, on Lake Michigan aboard UWM's R/V Neeskay vessel, and at local agencies, or abroad in places as far flung as Iceland, Africa, Romania and the Caribbean.

An active Conservation Club is another student advantage at UWM. Activities range from on-campus sustainability projects to professional networking and more.

UWM’s CES major builds on students’ passion to solve environmental issues through either a BS or a BA degree. The BS requires more courses in math, biology, chemistry, and science and is suitable for careers in field or laboratory work, while the BA has fewer electives in science for a career in public programming, education, or administration.

Because of the breadth and flexibility of this major, students should consult with the Director and/or Coordinator to plan a course of study, preferably before the start of their sophomore year. It is particularly important to begin the introductory course sequences early, since they are prerequisites for advanced courses.

It is recommended that students obtain at least one semester of practical work or internship experience, either as an employee or as a volunteer, with state or federal resource management agencies, consulting firms, conservation or environmental organizations, or with nature centers or local parks.

Course of Study – Bachelor of Arts Degree

Complete 120 credits including 75 credits in the College of Letters & Science and with 36 of the 75 credits in L&S upper-level (numbered above 300) courses.

The College requires that students must complete in residence at UWM at least 15 credits in upper-division (numbered 300 or above) courses in their major. The College also requires that students complete at least 30 credits overall in residence at UWM. For additional residency and transfer credit limitations, see L&S Undergraduate Policies and Regulations.

Students are also required to complete University-wide General Education Requirements and the specific L&S requirements listed below.

To complete a major, students must satisfy all the requirements of the major as stated in this catalog. Students who declare their majors within five years of entering the UW System as a degree candidate may satisfy the requirements outlined in any catalog issued since the time they entered. Credits used to satisfy the major also may be used to satisfy other degree requirements.

University General Education Requirements (GER)

Oral and Written Communication
Part A
Achieve a grade of C or better in the following course:
ENGLISH 102College Writing and Research (or equivalent)
Part B
Course designated as OWC-B; may be completed through a major-specific course requirement
Quantitative Literacy
Part A
Earn at least 3 credits with a grade of C or higher in one of the following courses or an equivalent course, or achieve a placement code of at least 30 on the mathematics placement test (or other appropriate test, as determined by the Mathematical Sciences Department)
Mathematical Literacy for College Students II
Contemporary Applications of Mathematics
Introduction to College Algebra
Algebraic Literacy II
Introduction to Logic - Critical Reasoning 1
Introduction to Logic - Critical Reasoning
College Algebra
Or equivalent course
Part B
Course designated as QL-B; may be completed through a major-specific course requirement
Arts
Select 3 credits3
Humanities
Select 6 credits6
Social Sciences
Select 6 credits6
Natural Sciences
Select 6 credits (at least two courses including one lab)6
UWM Foreign Language Requirement
Complete Foreign Language Requirement through:
Two years (high school) of a single foreign language
Two semesters (college) of a single foreign language
Or equivalent
UWM Cultural Diversity Requirement
One course from the Arts, Humanities, or Social Sciences must also satisfy UWM's Cultural Diversity requirement
1

 Math 111 and Philosophy 111 are jointly offered and count as repeats of one another. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.

College of Letters & Science Requirements

The degree requirements in the College of Letters and Science build on the University General Education Requirements to provide a broad base of knowledge as well as an array of skills cited by employers as critical to professional success: critical thinking, problem solving, oral and written communication, ability to work well with others, and adaptability to change. 

For the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), you must complete the UWM General Education Requirements as well as these L&S requirements: the International requirement, the Breadth requirement, and the Research requirement. The International requirement develops your potential for cross-cultural understanding in a globalizing world. The Breadth requirement ensures that you take classes in a wide variety of subjects, across humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. The Research requirement calls for you to build your critical thinking and oral and written communication skills through conducting an independent research project, usually in your major. 

For the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) you will also complete the Language other than English requirement, to further develop your understanding of cultures through language.

I. Total Credits and Upper-Division Courses Requirement

Students must complete 120 credits including 75 credits in the College of Letters & Science and with 36 of the 75 credits in L&S upper-level (numbered above 300) courses.

II. Language other than English Requirement

Students doing the BA must fulfill the language other than English requirement by either successfully completing the fourth semester of university work or equivalent in one language other than English, or by successfully completing the second semester of university work or equivalent in two languages other than English (including all world languages and American Sign Language). 

Language courses (including American Sign Language) other than English taken in high school may be used to satisfy all or part of this requirement. One year of high school language equates to one semester of college work. Proficiency tests approved by the Languages faculty may be used to satisfy all or part of this requirement. 

Completion of the L&S Language Requirement also satisfies the university-wide Language other than English GER, but not vice versa. 

III. International Requirement

To meet the International Requirement, students must successfully complete some three course (minimum 9 credits) combination of

  1. language other than English (not including American Sign Language) at 3rd semester level or above, and/or
  2. non-language courses with L&S approved international content (see Courses Approved for the L&S International Requirement for course options).

IV. Breadth Requirement

In addition to completing the University General Education Requirements, L&S students must complete the Breadth requirement.

The L&S Breadth requirement calls for 6 credits each in L&S courses designated L&S Humanities, L&S Natural Sciences, and L&S Social Sciences breadth. One of the L&S Natural Science breadth courses must be a laboratory or fieldwork course. These courses must be beyond and in addition to courses in those areas used to satisfy General Education Requirements.

Please refer to the list of Courses Approved for the L&S Breadth Requirement.

 V. The Major

The College of Letters and Science requires that students attain at least a 2.0 GPA in all credits in the major attempted at UWM. In addition, students must attain a 2.0 GPA on all major credits attempted, including any transfer work. Individual departments or programs may require higher GPAs for graduation. Some departmental majors require courses from other departments. Contact your major department for information on whether those credits will count as part of the major GPA. The College requires that students must complete in residence at UWM at least 15 credits in upper-division (numbered 300 or above) courses in their major.

Research Requirement

Within their majors, students must complete a research experience approved by the L&S faculty.  A list of courses satisfying the research requirement in each major can be found here.

VI. The Minor

Students are encouraged to consider completing a minor, but it is not required. To complete a minor, the College of Letters and Science requires that students attain at least a 2.0 GPA in all credits in the minor attempted at UWM. In addition, students must attain a 2.0 GPA on all minor credits attempted, including any transfer work. The minor must contain at least 9 credits in upper-division (numbered 300 and above) courses.

Conservation and Environmental Science Major Requirements

The Conservation and Environmental Science (CES) major requires a minimum of 54 credits, 29 of which are advanced-level. All students in the major must fulfill the required 36 credits (25 lower-level core credits, and 11 advanced-level credits) and an additional 18 advanced-level credits from among the approved CES upper-level electives.

Students must complete the courses listed below, including at least 15 upper-division (numbered 300 and above) credits in the major in residence at UWM. The College of Letters & Science requires that students attain at least a 2.0 GPA on all credits in the major attempted at UWM. In addition, students must attain a 2.0 GPA on all major credits attempted, including any transfer work.

Required Introductory Core
BIO SCI 150Foundations of Biological Sciences I4
BIO SCI 152Foundations of Biological Sciences II4
CES 210Introduction to Conservation and Environmental Science3
CHEM 102General Chemistry5
GEO SCI 100Introduction to the Earth3
or GEOG 120 Our Physical Environment
GEO SCI 102Evolution of the Earth3
or GEO SCI 150 Introduction to Ocean Sciences
GEOG 215Introduction to Geographic Information Science3
Mid-Level Distributional Requirement
BIO SCI 310General Ecology4
GEOG 350Conservation of Natural Resources3
Upper-Level Core
Select 18 upper-level approved CES electives with at least 3 credits taken from each of the following areas18
Biological Sciences
Geosciences
Geography
Research Requirement
CES 471Practicum in Natural Resources Management4
Total Credits54

List of Approved Electives for the CES Major 

BIO SCI 315Cell Biology3
BIO SCI 325Genetics4
BIO SCI 358Birds of Wisconsin2
BIO SCI 370Mammalian Physiology3
BIO SCI 383General Microbiology4
BIO SCI 406Marine Biology3
BIO SCI 440Ecology and Evolution of Amphibians and Reptiles3
BIO SCI 451Field Methods in Conservation3
BIO SCI 465Biostatistics3
BIO SCI 480Ecological Genetics3
BIO SCI 489Internship in Biological Sciences, Upper Division1-6
BIO SCI 500Plant Physiology3
BIO SCI 501Plant and Aquatic Ecophysiology Laboratory3
BIO SCI 502Introduction to Programming and Modeling in Ecology and Evolution3
BIO SCI 505Conservation Biology3
BIO SCI 512Limnology I3
BIO SCI 523Evolution and Ecology of Birds3
BIO SCI 532Behavioral Ecology3
BIO SCI 540Microbial Diversity and Physiology3
BIO SCI 562Topics in Field Biology:1-2
BIO SCI 575Evolutionary Biology3
BIO SCI 611Seminar on Recent Advances in Limnology and Oceanography2
CES 451Field Methods in Conservation3
CES 461The Politics and Policy of Sustainability3
CES 489Internship in Environmental Studies, Upper Division1-6
CES 497Study Abroad:1-12
CES 499Ad Hoc:1-6
CES 515Environmental Law for Natural Resource Managers3
CES 651Principles of Stream Management and Restoration3
CHEM 341Introductory Survey of Organic Chemistry3
CHEM 342Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory2
CHEM 343Organic Chemistry3
CHEM 344Organic Chemistry Laboratory2
CHEM 345Organic Chemistry3
CHEM 501Introduction to Biochemistry3
CHEM 524Instrumental Analysis3
CHEM 560Biophysical Chemistry3
CHEM 603Introduction to Biochemistry Laboratory2
ECON 328Environmental Economics3
GEOG 304Human Impact on the Environment3
GEOG 306Natural Hazards3
GEOG 310General Climatology3
GEOG 340Biogeography3
GEOG 403Remote Sensing: Environmental and Land Use Analysis4
GEOG 405Cartography4
GEOG 415The Water Environment3
GEOG 450Climates of the Past and Climate Change3
GEOG 464Environmental Problems3
GEOG 515Watershed Analysis and Modeling3
GEOG 520Physical Geography of the City3
GEOG 525Geographic Information Science4
GEOG 547Spatial Analysis4
GEOG 564Urban Environmental Change and Social Justice3
GEOG 625Intermediate Geographic Information Science4
GEOG 650Geography Field Work3
GEO SCI 301Principles of Mineralogy4
GEO SCI 400Water Quality4
GEO SCI 409Process Geomorphology4
GEO SCI 421Conservation Paleontology3
GEO SCI 422Plant-Insect Interactions in Deep Time3
GEO SCI 443Glacial and Pleistocene Geology4
GEO SCI 463Physical Hydrogeology4
GEO SCI 464Chemical Hydrogeology4
GEO SCI 511Stratigraphy and Sedimentation4
GEO SCI 515Physical Sedimentology4
GEO SCI 520Introduction to Paleontology4
GEO SCI 525Terroir: Geology in a Glass3
GEO SCI 562Environmental Surface Hydrology3
GEO SCI 563Field Methods in Hydrogeology4
GEO SCI 696Topics in the Geological Sciences:1-3
GEO SCI 697Seminar in the Geological Sciences:1-3
POL SCI 383Environmental Political Theory3

Approved CES Course Electives Outside of the College of Letters and Science

Although the following courses may count as credits toward the CES major requirements, they do not count to satisfy the advanced L&S credits requirement for the degree. Consult the program coordinator before enrolling any of these courses.

ARCH 340Urban Design3
ATM SCI 330Air-Pollution Meteorology3
CIV ENG 492Environmental Impact Assessment3
FRSHWTR 502Aquatic Ecosystem Dynamics3
FRSHWTR 322Ecology and Evolution of Freshwater Organisms3
FRSHWTR 361Introduction to Environmental Data Systems3
FRSHWTR 391Water and Natural Resource Economics3
FRSHWTR 392Water, Energy, Food, and Climate3
FRSHWTR 393Water Law, Policy, and the Environment3
FRSHWTR 471Introduction to Sensing Networks3
FRSHWTR 504Quantitative Freshwater Analysis3
PH 375Topics in Public Health:3
URBPLAN 591Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Planning3

Other Potential Courses

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Conservation and Environmental Science Program, students are encouraged to work with the program coordinator to identify classes that will enable them best to gain the knowledge to achieve their goals. CES students can petition the Program to accept many classes beyond those listed above, if they are appropriate for the major and the individual student's program of study. For example, the following courses may apply:

ARCH 601Special Topics:1-3
ANTHRO 699Independent Work1-3
BIO SCI 497Study Abroad:1-12
BIO SCI 599Special Topics in Biological Sciences:1-3
BIO SCI 699Independent Study1-3
FRSHWTR 690Undergraduate Seminar in Freshwater Sciences:1-3
GEOG 698GIS/Cartography Internship1-6
GEOG 699Independent Work1-3
GEO SCI 699Advanced Independent Reading1-3

Conservation and Environmental Science BA/BS Learning Outcomes

Students graduating from the Conservation and Environmental Science program will be able to: 

  • Students will be able to describe, summarize, and explain the core concepts and frameworks of earth science, biological science, and chemistry. 
  • Students will be able to apply science as a process to environmental problems and solutions. 
  • Students will be able to relate the social, political, and economic processes that contribute to environmental problems and solutions. 
  • Students will be able to explain policy and regulatory processes that contribute to environmental problems and solutions. 
  • Students will be able to analyze coupled human and environmental systems using a systems thinking approach. 
  • Students will be able to critique various perspectives of environmental issues. 
  • Students will be able to develop and present a proposed solution to a complex environmental problem. 
  • Students will be able to effectively communicate environmental science to the public. 

Declaration of Major

Students wishing to declare the major can obtain the necessary information by contacting the CES Program Coordinator’s office (Lapham Hall, Room 366) or their College of Letters and Science advisor.

Letters & Science Advising

During your time at UWM, you may have multiple members of your success team, including advisors, peer mentors, and success coaches. Letters and Science students typically work with at least two different types of advisors as they pursue their degrees: professional College Advisors and Faculty Advisors. L&S College Advisors advise across your entire degree program while departmental Faculty Advisors focus on the major.

College Advisors are located in Holton Hall and serve as your primary advisor. They are your point person for your questions about navigating college and completing your degree. College Advisors will:

  • assist you in defining your academic and life goals;
  • help you create an educational plan that is consistent with those goals;
  • assist you in understanding curriculum, major and degree requirements for graduation, as well as university policies and procedures;
  • provide you with information about campus and community resources and refer you to those resources as appropriate; and 
  • monitor your progress toward graduation and completion of requirements.

Faculty Advisors mentor students in the major and assist them in maximizing their development in the program. You will begin working with a Faculty Advisor when you declare your major. Faculty Advisors are an important partner and will:

  • help you understand major requirements and course offerings in the department; 
  • explain opportunities for internships and undergraduate research and guide you in obtaining those experiences; and 
  • serve as an excellent resource as you consider potential graduate programs and career paths in your field.

Students are encouraged to meet with both their College Advisor and Faculty Advisor at least once each semester. Appointments are available in-person, by phone or by video. 

Currently enrolled students should use the Navigate360 website to make an appointment with your assigned advisor or call (414) 229-4654 if you do not currently have an assigned Letters & Science advisor. Prospective students who haven't enrolled in classes yet should call (414) 229-7711 or email let-sci@uwm.edu.

College of Letters and Science Dean's Honor List

GPA of 3.750 or above, earned on a full-time student's GPA on 12 or more graded credits in a given semester.

Honors College Degree and Honors College Degree with Distinction

Granted to graduating seniors who complete Honors College requirements, as listed in the Honors College section of this site.

Commencement Honors

Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.500 or above, based on a minimum of 40 graded UWM credits earned prior to the final semester, will receive all-university commencement honors and be awarded the traditional gold cord at the December or May Honors Convocation. Please note that for honors calculation, the GPA is not rounded and is truncated at the third decimal (e.g., 3.499).

Final Honors

Earned on a minimum of 60 graded UWM credits: Cum Laude - 3.500 or above; Magna Cum Laude - 3.650 or above; Summa Cum Laude - 3.800 or above.