Honours Earth and Environmental Sciences Co-op (B.Sc.)

Admission

Enrolment in this program is limited and possession of the published minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. Selection is based on academic achievement and an interview but requires, as a minimum, submission of the on-line application by the stated deadline and completion of Level II Honours Earth and Environmental Sciences with a Grade Point Average of at least 5.0 and completion of the following courses:

Program Notes

1. Earth and Environmental Sciences at McMaster encompass five major themes: Aqueous Environmental Geochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Hydrology and Climate, Environmental Policy, GIS and Spatial Analysis. It should be noted that each thematic area has its own sequence of courses and prerequisites (See the Course Listings section of this Calendar). Students may elect to take some or all of the upper level courses from different areas. In addition, there is a set of courses encompassing research design, field work, internships, and the senior thesis or review paper. 

   AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY

   EARTHSC 3CC3 , 4CC3 , 4N03 , ENVIRSC 2Q03 , 3O03 

   EARTH SCIENCES

   EARTHSC 2E03 , 2FE3 , 2K03 , 2T03 , 3E03 , 3K03 , 3Z03 , 4G03 , 4J03 , 4P03 , 4T03 , 4VV3 , GEOG 3SR3 

   ENVIRONMENTAL HYDROLOGY AND CLIMATE

   EARTHSC 3CC3 , 3W03 , 4CC3 , 4WB3 , ENVIRSC 2B03 , 2C03 , 2W03 , 3B03 , 3U03 , 4BB3 , 4C03 , 4W03 

   ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

   ENVIRSC 4EA3 , GEOG 2EI3 , 2EK3 , 3EC3 , 3EE3 , 3EG3 , 4ET3 , 4HH3 

   GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS

   GEOG 2GI3 , 3GI3 , 3GV3 , 3SR3 , 4GA3 , 4GS3 , 4GT3 

    

2. Students aiming to meet the academic requirements for professional registration of Geoscientists (P.Geo.) in Ontario can find additional information on these requirements on the website: http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/geo/undergraduate.html. Students are encouraged to consult with the academic program advisor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences to ensure proper course selection for professional registration. The Honours programs offered by the School of Geography and Earth Sciences may not fulfill professional registration requirements.

3. There are Level II prerequisites for many Level III courses; these should be considered when choosing Level II courses. As an aid to choosing a coherent set of courses in a single discipline, students should consult the list of thematic areas applicable to all Honours Earth and Environmental Sciences programs.

4. Students should seek academic advising from the School of Geography and Earth Sciences to ensure that their choices are appropriate.

5. The field component of EARTHSC 2FE3  and 3FE3  are normally taken outside of the normal term. Details are announced in December (EARTHSC 2FE3 ) or March (EARTHSC 3FE3 ).
6. Students who did not complete Grade 12 Physics U must complete PHYSICS 1A03 . One of PHYSICS 1A03  or 1C03  must be completed prior to graduation.
7. This is a five- level (year) co-op program which includes two eight-month work terms which must be spent in earth and environmental sciences related placements.
8. Students must be registered full-time and take a full academic workload, as prescribed by Level and Term.
9. Students are required to complete SCIENCE 2C00  and SCIENCE 3C00  before the first work placement and are strongly recommended to complete SCIENCE 2C00  in Level II.

10. GEOG 3MB3  (or EARTHSC 3MB3  or ENVIRSC 3MB3 ) or STATS 2B03  must be completed by the end of Level IV. Students who entered the program prior to September 2018, may use one of MATH 1AA3 , 1B03  or 1LT3  to satisfy the Statistics requirement.

11. Co-op students interested in pursuing GIS-related work placements and/or a Minor in Geographic Information Systems must complete GEOG 2GI3  in Fall Term of Level II and one of GEOG 3GI3  or 3GV3  in Winter Term of Level II. Students are encouraged to consult with an academic advisor to ensure proper course selection.

Earth and Environmental Sciences Co-op Course List

• BIOLOGY 2D03 - Plant Biodiversity and Biotechnology
• BIOLOGY 2F03 - Fundamental and Applied Ecology
• BIOLOGY 3DD3 - Communities and Ecosystems
• BIOLOGY 3SS3 - Population Ecology
• CHEM 2A03 - Quantitative Chemical Analysis
• CHEM 2AA3 - Quantitative Chemical Analysis
• CHEM 2E03 - Introductory Organic Chemistry
• CHEM 2OA3 - Organic Chemistry I
• CHEM 2OB3 - Organic Chemistry II
• CHEM 2OC3
• CHEM 2OD3 - Synthesis and Function of Organic Molecules
• CHEM 2OG3 - Structure and Reactivity of Organic Molecules
• EARTHSC 2C03
• EARTHSC 2GI3
• EARTHSC 3B03
• EARTHSC 3CC3 - Earth’s Changing Climate
• EARTHSC 3E03 - Clastic Sedimentary Environments
• EARTHSCI 3GI3
• EARTHSC 3GV3
• EARTHSC 3K03 - Petrology
• EARTHSC 3MB3
• EARTHSC 3O03
• EARTHSC 3L03
• EARTHSC 3M03
• EARTHSC 3SR3
• EARTHSC 3U03
• EARTHSC 3W03 - Physical Hydrogeology
• EARTHSC 3Z03 - Structural Geology
• EARTHSC 4BB3
• EARTHSC 4C03
• EARTHSC 4CC3 - Stable Isotopes in Earth and Environmental Systems
• EARTHSC 4EA3
• EARTHSC 4G03 - Glacial Sediments and Environments
• EARTHSC 4GA3
• EARTHSC 4J03 - Basin Analysis
• EARTHSC 4MI3
• EARTHSC 4MT6 A/B - Senior Thesis
• EARTHSC 4N03
• EARTHSC 4P03 - Coral Reef Environments
• EARTHSC 4T03 - Plate Tectonics and Ore Deposits
• EARTHSC 4VV3 - Environmental Geophysics
• EARTHSC 4W03
• EARTHSC 4WB3 - Contaminant Hydrogeology
• ENVIRSC 2C03 - Surface Climate Processes and Environmental Interactions
• ENVIRSC 3B03 - Ecosystems and Global Change
• ENVIRSC 3O03 - Contaminant Fate and Transport
• ENVIRSC 3U03 - Environmental Systems Modelling
• ENVIRSC 4BB3 - Field Techniques in Hydrology
• ENVIRSC 4C03 - Advanced Physical Climatology
• ENVIRSC 4EA3 - Environmental Assessment
• ENVIRSC 4MI3 - Independent Study in Earth and Environmental Sciences
• ENVIRSC 4N03 - Global Biogeochemical Cycles
• ENVIRSC 4W03 - Hydrologic Modelling
• GEOG 2GI3 - Geographic Information Systems
• GEOG 3GI3 - Advanced Raster GIS
• GEOG 3GV3 - Advanced Vector GIS
• GEOG 3MB3 - Data Analysis
• GEOG 3SR3 - Remote Sensing
• GEOG 4GA3 - Applied Spatial Statistics
• GEOG 4GS3 - GIS Programming
• GEOG 4GT3 - Special Topics in GIS
• GEOG 4MS3 - Independent Study
• LIFESCI 2H03

Requirements

120 units total (Levels I to V), of which no more than 48 units may be Level I

Co-op Program Chart