Introduction

Please click here to see Climate Change Studies program information.

The Climate Change Studies program offers BS and BA degrees, and three tracks (e.g., natural science, society and policy) that include a range of courses across multiple departments, colleges, and schools at CU Denver.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Core Curriculum
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum 51 credit hours and of those 18 must be upper division credit hours from the approved courses. 

2. A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed in courses taught by faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at CU Denver.

3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. Only three credits of Travel Study may be counted toward graduation requirements.
2. Undergraduate students may count up to 6 credit hours of independent study or internship (any combination of relevant independent study, internship, or directed research coursework) towards elective credit in the major as approved by the program director. Students may not receive more than three credit hours per independent study section. No more than three credit hours of independent study may be taken with the same instructor or in the same term. 
3. CCST 3939 Internship: Community/Professional Experience optional, but highly recommended.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete the following required courses:		4-5
CCST 1001	Climate Change Seminar
CCST 4001	Climate Change Capstone
Complete the following climate literacy courses:		6-7
ENVS 1044 & ENVS 1045	Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Laboratory
or GEOG 1202	Introduction to Physical Geography
GEOG/ENVS 3232	Weather and Climate
Complete the list of the following foundation natural/climate sciences courses:		23
BIOL 2010	Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) (Complete the list of the following foundation natural/climate sciences courses:)
or BIOL 2030	Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio)
BIOL 2011	Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio)
or BIOL 2031	Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio)
BIOL 2020	Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio)
or BIOL 2040	Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio)
BIOL 2021	Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio)
or BIOL 2041	Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio)
CHEM 2031	General Chemistry I
or CHEM 2032	Majors General Chemistry I
or CHEM 2081	Honors General Chemistry I
CHEM 2038	General Chemistry Laboratory I
or CHEM 2039	Majors General Chemistry I Laboratory
or CHEM 2088	Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory
CHEM 2061	General Chemistry II
or CHEM 2062	Majors General Chemistry II
or CHEM 2091	Honors General Chemistry II Lecture
CHEM 2068	General Chemistry Laboratory II
or CHEM 2069	Majors General Chemistry II Laboratory
or CHEM 2098	Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory
GEOG/ENVS 4720	Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions
PSCI 2365	Politics of Climate Change
Complete two quantitative methods courses from the following list:		6-7
BIOL 3762	Biostatistics
MATH 3376	Data Wrangling & Visualization
MATH 4830	Applied Statistics
GEOG 4090	Environmental Modeling with Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 5050	Applied Spatial Statistics
Complete two courses from the following natural sciences list:		6-7
BIOL 3411/3413	Principles of Ecology
GEOG 3240	Colorado Climates
BIOL 4154	Conservation Biology
BIOL 4415	Applied Microbial Ecology
BIOL 4425	Biogeography
GEOG 4010	Landscape Biogeochemistry
GEOG 4020	Earth Environments and Human Impacts
GEOG 4240	Applied Geomorphology
GEOG 4270	Glacial Geomorphology
GEOG 4731	Mountain Biogeography
GEOG 4750	Beeography: Geography of Bees
GEOG 4757	Urban Climate and Air Quality
Complete one course from the following policy list:		3
COMM 4282	Environmental Communication
GEOG 4420	The Politics of Nature
GEOG 4440	Science, Policy and the Environment
PBHL 3020	Introduction to Environmental Health
PBHL 3070	Perspectives in Global Health
PBHL 3500	Climate Justice
PUAD 2002	Policy and Advocacy
PUAD 3500	Managing and Leading in Environmental Organizations
PUAD 4011	Community Resilience, Climate, and Emergency Response
PUAD 4740	Sustainable Energy Policy
URPL 4550	Transportation, Planning and Policy
or URPL 4555	Transportation, Land Use and the Environment
PSCI 4144	Indigenous Political Systems
PSCI 4146	Indigenous Politics
Complete one course from the following society list:		3
ANTH 4888	Editing Earth: Ancient Human Impacts
COMM 4282	Environmental Communication
ECON 4530	Economics of Natural Resources
ECON 4540	Environmental Economics
GEOG 4335	Climate Change & Society
GEOG 4680	Urban Sustainability and Resiliency: Perspectives and Practice
HIST 3366	Nature and Power in American History
HIST 3606	Science, Technology, and Society in the Modern World
PBHL 3002	Ethnicity, Health and Social Justice
PBHL 3081	Health in the City: Urban Health
PSCI 4365	Global Ecological Crises
Total Hours		51-55

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website. 

To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.