The programs have synergies and similarities, but differ in focus, school/college and offered degrees:

Focus:

Geosciences is interdisciplinary and offers instruction on the interconnectedness of the Earth layers, providing an Earth systems lens to your STEM education at UVM. Fields of study include i) solid Earth processes and materials, ii) land-surface processes and interactions, and iii) atmospheric and climatological processes – all of which include how living things, including humans, interact with the Earth and other planetary systems.

Environmental Studies and Sciences are also interdisciplinary programs with a systems lens, but at timescales that are adapted to the living world (typically decades).

For environmental studies, the explicit focus is on environmental sustainability and justice. Environmental sciences typically exclude the explicit study of rocks or the Earth and other planetary bodies, but instead focusses on the ecosystem context in shallow Earth layers including vegetation and soil.

College/school:

Additionally, Geosciences and Environmental Studies are offered through the college of Arts and Sciences, while Environmental Science is offered through the Rubenstein school. This means that school/college specific course requirements vary greatly.

Degree/program:

Geosciences is available as Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences degree and we also offer a minor.

Environmental Studies is available as Bachelor of Arts degree and also offers a minor.

Environmental Science is available as Bachelor of Sciences degree, there is no minor.

Additionally, Geosciences is a comparatively small program. If you are interested in studying the Earth or environment with the geosciences focus, the smaller cohort of students and close relationships with faculty are an added bonus!

Our program emphasizes flexibility and interdisciplinarity with offerings within our department and across campus.

Major and minors will take foundational and core courses (see details here [add the webpage]), and majors will further take electives and ancillary courses.

1. Foundational courses: several courses that introduce the breadth of the discipline and provide important context for midlevel courses.
2. Core courses: at the intermediate and advanced level in several categories (also called subfield requirements) that emphasize the interconnectedness of Earth layers and processes.
3. Earth and Planetary Materials
4. Land-Surface Processes & Interactions
5. Atmospheric and climatological processes
6. Practice Requirement

Note that our courses are often interdisciplinary and many contain practice elements, thus it is not difficult to satisfy these categories. After that, you can either continue exploring the breadth of the discipline with courses from multiple categories, or specialize in one or two categories.

3. Electives: can be additional Geosciences courses and/or courses with the prefixes ASTR, BIOL, CEE, CHEM, CS, ENSC, ENVS, GEOG, NR, STAT, PHYS, or PSS.
4. Ancillary courses: We have flexibility there as well. Depending on your degree (B.A., or B.S.) you will take calculus and/or statistics, chemistry and have the option to apply biology, additional chemistry, computer science, or physics courses. We offer guidance on decisions on ancillary courses, but intentionally refrain from requesting the same prerequisites for all students, because trajectories, interests and career choices are highly variable. 

• Interdepartmental ties: The commitment to an Area Studies focus in our department is strengthened by close ties to the International Studies and Canadian Studies Programs at UVM.
• Similarly, we regularly cross-list courses and work in concert with a number of other departments at UVM, including the environmental program, women's studies, political science, geology, anthropology, and natural resources. CHECK OUT SAMPLE COURSE OFFERINGS.