E&S Minor

The minor in Environment & Sustainability offers a structured yet flexible pathway for students interested in an integrated analysis of environment and sustainability issues. Students develop relevant knowledge and skills through a combination of courses in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities.

General requirements:

  • Any undergraduate student at Cornell may enroll in the minor (except E&S majors).
  • Five courses plus one colloquium.
  • All courses except ENVS 2000 must be taken for a letter grade, and a grade of “C” or better must be recorded.
  • At least two courses must be at the 3000-level or higher.
  • AP credit will not be accepted.
  • Overlap of no more than two courses between the E&S minor and a student’s other major(s) and/or minors will be accepted.
  • No course substitutions are allowed with two exceptions: 1) external transfer students may use one course from a prior institution, and 2) a course for the minor has a forbidden overlap with a course taken for a student’s major.

Course requirements:

1. Environment & Sustainability (choose 1):
  • NTRES 1101: Environment & Sustainability (F)
  • NTRES 1201: Global Water Sustainability (S)
  • NTRES 2010: Environmental Conservation (S)
2. Environmental biology (choose 1):
3. Environmental physical sciences (choose 1):
4. Environmental humanities & social sciences (choose 2):
  • NTRES 2201: Society and Natural Resources (S)
  • NTRES 3311: Environmental Governance (F)
  • AEM 1500: An Introduction to the Economics of Environmental and Natural Resources (S)
  • AEM 2500: Environmental and Resource Economics (F)
  • Any course from the Environmental Humanities Concentration
  • Any course from Additional Environmental Courses in the Environmental Policy and Governance Concentration
5. Environment & Sustainability colloquium (choose 1):
  • ENVS 2000/2010: Environment and Sustainability Colloquium (F)
  • BEE 2000/2010: Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge (S)

For more information on how to declare the minor, contact the E&S Program at environment [at] cornell.edu.