Applied Human and Environmental Sciences

Department Office
Stevenson 3715
707-664-2306

Department Chair
Daniel Soto

The Department of Applied Human and Environmental Sciences brings together fields that explore the intersections between humans and their ecological, geophysical, social, and cultural environments. Students in our department prepare for a wide range of careers with public and private agencies that foster human progress while attending to environmental, social, and ethical issues.

Human Development and Applied Anthropology (BA)

The Human Development and Applied Anthropology Program offers students tools for understanding the complexities of human life, with an emphasis on how to use these tools to address problems that humans face - in the past, present, and future. Drawing on approaches from human development, anthropology, and other social sciences, HDAA trains students to think about humans as biocultural creatures that construct material and social worlds in ecosystems. Students learn how humans give cultural and linguistic meaning to worlds that are global in scale and historically specific, which they experience within a life course that extends from infancy to old age.
In addition to a core curriculum that covers foundational theories and methods, students gain fluency in one of two areas. In the “Health, Social Justice, and the Life Course” subprogram, students examine how health and well-being are culturally shaped, experienced across human development, and unequally distributed across social differences. In the “Culture, Heritage, Environment, and Power” subprogram, students learn about how humans relate to, value, and steward their social, material, and ecological environments across the past, present, and future, considering how power shapes human social and ecological worlds. .
The program also offers minors in Health, Culture, and Social Justice, and Human Development and Applied Anthropology.

Environmental Studies, Geography, and Planning (BA) and Environmental Science, Geography, and Management (BS)

To address environmental challenges, one must have a deep understanding of both natural and human systems in different ecological, economic, political, and cultural contexts. Students in the ESGP (BA) and ESGM (BS) programs learn key fundamentals about environmental science and policy, and they develop practical skills as they use tools of the trade in lab and field courses. Graduates secure positions among a broad array of employers, including state and natural resource agencies, city and county governments, preserves and biological research stations, schools, non-profit organizations, private businesses, and consulting firms.

Geology (BS)

Geology is the study of the materials, structures, processes, and history of the Earth. It advances our understanding of the formation of rocks and minerals and how they can be used to reconstruct the history of the Earth’s biological, climatic, and tectonic evolution across the enormity of geologic time. The Program is committed to undergraduate training that includes a well-balanced treatment of geologic principles and an emphasis on field studies.

Cultural Heritage and Resources Management (MS)

Cultural Heritage and Resources Management (CHRM) is an applied, professional subfield of anthropology that involves the identification, evaluation, and preservation of cultural resources within legal and planning contexts. The primary objectives of the master’s program is to produce professionals competent in research design and data collection and analysis, as well as the legal mandates of CHRM. Program graduates work as historic preservation specialists, environmental planners, and archaeologists for government agencies and as private consultants.

Programs

Major

Concentration

Masters

Cultural Heritage and Resources Management, MS

Minor

Sample Four-Year Plans

Sample Two-Year Transfer Plans