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Bachelor of Science - Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development Minor
The Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development Minor provides students with an understanding of current issues in environmental economics, development economics, natural resource management, and sustainable development. Sustainable development involves meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Due to the growing importance of corporate social responsibility, companies are devoting considerably more resources to ensure they are operating in a sustainable manner. Future managers in any industry will benefit greatly from a knowledge of this important field.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of this program, students are able to:
- Analyze the effects of climate change on economic development and the domestic and international policy initiatives undertaken to mitigate these costs.
- Develop a plan that utilizes local resources to promote sustainable community economic and social development.
- Assess the efficiency and effectiveness of current or proposed projects utilizing benefit-cost analysis.
- Examine environmental issues and the public policies developed to address problems relating to resource over-utilization and pollution.
- Apply microeconomics principles to forest management, conservation and policy development.
- Investigate land use issues and the public polices relating to the preservation and conservation of agricultural lands.
- Research issues, challenges and policies options relating to sustainable economic development.
Minor requirements
| At least four of: |
ECON 3410 Economics of Climate Change (3,0,0)ECON 3410 Economics of Climate Change (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students investigate the climatic changes resulting from global warming and the policy actions being taken to address these problems. Topics include an overview of the science and economics of climate change; the impact of climate change on growth and economic development; the economics of stabilization including efficiency, externalities, public goods, and environmental policy instruments; inter-temporal decisions and uncertainties about the impacts of climate change; the policy responses to mitigation and adaption and their cost; international collective action and its challenges; and prominent climate policy approaches, such as the United Nations Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.
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ECON 3690 Community Economic Development (3,0,0)ECON 3690 Community Economic Development (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students investigate methods for effectively using local community resources to enhance economic opportunities while improving social conditions in a sustainable way. Topics include the theoretical basis for community economic development (CED), analytical techniques used to assess communities, environmental sustainability objectives for community development, competing strategies of community development, financing development strategies, and CED activity in Canada and other nations.
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ECON 3700 Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Economics of Project Evaluation (3,0,0)ECON 3700 Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Economics of Project Evaluation (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students examine projects that are commonly evaluated using benefit-cost analysis, and the appropriate methods for determining their cost effectiveness. Topics include project evaluation techniques; measuring welfare change; correcting for market distortions using shadow wages and prices; finding the appropriate discount rate; making valid valuations that incorporate inflation and appropriate planning horizon, scrap, and spillover and secondary effects; public enterprise pricing rules; valuing intangibles; and incorporating risk and uncertainty. Case studies of projects are analyzed from a variety of areas, such as natural resources, the environment, human resources, public service, and transportation.
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ECON 3710 Environmental Economics (3,0,0)ECON 3710 Environmental Economics (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students apply the tools of microeconomic analysis to environmental issues. Topics include property rights and efficient resource use, market failure, the over-utilization of common pool resources, the Coase Theorem, non-market valuation techniques, government policies designed to cost-effectively control pollution, and real-world strategies for controlling pollution.
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ECON 3730 Forestry Economics (3,0,0)ECON 3730 Forestry Economics (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students are introduced to the concepts and analytical techniques used in forestry economics and their application to forest management, conservation, and policy analysis. Topics include techniques for analyzing forestry investments; timber demand, supply, and pricing; valuation of non-marketed goods and services, such as recreation and wildlife habitat; land allocation and multiple use; forest management issues, such as planting, thinning, and optimal age of crop rotation; and regulatory issues, including allowable annual cut regulations, property rights, tenure, and taxes.
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ECON 3740 Land Use Economics (3,0,0)ECON 3740 Land Use Economics (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students focus on land use issues with particular emphasis on government policies relating to the preservation and conservation of agricultural lands. Topics include rent theory; welfare measurement; property rights and externalities; project evaluation using cost-benefit and multiple accounts analysis; the economics of soil conservation; efficiency and equity in land use planning, including zoning changes; government land preservation and conservation policies, and agricultural subsidies; water use in agriculture; forest management; and multiple uses of public lands.
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ECON 3990 ***Selected Topics in Economics (3,0,0) or (6,0,0)ECON 3990 ***Selected Topics in Economics (3,0,0) or (6,0,0)Credits: 6 credits The subject matter in this course varies from semester to semester depending upon the interests of faculty and students. Courses are taught by visiting professors to instill their unique perspectives or by regular faculty to address emerging topics in a discipline, share research or teaching interests, or test potential new courses. The added variety in the curriculum greatly enhances the student learning experience.
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ECON 4720 Sustainable Economic Development (3,0,0)ECON 4720 Sustainable Economic Development (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students examine theories and issues, internal and external challenges, and alternative policy options relating to sustainable economic development. Topics include a comparative analysis of the leading theories of economic growth, development, and sustainability; lack of economic growth, poverty, and income distribution; consequences of population growth and technological change; employment and migration, human capital, agriculture, and rural development; international trade and commercial policy, foreign investment, and aid; and global integration, economic transition, and environmental degradation.
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ECON 4990 ***Selected Topics in Economics (3,0,0) or (6,0,0)ECON 4990 ***Selected Topics in Economics (3,0,0) or (6,0,0)Credits: 6 credits The subject matter in this course varies from semester to semester depending upon the interests of faculty and students. Courses are taught by visiting professors to instill their unique perspectives or by regular faculty to address emerging topics in a discipline, share research or teaching interests, or test potential new courses. The added variety in the curriculum greatly enhances the student learning experience.
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ECON 3990 and ECON 4990 can only be used if the selected topics covered are related to environmental economics and sustainable development.
| At least two of: |
BIOL 3020 |
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BIOL 3030 Population Biology (3,1,0)BIOL 3030 Population Biology (3,1,0)Credits: 3 credits Students are introduced to the study of plant and animal populations and their physical and biological environments. Topics include natural selection and microevolution, demography, population dynamics, competition and predation.
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BIOL 3100 Introduction to Animal Behaviour (3,0,3)(L)BIOL 3100 Introduction to Animal Behaviour (3,0,3)(L)Credits: 3 credits Students examine the biological basis of animal behaviour including the genetics and development of behaviour, mate choice, communication, and social behaviour.
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BIOL 3290 Ichthyology (3,0,3)(L)BIOL 3290 Ichthyology (3,0,3)(L)Credits: 3 credits This course educates students in the systematics, anatomy, physiology, life history, and ecology of freshwater and marine fishes. Students learn to identify local freshwater fishes, and salmon species.
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BIOL 3430 Plants and People (3,0,2)(L)BIOL 3430 Plants and People (3,0,2)(L)Credits: 3 credits Students explore plants' and peoples' reciprocal use of one another as biological, cultural and ecological agents of change. Students analyze how different ways of knowing influence our understanding of the human-plant interactions underwriting Indigenous-land relationships, the advent of agriculture, European colonialism, globalization, and sustainability. Students contextualize global patterns of economic botany through local food projects situated in their own ecosystem. Students create new understanding of their own relationship with plants through interdisciplinary projects that integrate creative approaches (illustrated journals, story maps, non-fiction writing) with scientific content.
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BIOL 4020 Limnology (3,0,3)(L)BIOL 4020 Limnology (3,0,3)(L)Credits: 3 credits This course offers theoretical and applied aspects of limnology. Students consider the ecology of inland water organisms in relation to the physical, chemical, and biological factors that affect their interactions and production. One weekend field trip is required.
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BIOL 4090 Field Methods in Terrestrial Ecology (125 hours)BIOL 4090 Field Methods in Terrestrial Ecology (125 hours)Credits: 3 credits Students identify the “pieces, patterns and processes" of terrestrial ecology while in residence at the Wells Gray Education and Research Center. Students practice field techniques with instructors and visiting biologists. Students situate observations within ecological theories and develop testable hypotheses in teams. Students integrate their understanding of field ecology's theory and practice by collecting, analyzing and interpreting field data into professional-level reports and orally present their conclusions to their peers. Students appreciate theory of good leadership and practice strategies for conflict resolution and consensus building while working in teams. Students articulate importance of responsible leadership that prioritizes health and safety while working in remote field locations.
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BIOL 4100 Field Methods in Marine Ecology (125 hours)BIOL 4100 Field Methods in Marine Ecology (125 hours)Credits: 3 credits Students participate in an intensive two-week exploration in the field methods used to study marine ecosystems. The course is typically offered immediately after exams in the Winter semester (usually late April or early May). Students learn field and laboratory techniques for sampling, experimentation, and analysis of marine organisms and ecosystems, and carry out individual projects of their own design. Facilities such as the Bamfield Marine Station are utilized, and a fee is required to meet living expenses.
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BIOL 4160 Principles of Conservation Biology (2,2,0)BIOL 4160 Principles of Conservation Biology (2,2,0)Credits: 3 credits Students explore the scientific foundations and real-world practice of conservation biology. They focus on the importance of biological diversity to the functioning of ecosystems and the services those ecosystems provide to human societies. Students learn about the primary threats to biodiversity, the main approaches to biodiversity conservation at various scales, and investigate conflicting ethical values around the conservation of biodiversity. They evaluate the relevant primary scientific literature and use and apply field and analytical tools commonly employed in conservation practice.
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BIOL 4260 Plant Ecology (3,0,3)(L)BIOL 4260 Plant Ecology (3,0,3)(L)Credits: 3 credits Students examine the ecology of plants at an individual, population, and community scale. The ecological physiological constraints of being a plant is reviewed before exploring species interactions with the natural environment and with other species. Students also consider plant community patterns in time and space. Topics include issues in plant conservation, community attributes such as productivity and diversity, and the influence of scale and heterogeneity on sampling design and analysis. Field trips may occur on weekends. This course is offered in alternate years.
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BIOL 4270 Terrestrial Vertebrate Zoology (2,0,3)(L)BIOL 4270 Terrestrial Vertebrate Zoology (2,0,3)(L)Credits: 3 credits This advanced zoology course offers an examination of the origins, natural history and behavioral ecology of terrestrial vertebrates. Students construct hypotheses about the paleontological history of each living group of terrestrial vertebrates. Traits of extinct and living forms are used to analyze how adaptation to different environments has generated the diversity within each living group. Laboratory periods and field trips provide opportunities for students to observe the classification, life histories and ecology of species found in British Columbia.
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CHEM 3010 Aqueous Environmental Chemistry (3,0,0)CHEM 3010 Aqueous Environmental Chemistry (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students are introduced to the properties and composition of natural waters. Topics include hydrologic cycle, water quality, partitioning, transport, chemical equilibria, pH, complexation, redox processes, and water treatment.
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CHEM 3020 Atmospheric Environmental Chemistry (3,0,0)CHEM 3020 Atmospheric Environmental Chemistry (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits This course is an introduction to structure, composition, and chemical processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere. These include interactions with solar radiation, stratospheric ozone layer, photochemical smog, and acid rain.
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PHIL 4350 Environmental Ethics (3,0,0)PHIL 4350 Environmental Ethics (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits This course offers a study of moral issues arising in the context of human relationships to nature and to non-human living things. Principal topics include the issue of what constitutes moral standing, animal rights, obligations to future generations, the moral dimensions of problems of pollution, the extraction, production and use of hazardous materials, the depletion of natural resources, and the treatment of non-living things.
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| An upper level geology course |
| An upper level natural resource science course |
| An upper level ECON course from the list above |
