ENST - Environmental Studies

University College

ENST 100 Introduction to Environmental Studies

Explore the nature of environmental problems and gain an overall understanding of the complexity of these problems (LAC, gtP).


ENST 205 Environment, Politics and Law

Analysis of the causes and proposed solutions of environmental problems and of environmental issues and their political resolution.


ENST 215 Human Behavior and Environment

Prerequisite: ENST 100 recommended. Examine interrelationships between human behavior and the environment. Review personal, social and structural dimensions of everyday life relating to the environment. Understand environmental problems and consider alternative behavior models.


ENST 225 Energy and the Environment

Study past, present and future methods of energy production and limitations imposed by the laws of physics. Discuss applications to transportation, home and industry. Taught by the Physics department. (LAC, gtP)


ENST 235 Chemistry and the Environment

Study the chemistry of natural waters, the atmosphere, and geosphere and the chemicals used for agriculture, industry, home, and energy production that pollute them. (LAC, gtP)


ENST 255 Atmospheric Environment of Humans

Air pollution and temperature inversions, global circulation of pollutants, acid rain, human impact on the ozone layer, carbon dioxide and climatic change, nuclear winter and other climate/human relationships.


ENST 265 Conservation of Natural Resources

Learn the characteristics of the major natural resources and the scientific basis behind current resource use practices. The environmental consequences of their use and abuse will be emphasized.


ENST 285 Gender in Global and Cross Cultural Perspectives

This course uses multiple theoretical perspectives to provide a cultural analysis of modernization, economic development, and globalization and their gendered effects on people in developed and underdeveloped countries. (LAC)


ENST 291 Sustainability and Capitalism

Use case studies to explore a general overview of commerce, economics, and business as it relates to the environment and human interactions.


ENST 315 Nature and Society

Analyze problems in nature-society relationships by exploring geographic theory surrounding environmental politics, surveying local and global actors in these conflicts, and addressing varied contemporary issues in resource management.


ENST 320 American Environmental Worldviews

An exploration and analysis of the historical development of perceptions and worldviews about the environment and the natural world using the United States as a case study.


ENST 331 Global Population and Human Needs

Demographic perspective on human populations. Introduction to population processes of fertility, mortality, migration. Analysis of global patterns of demographic processes and the relation of culture to population growth and decline.


ENST 335 Environmental and Resource Economics



ENST 345 Environmental Geography: Earth at Risk

Prerequisite: GEOG 220 or GEOG 230. Examine selected environmental issues, including climate change, environmental degradation, and resource depletion, focusing on the physical processes underlying these problems and how human activities contribute to environmental problems.


ENST 355 Introduction to Environmental Health

Discussion of the relationships of environmental pollution to the ecosystem and health of humans. Analyze major areas of environmental pollution: water, air, solid wastes, pesticides, radioactive wastes and population.


ENST 356 Water Resource Economics

Prerequisite: ECON 205, or any 300- or 400-level ECON course. Examination of economic principles governing water planning, development and law. Discussion of supply and demand, quality and political issues. Relationship to Colorado and local situation.


ENST 375 Literature and the Environment

Explore human relationships with nature writing from various periods and cultures. Economic, scientific, philosophic and religious attitudes emerge from attitudes about nature. Do these influence human treatment of natural things?


ENST 380 Sustainable Living

Examine the sustainability of contemporary living patterns. Explore alternative approaches to meeting transportation, domestic power and heating, food production and waste disposal needs on the personal and community levels.


ENST 385 Art and the Environment

Investigate and participate in the process of art as it relates to the different environments of human existence.


ENST 389 Human Perception of the Built Environment

Prerequisite: ENST 100 or ENST 215 or permission of the instructor. Exploration of human perception as it adapts to the built environment, including theories of environmental psychology.


ENST 390 Building Materials for a Sustainable Environment

Prerequisite: ENST 100 or consent of instructor. Exploration of materials used in the built environment including: Properties and characteristics of a material, sustainable features, history of use, fabrication process, common uses for the material, and installation methods.


ENST 391 The Built Environment and Sustainability

Prerequisite: ENST 100 or permission of the instructor. Exploration of the built environment including the characteristics of sustainability in: site selection, recyclable and renewable resources, embodied energy, building materials, and indoor air quality.


ENST 405 Senior Seminar

Discuss current environmental issues in depth and in detail, on the basis of student background, library resources, interviews and guest speakers. Individuals and small groups analyze and present problems.


ENST 440 Biogeography

Prerequisites: GEOG 220 or GEOG 230 or ENST 100. Identify meaningful patterns in the distributions of plants and animals and explain how/ why those patterns developed. Includes an examination of the role humans have played in shaping those patterns.


ENST 422 Directed Studies


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ENST 492 Internship in Environmental Studies

Permission of ENST coordinator. Practical experience and training in areas related to the environment. Credit hours and nature of experience arranged individually. Repeatable, maximum of 15 credits.


ENST 494 Practicum in ENST College Instruction

Prerequisite: ENST 100. Consent of ENST coordinator required. Experience in assisting in instruction of an introductory environmental Studies introductory course. Repeatable, maximum of 6 credits. S/U graded.


ENST 495 Special Topics in Environmental Studies/Sustainability

Juniors or above, or consent of instructor. Study for undergraduate students in various topics of sustainability. Repeatable under different subtitles, maximum of nine credits.