Bachelor of Environmental Studies

New program, regulations effective Sep. 1, 2025. 

The Bachelor of Environmental Studies program is scheduled to open Jan. 1, 2026. For more information about this program, contact one of the following: advising@athabascau.ca or Dr. Heather McLean: hmclean@athabascau.ca Director of the Bachelor of Environmental Studies program. 

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Program structure

* ENVS 201, ENVS 350, ENVS 498, ENVS 499 must all be taken at Athabasca University.

Mandatory non-credit requirements

• Participation and peer review in BES student virtual and/or in-person learning symposium – 2 required
• Participation and presentation in BES peer-to-peer virtual and/or in-person learning symposium – 2 required

Electives – Required content areas

(minimum 42 credits, maximum 72 credits)

Students must select electives that fulfill the following content areas, electives must be planned in advance and have Program Director's approval:

• 51 credits planned as part of ENVS 201, and
• 51 credits planned as part of ENVS 350

Courses listed in groups are examples to provide some direction. The requirements can be met using other courses that have been approved in ENVS 201 and ENVS 350. All groups must be fulfilled.

Group 1: Advanced Environmental Studies courses (6 credits), such as:

electives

ENVS 343 – Global Environmental Change	(3)
ENVS 461 – "Hatchet and Seed" – Tools of Political Ecology	(3)
Any 300 or 400 level ENVS courses

Group 2: Business, Law, Health, or Education courses related to Environmental Studies (3-12 credits), such as:

CRJS 420 – Environmental Protection and Enforcement	(3)
ECON 401 – The Changing Global Economy	(3)
EDPY 310 – Learning and Instruction	(3)
EDUC 317 – Training and Development in Organizations	(3)
ENTP 212 – Entrepreneurship	(3)
HADM 336 – Community Health Planning	(3)
HLST 200 – Introduction to Human Health	(3)
IDRL 320 – The Law of Work	(3)
LGST 249 – Legal Literacy	(3)
LGST 331 – Administrative Law	(3)

Group 3: Methodology (e.g. ethnography, quantitative research methods, Participatory Action Research, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, etc.) (3 – 9 credits), such as:

ANTH 390 – Community-Based Research Methods	(3)
ANTH 401 – Ethnography, the Writing of Culture	(3)
ANTH 402 – Ethnographic Research Methods	(3)
ANTH 491 – Ethnobiology: Traditional Biological Knowledge in Contemporary Global Context	(3)
EDPY 480 – Learning with Technology	(3)
EDUC 317 – Training and Development in Organizations	(3)
HERM 361 – Interpretive Programming	(3)
PSYC 304 – Research Methods in Psychology	(3)
SOSC 366 – Research Methods in the Social Sciences	(3)

Group 4: Presentation or effective communication (e.g. creative writing, digital storytelling, digital photography, etc.) (3 – 9 credits), such as:

ADMN 233 – Writing in Organizations	(3)
APST 215 – Introduction to Graphic Representation	(3)
CMNS 358 – Popular Culture and the Media	(3)
CMNS 380 – Corporate Communication	(3)
CMNS 419 – Digital Storytelling	(3)
COMM 243 – Interpersonal Communication	(3)
COMM 329 – Mediated Interpersonal Communication	(3)
COMP 230 – Storyboard Design and Development	(3)
ENGL 211 – Reading Novels and Short Stories	(3)
ENGL 353 – Intermediate Composition	(3)
ENGL 380 – Writing Poetry	(3)
ENGL 381 – Creative Writing in Prose	(3)
ENGL 384 – Writing Creative Non-Fiction	(3)
ENGL 387 – Writing Speculative Fiction	(3)
SOCI 426 – Knowledge Mobilization for Multiple Audiences	(3)

Group 5: Statistics or courses about interpreting statistics (3 – 6 credits), such as:

CMNS 308 – Understanding Statistical Evidence	(3)
MATH 215 – Introduction to Statistics	(3)
MATH 216 – Computer-Oriented Approach to Statistics	(3)
MGSC 301 – Statistics for Business and Economics I	(3)
SOCI 301 – Social Statistics	(3)

Group 6: Indigenous Ways of Knowing (post-colonial, Indigenous Studies, views from the global south, etc. At least one of these courses will ideally be authored and taught by an Indigenous person located on Turtle Island) (6 credits), such as:

ANTH 377 – Archaeologies of Turtle Island	(3)
ANTH 491 – Enthobiology: Traditional Biological Knowledge in Contemporary Global Context	(3)
Any 200/300 level INST courses

Group 7: Global Studies courses related to Environmental Studies (can include field study in a country like Belize or Costa Rica, a student exchange course in a less industrialized part of the world, Global Studies) (3 credits), such as:

ECON 401 – The Changing Global Economy	(3)
GLST 200 – World Regional Geography	(3)
GLST 205 – Building Blocks of Global Studies: Overview of Approaches, Concepts, and Issues	(3)
GLST 230 – Globalization and World Politics	(3)
GLST 308 – Americas: An Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean	(3)
GLST 335 – Global Labour History	(3)
GLST 343 – Global Environmental Change	(3)
GLST 483 – Political Economy of Globalization	(3)
GOVN 440 – Global Governance and Law	(3)

Group 8: Building Local Community (service learning courses in the student's local community, community development) (3 – 9 credits), such as:

ENVS 300 – Community Service Learning in the Environmental Sector	(3)
ENVS 435 – Transformative Change in Building Sustainable Communities	(3)

Group 9: Applied Learning (field courses, service learning, practicum) (9 credits), such as:

ARCH 323 – Landscape Architecture Theory and Practice	(3)
ENSC 495 – Environmental Science Projects	(3)
ENSC 496 – Environmental Science Projects	(3)
ENVS 305 – Environmental Impact Assessment	(3)
SOCI 426 – Knowledge Mobilization for Multiple Audiences	(3)

Group 10: Interdisciplinary course other than ENVS, but still related to Environmental Studies (3 credits), such as:

CLST 201 – Cultural Studies and Everyday Life	(3)
CMNS 201 – Introduction to Mass Media	(3)
CMNS 355 – Media and Information Literacy	(3)
HSRV 311 – Social Justice in Action	(3)
HSRV 470 – Activism and Social Movement Making	(3)
LBST 330 – Workers and the Economy	(3)
LBST 335 – Global Labour History	(3)
WGST 210 – Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Media	(3)
WGST 303 – Gender, Women, and Health	(3)
WGST 333 – Goddess Mythology, Women's Spirituality and Ecofeminism	(3)

Options

(30 – 60 credits depending on how many BES electives required content courses are taken)

options

Junior- or senior-level credits from any area, including from the electives above (provided they have not been used to satisfy the elective requirement). Students who wish to substitute another course(s) for the electives may do so with the permission of the program director.

30 – 60 credits

Specific regulations

Transfer credit may be adjusted after taking ENVS 201 or ENVS 350 when the student's learning plan is developed.

Athabasca University may grant transfer credit for individual environmental impact assessment courses and climate change courses that were completed more than 10 years ago if proof of currency in the field is provided in the form of a current resumé and letter(s) of employment from the supervisor/employer/human resources. The letter should be written on company letterhead, and the content must include the supervisor's signature and email address, the student's position title, date of hire, and a breakdown of the duties that highlight the relevancy of the education. Other evidence may be accepted if the letter and the resumé cannot be supplied.