Earth Sustainability Certificate (ETHSUS)

About the Certificate

By the time current undergraduates send their children to college, Earth’s population will have increased to more than eight billion people. Our climate will be warmer and characterized by more frequent extreme weather. How we choose to plan for (and attempt to mitigate) these “grand challenges” will have consequences for individuals and nations alike.

The 12-credit Earth Sustainability Certificate is an earth science program with the goal of dramatically increasing geoscience literacy for undergraduate students from all majors—including those in non-scientific fields—so that they are better positioned to make sustainable decisions in their lives and as part of the broader society.

Read more about the Earth Sustainability Certificate on the University Bulletin website.

Complementary Majors

Because it emphasizes geoscience literacy across all disciplines, the Earth Sustainability Certificate is designed to work well with any major, including business, engineering, arts and humanities and the social sciences. Specific four-year degrees offered at Brandywine include:

Certificate Requirements

The certificate is earned by taking one required and three elective earth science courses listed below. Students may take these courses in any order. No prerequisites required.

  • Required course: EARTH 103N: “Earth in the Future: Predicting Climate Change and its Impacts over the Next Century”
  • EARTH 104N: “Climate, Energy and Our Future”
  • EARTH 107N: “Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society”
  • EARTH 109: "The Fundamentals of Shale Energy Development" (*not offered at Brandywine)
  • EARTH 111: “Water: Science and Society”
  • GEOG 3N: "Food and the Future Environment"

For more information, please contact program coordinator Dr. Laura Guertin (610-892-1427, [email protected])