Bachelor of Arts (Joint Major) in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and Political Science

at University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) - Prince George Campus Canada

Psychology is the study of behaviour, feelings and thinking. Psychologists study the biopsychosocial and developmental mechanisms and processes that regulate the behaviour of individuals. The goal of the Department of Psychology is to provide advanced knowledge in the substantive areas of Psychology. In addition, the Department provides excellent training that enhances the student's competitiveness for advanced graduate study in Psychology and related areas.

Chemistry
Chemistry is a fundamental science dealing with the nature of substances and the changes they undergo. Considered the “central science,” you will take courses in organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical chemistry along with math, physics and biology. 

Computer Science
The Computer Science program gives students a thorough exposure to basic areas like computer architecture, programming languages and methodology, algorithms and data structures, systems programming, operating systems and networking, knowledge-based and database systems, software engineering, and theory. The student will develop the advanced practical computing and problem-solving skills required for professional work in modern industry, based on a strong conceptual foundation and on insights into the nature of this rapidly changing field. Each student will use advanced development tools, and will be encouraged to approach problem-solving from a multidisciplinary point of view.

As an environmental engineer, you can serve society by ensuring we all have clean air, water and soil, and by creating sustainable solutions to today’s critical environmental questions.

This program prepares you for important employment opportunities where your technical expertise and problem-solving skills as an engineer are required, in addition to your strong awareness and understanding of environmental issues and a passion to improve the communities you live in.

Program Details
You will take design courses that begin in your first year, giving you the chance to engage your creative thinking. Hone your problem-solving skills as you continue to take design courses in every year of the program. 

During the first two years, build a foundation in basic sciences, engineering tools and environmental issues. In the final two years, you will develop an in-depth knowledge of environmental engineering.

Along with developing a solid background in environmental engineering, you will also gain strong communication skills and the ability to work across various disciplines including resource-based industries, government departments, research organizations, and environmental engineering consulting.

Example projects that an environmental engineering graduate can work on include the following:

• Designing and building processes to bring clean drinking water to northern communities 
• Designing and building processes to treat municipal or industrial wastewater
• Designing and building processes to recover energy from municipal and industrial waste 
• Developing methods to clean contaminated soil
• Developing flood control plans
• Mapping groundwater flow and contaminant transport in subsurface environments

The Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Geography degree provides a broad background on the fundamentals of physical geography (climate, snow and ice, water, soils, ecosystems). It provides you with specialized expertise in geospatial analysis, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, statistics, and field measurement methods that are critical skills for professional geoscientists and environmental consultants.

Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to studying the historical, cultural, literary, and societal role of women and gender.  UNBC's program has strengths in areas such as women's and gender history; gender, literature, and literary theory; gender, colonialism, and postcolonialism; gender and globalization; feminism, justice, and ethics; gender and health; and gender and international studies.The Women's Studies program offers majors and minors in Women's Studies and, in cooperation with other programs, four joint majors.  At the graduate level, the program offers a Master's degree in Gender Studies.

The Bachelor of Health Sciences degree is a four-year program consisting of a range of courses that relate directly to the science of health, in the recognition that health is a complex entity defying a simple explanation or a single disciplinary perspective.  The courses identified within the School of Health Sciences offer learning opportunities from a variety of disciplines, including the life sciences, social sciences, behavioural sciences, and ethics and law, to enable students to develop a body of knowledge and understanding relating to the dimensions of health.  Some of these courses are considered to be ‘core’ and therefore central to the basic understandings of health, while others offer the student opportunities to learn about a specific health perspective that is focused on one of three Majors:

1. Biomedical Studies,
2. Community and Population Health-Environmental Health, or,
3. Community and Population Health-Aboriginal and Rural Health.

Graduation from either of the Community and Population Health Majors enables students to embark on careers or graduate programs related to health care management, administration, information systems or public health.

Students pursuing the Biomedical Studies Major are required to complete a set of courses that enables them to be prepared for application to professional programs such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy, dentistry, speech pathology or physiotherapy.  This major provides a foundational, multidisciplinary knowledge base that is focused on the natural,  physical, and social sciences, and includes population health and research methodology. Students interested in other fields requiring extensive biomedical laboratory skills may enroll in the degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BCMB).

This program applies a combination of science and humanities to understand a range of anthropological approaches. Utilize your knowledge at the graduate level or in pursuit of a career in education, law, social work, and more.

Program Details
Study the most fascinating subject of all – ourselves. Anthropology is the biological, social and cultural investigation of humans, in the past, present, and future. 

This program includes courses in sociocultural, archaeological, biological, and linguistic anthropology. You can choose from a broad range of courses that reflect specific areas of interest. If your pursuit is sociocultural, you might select courses in First Nations studies, geography, history, and political science. If you are interested in archaeology, you might also take courses in biological and soil sciences, and environmental studies.

Economics
Economics as a discipline is constructed around the need to identify agents in the economy and analyze their interactions. As such it is based upon deriving generalizations by identifying behavioural rules and examining causal relationships between economic variables. The emphasis on examining causal relationships is a distinguishing feature of economics and forms an important part of its claim to be a social science. As well as addressing these central concerns, the Department of Economics recognizes the interaction between the economy and other broader social, political, cultural and technological forces. The Department therefore places special emphasis on courses that analyze institutions, facilitate comparative studies, encourage a historical approach, and recognize the pervasiveness of technological change.

Mathematics
An important feature of the mathematics degree program is the early emphasis on the development of abstract reasoning and the relation of the abstract to the concrete. The degree requirements have been chosen so as to provide students with a broad background in mathematics while still leaving them room to pursue their individual interests.

The BSc Wildlife and Fisheries degree at UNBC is administered by the Ecosystem Science and Management Program. It provides students with a solid foundation in wildlife and fisheries biology with considerable indoor and outdoor laboratory experience. It also exposes students to an integrated approach to resource issues that confront today's professionals. As such, the BSc Wildlife and Fisheries encompasses a combination of theoretical and applied ecology that prepares students for different avenues including public- and private-sector employment as well as  graduate studies.

Why Choose the Wildlife & Fisheries at UNBC?
The BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries at UNBC is one of very few degrees of its kind in Canada. It gives students the theoretical background they need to work as a biologist, but it also exposes students to extensive hands-on and practical labs and exercises. Consequently, a student graduating from this degree has a sound biological background for pursuing post-graduate studies as well as a degree that can lead them directly into the wildlife or fisheries professions. The relatively small class sizes in upper-division courses provide an ideal learning environment. Faculty teaching the courses for this degree are of extremely high calibre – many of them have  won UNBC teaching and research awards. As a student in the program, you benefit greatly from taking courses from faculty who are actively engaged in wildlife and fisheries research and who can bring examples and experience from their research to the classroom and lab.

To be able to work for the government (either employed by or as a consultant for) in British Columbia, it is important to be accredited as a Professional Biologist. Currently, a student taking all of the courses needed to complete the BSc Wildlife and Fisheries at UNBC should meet the education requirements for eligibility as a Registered Professional Biologist (RPBio) in BC.

Finance involves evaluating profitability and valuing real investments such as capital projects, as well as financial securities such as stocks, bonds, options and futures. In addition to the study of sources of capital and financing decisions of the firm and individual investors, the Finance major also studies the management of financial institutions such as banks and trust companies. The tools of Finance are used by small and large firms, government and individual investors. Instruction in Finance provides valuable information regarding financing and evaluating investment opportunities to students planning to enter into business for themselves. Government and firms employ Finance majors as financial analysts as well as in general management positions. In addition, the financial services industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Canada. Individuals interested in positions in the financial sector, or pursuing either the Chartered Financial Planner (CFP) or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations, or completing the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), should consider majoring in Finance.