Bachelor of Science in Chemistry With Emphasis in Forensics & Criminalistics

at Northern Arizona University - Flagstaff Campus USA

Chemistry is a diverse discipline that encompasses living processes, inorganic interactions, and analytical methods. Chemistry deals with the basic laws of the physical world and the composition and properties of matter. Students trained in chemistry enter careers in academia, research, pharmacy, forensics, medicine, the environment, space exploration, and national defense. Students can select an emphasis that best prepares them for their chosen career path.

The breadth of the field of chemistry requires a wide range of knowledge and skills. The goal of the NAU chemistry degree program is to ensure that our graduates:

• Are well versed in the fundamental principles of chemistry: the atomic theory of matter, the quantum nature of the atom, and the principle laws of thermodynamics;
• Are knowledgeable about frequently encountered elements, compounds, and reactions;
• Understand biosynthetic pathways and modes of action of biomolecules;
• Understand factors controlling the mechanisms of chemical reactions;
• Are knowledgeable about synthesis strategies and can successfully conduct synthetic sequences in the laboratory;
• Understand the principles of chemical analysis and are proficient at using modern instrumentation to carry out analysis;
• Are adept at solving problems independently and contributing to a team effort;
• Able to communicate their scientific results orally and in writing.

Musicology Emphasis

Students develop skills in the area of musicology and/or ethnomusicology that prepare them for further study at the doctoral level.

• Demonstrate advanced historical knowledge of music from the Western tradition as well as music from around the world.
• Demonstrate advanced analytical skills in interpreting music within historical and cultural contexts.
• Participate in the intellectual discourse on music, drawing from their historical, practical, and theoretical knowledge.
• Develop appropriate research questions and arguments and integrate musicological/ethnomusicological methods for the purposes of answering the developed questions and supporting the developed arguments.
• Demonstrate understanding and breadth of critical approaches to music in preparation for researching and writing a master’s level thesis.
• Produce a master’s thesis displaying research of a caliber that could be presented at a regional music conference. This thesis will:
• Present an original, sustained, and coherent argument.
• Involve detailed musical analysis of the work of a particular composer or a specific repertoire of musical works.
• Summarize, respond to, and/or build upon the prior secondary analytical literature on that composer or repertoire.
• Employ a methodology that is more detailed, specific, and/or advanced than the approaches taught at the level of the basic undergraduate music history course sequence.

The Master of Arts in History prepares students for careers in academia as well as the public and private sectors. Many of our students have continued for the PhD and now serve on university faculties across the country. Others have pursued careers as foundation or government historians.  Still others have used their degree to excel as public historians, including museum curators and cultural interpretation specialists at historic sites and parks.

The Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Engineering provides students learning opportunities in multiple engineering disciplines and complemented by other disciplines across campus. The program supports a customizable curriculum that includes a capstone experience focused on multi- and inter-disciplinary teamwork. Specific combinations of coursework are formulated in several named emphases that provide unique opportunities and inspires students to build their own unique engineering pathways.

The core of the program is a design sequence with loose commonality across most of NAU’s engineering programs.  All students, regardless of emphasis, engage in contextualized engineering design and project management courses. This core is supported by foundational math, computer science, and physics coursework.  The design sequence also becomes the scaffolding for integrating and synthesizing coursework across several disciplines and content areas.

Students who do not select an emphasis area may work with either an advisor or a faculty mentor to select course work in the plan that supports their own personal engineering aspirations and interests. Students who get an MDE degree have many general engineering career opportunities.  This includes areas such as engineering sales, engineering management, engineering communication, or an engineering technician.

Students who select the Sustainable Engineering emphasis take specialized coursework in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and environmental sciences, which allows them to engage in environmental engineering practice that focuses on sustainability.  This emphasis is intended to support students who are interested in working at the intersection of environmental engineering and environmental science and practice with a focus on sustainable systems.

The program is designed to provide the foundational skills for continuous learning and to adapt to the fast changing information technology environment.  This program also includes competency-based and hands-on learning modules to enhance acquired business skills.  Parts of the curriculum are designed around highly valued certifications.  Students will also augment their IT skills with the social, verbal and intercultural business skills demanded by today’s work environments.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences consists of a Life Sciences Core combined with a broad range of flexible elective options. From anatomy and physiology to human microbiology, students will develop an understanding of biological and chemical systems of the human body — and develop a foundation for a career in a range of health professions.
 
The Life Sciences Core is designed to provide the student with a strong grounding in biology, chemistry and mathematics. The student, in consultation with an academic advisor and using a basic course schedule as a guideline, may select from elective courses relevant to a range of disciplinary areas and career fields, such as Human Genomics, Immunobiology, Medical Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Bioengineering or design his or her own set of electives approved by one of the program academic advisors.

Software engineering consists of the principled application of repeatable processes and methods for the design, development, maintenance, and evolution of software systems. The field is distinguished from programming and computer science by its emphasis on practical techniques supporting the team-based development of large-scale and long-lived software systems that are required to operate reliably and within specified functional and non-functional constraints.

Students in the BSSE will be provided with skills in software engineering processes, including requirements analysis, software design and architecture, software testing, multiple programming languages and libraries, cloud computing technologies, project management, and foundational areas such as data structures and algorithmic complexity. Elective selections will permit students to specialize in other application areas, including human-computer interaction, socio-technical computing, computer networks, high-performance computing, and cybersecurity. A capstone project will allow students to exercise the full breadth of their skillset by working with clients on real-world projects.

A distinctive characteristic of this program, and one that exemplifies its emphasis on workforce development, is the inclusion of required and industry-recognized professional certifications. All graduates of this program will be required to complete the Professional Software Developer (PSD) Certification offered by the IEEE Computer Society. In addition to the IEEE certification, students will have the opportunity to earn the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Certified Solutions Architect Professional (CSAP) certification.

Our ability to efficiently support the BSSE program is strengthened by our roster of related programs, including our computer science and applied computer science programs, which share many core programming courses with software engineering, and our cybersecurity programs.  This program also expands on the existing options for our students to pursue computer science related degrees, with a focus on industry career opportunities.

The knowledge gained during this program, will prepare you for tackling real world engineering challenges, providing solutions to complex engineering problems, and creating products that will benefit the society. The Mechanical Engineering Master of Science will help you enter a satisfying, productive and exciting profession, or continue on to a doctoral degree.

The program will help you understand the application of your profession to a wide range of mechanical engineering problems. Faculty are engaged in research and its creative application to relevant problems, and you will have the opportunity to work closely with them.
 
Students wanting to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees simultaneously may qualify for our Accelerated Program which allows students to count six units toward both degrees, shortening the time to graduation.

Biology is the study of life and living organisms—their structure & organization, development, evolution, distribution and interactions.  The major offers a modern, balanced, and comprehensive treatment of biology, emphasizing critical analysis of information and integration among its sub-disciplines.  At NAU, all students take foundations courses that address fundamental biological concepts: cellular & molecular processes, genetics & inheritance, and ecological and evolutionary theory.  Then, students complete the major by selecting the courses in biology that best serve their individual interests.  Upper-division biology courses hone into areas of physiology, evolution, ecological systems, genetics or cell theory.  Our graduates attain the high-level scientific inquiry skills and have practiced the research methods needed to compete in graduate and professional schools and to succeed in the workplace.

The Chemistry M.S. program prepares students for research-focused professions in the chemical sciences, emphasizing the development of a students' ability to develop experimental approaches that accurately capture information to solve questions and problems in their chemical field of study. Our faculty members conduct research in the many fields of chemistry, from the level of single molecules to whole chemical systems. From the first day of entry into our program, students work closely with their faculty mentor, selecting a course of study suited to their future goals and professional interests. The program enables graduates to contribute to the forefront of knowledge in the scientific community, share their knowledge through teaching, or apply it in public service or industry.
 
This two-year, thesis-based degree program has three distinct emphasis areas: 1) A comprehensive emphasis, (2) an emphasis in Carcinogenesis and Cancer Chemotherapy and (3) an emphasis in Bioorganic and Biomedical Chemistry. All chemistry students work closely with a faculty adviser to design and implement individual thesis research. Students in the Carcinogenesis and Cancer Chemotherapy emphasis generally focus their coursework and research on learning about cancer and its causes and treatments from a chemical perspective. Students in the Bioorganic and Biomedical Chemistry emphasis generally investigate the principles of organic chemistry and biochemistry that serve as a foundation for the medical sciences.