Program overview
The B.S. in Environmental Science (120 credits) sits in the College of Science & Mathematics and is built around a simple premise: you learn environmental science by doing it in the watershed you live in. The Porter River, the Millrace, the Founders Farm wetlands, and the Riverside Park floodplain forest are all within a 15-minute walk of campus. Every core course has a field component; the program owns a 12-station Riverwatch monitoring network (temp, DO, conductivity, turbidity, stage) that students maintain and analyze as part of their coursework. Concentrations (18 credits each): Water Resources & Hydrology, Conservation & Restoration Ecology, Environmental Policy & Justice, Geospatial Analysis & Remote Sensing. A GIS Certificate (12 credits) stacks neatly with any concentration.
Concentrations
Water Resources & Hydrology: Groundwater modeling, fluvial geomorphology, stormwater design, contaminant transport. Capstone partners: DNR Porter District, City Stormwater, Porter Valley Bank (flood-risk portfolio). Conservation & Restoration Ecology: Plant community ecology, invasive species management, prescribed fire, wetland delineation. Capstone partners: Riverkeepers, DNR State Natural Areas, Founders Farm. Environmental Policy & Justice: NEPA/WEPA compliance, environmental law, community-based participatory research, climate adaptation planning. Capstone partners: Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, Porter County Board, Porter County Food Bank (food-access mapping). Geospatial Analysis & Remote Sensing: GIS, LiDAR, drone photogrammetry, satellite imagery classification, spatial statistics. Capstone partners: Forge Prototyping Lab (drone sensor integration), Civil Engineering (infrastructure mapping), DNR (habitat connectivity).
Fieldwork and the Porter River
Freshman fall: ENVS 1100 Watershed Fundamentals — weekly labs on the Riverwatch network (calibrate sondes, download data, QA/QC in R). Sophomore year: ENVS 2300 Field Methods (electrofishing, macroinvertebrate indexing, vegetation plots, soil cores) and ENVS 2400 GIS for Environmental Science (map the Millrace corridor). Junior year: Concentration field practicum (3 credits, 120 hours) — placed with DNR, City, County, or a nonprofit. Senior capstone: Two-semester team project with a real client; deliverables include a technical report, a public presentation at the Environmental Science Symposium (April), and a data package archived in the Halvorsen Library Digital Repository. The program provides waders, boots, backpacks, and a Field Gear Library (GPS units, water-quality sondes, drone kits) — checkout is free with student ID.
Faculty research and the Riverwatch network
Dr. Amara Okonkwo (chair): nutrient spiraling in agricultural streams, leads the Riverwatch network (NSF LTREB-funded, 15-year dataset). Dr. Hassan Al-Rashid: floodplain reconnection and carbon sequestration, designed the Millrace Fish Passage (completed 2024). Dr. Sofia Andersson: environmental justice mapping, directs the Community GIS Lab (students produce maps for Porter County nonprofits pro bono). Dr. Kenji Tanaka: drone-based thermal imaging for groundwater discharge detection, collaborates with Forge Prototyping Lab on custom sensor payloads. Undergraduates join research as early as spring freshman year via the Research Scholars Program (stipended summer) or the Student Venture Incubator (for environmental-tech startups). The Environmental Science Seminar (Fridays 3 p.m., Science 210) brings alumni, DNR scientists, and tribal resource managers — open to all.
Admission requirements
Direct admission: 3.3+ GPA (unweighted), 3 years lab science (biology, chemistry, physics or environmental), 4 years math through pre-calc. Test-optional (SAT/ACT not required); if submitted, 1100+ composite or 24+ ACT strengthens the file. Transfer students: General Chemistry I–II with labs, Calculus I, Intro Biology or Environmental Science — all C or better, 2.75+ college GPA. The department runs Field Week (late August, free) for incoming students: three days of Riverwatch training, a canoe trip on the Porter River, and a campfire Q&A with upperclassmen — 90% of participants say it confirmed their major choice. Full admission details including portfolio review for homeschooled applicants and the First-Generation Environmental Scholar award ($2,000/year, renewable).
Career outcomes
Class of 2025 (58 graduates): 67% employed within 6 months (median $58K), 19% in graduate programs (M.S. Environmental Science, M.P.H., J.D., M.U.R.P.), 9% in service/fellowships (AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Fostering Success), 5% still seeking. Top employers: Wesconsin DNR (12 hires), City/County Stormwater (6), USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center (4), The Nature Conservancy (3), Environmental consulting firms (18 across 7 firms). The Career Services Green Jobs Fair (February) brings 35+ environmental employers; the DNR Porter District hires 3–4 seasonal techs annually from the program.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The program, faculty, courses, statistics, and employers described here are invented for this fictional university. No real academic programs or outcomes are depicted.