Environmental Engineering (BS)

This program was founded by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences to provide students with a quantitative preparation for professional careers or continued higher education regarding the assessment and remediation of human impact on our environment. It is a unique program that prepares students to look at all aspects of water and environmental problems from a range of perspectives including the Earth system, water movement (hydrology, fluid flow), environmental chemistry, geochemistry, and reactive transport. The Environmental Engineering degree program will prepare students to understand the necessary foundational chemistry, fluid flow and mixing mechanics, all within the context of the Earth system.

The environmental engineering program combines classroom, laboratory and field studies. Students are encouraged to participate in a semester study abroad, such as the Australia program (during the fall semester, junior year), which provides additional opportunity for field-based studies. All students are encouraged to conduct independent research under faculty supervision during their junior and senior years. The environmental engineering program will culminate with major design experience in the senior year. Student teams will work closely with industry professionals and faculty who act as consultants on a real-world design projects to facilitate the student’s understanding of the design process.

The professional aspects of civil and environmental engineering are emphasized and promoted by the activities of a student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in which all students of the department are eligible and encouraged to participate. In addition, a junior class field trip examines major infrastructure projects and environmental systems including tall buildings, bridges, stadiums, transportation systems, navigations systems, flood protection works, clean water supply, and wastewater systems. The field trip is offered in both the fall and spring.

Environmental Engineering students will be ready to work as environmental engineers remediating the environment on local and global scales with opportunities available in engineering consulting firms, government agencies, national laboratories, and industries requiring monitoring and advancement of remediation technologies. Additionally, the environmental engineering degree will prepare students for graduate study in Environmental Engineering programs.

Further details about the environmental engineering program may be found on the Web at ceees.nd.edu.

The following courses are applicable to students entering the College in 2025.

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
First SemesterHours
WR 13100 Writing and Rhetoric 3
MATH 10550 Calculus I 4
CHEM 10171
CHEM 11171
Introduction to Chemical Principles
and Introduction to Chemical Principles Laboratory
4
EG 10117 Engineering Design 3
FYS 10101 Moreau First-Year Seminar 1
 Hours15
Second Semester
University Seminar 3
MATH 10560 Calculus II 4
PHYS 10310 Engineering Physics I: Mechanics 4
EG 10118 Engineering Computing 3
First Year Technical Elective 3
 Hours17
Sophomore Year
First Semester
CE 20110
CE 21110
Planet Earth
and Planet Earth Laboratory
4
CE 30300 Introduction to Environmental Engineering 3
MATH 20550 Calculus III 3.5
CE 20150 Statics 3
Core Curriculum course 1 3
 Hours16.5
Second Semester
CE 20300 Global Change, Water and Energy 3
CE 20320 Environmental Aquatic Chemistry 3
MATH 20580 Introduction to Linear Algebra and Differential Equations 3.5
ACMS 30440 Probability and Statistics 3
Core Curriculum course 1 3
 Hours15.5
Junior Year
First Semester
CE 30125 Computational Methods 3
Environmental Earth Science elective 3
Environmental Mineralogy
or Geomorphology for Engineers and Scientists
or Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
or Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
or Dynamic Earth and Natural Disasters
or Petrology/Earth Materials Lab
 
CE 30460 Fluid Mechanics 3
CE 40350 Environmental Microbiology 3
CE 30339 Laboratory and Field Methods for Environmental Engineering 3
 Hours15
Second Semester
CE 30320 Physical-Chemical Water Treatment Processes 3
CE 30455 Environmental Hydrology 3
CE 40450 Hydraulics 3
Core Curriculum course 1 3
CE 40341 Biological Process Design 3
CE 30338 Design Tools for Environmental Engineers 1
 Hours16
Senior Year
First Semester
CE 40300 Geochemistry 3
CE 40460 Groundwater Hydrology 3
CE 40701 Principles of Practice 1
Core Curriculum course 1 3
Core Curriculum course 1 3
EG Elective 3
 Hours16
Second Semester
CE 40420 Air Quality and Reactive Transport 3
CE 40702 Senior Design 3
EG Elective 2 3
CEEES Elective 3
Core Curriculum course 1 3
Moreau Senior Capstone 1
 Hours16
 Total Hours127
1

See “University Core Curriculum” on the first page of the College of Engineering section.

2

All electives are defined in the Academic Guide for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, available on the department web site.

Certain graduate courses are open to advanced undergraduates with permission of the department chair.