BS in Information Science and Environmental Science

The IS and Environmental Science combined major provides a foundational study of geological processes before focusing on environmental planning, environmental ethics, and sustainability. Because it examines the relationship between human decisions and actions to the environment, the program aligns with the orientation of information science, which utilizes an integrated, people-centered curriculum combining concepts and skills from computer science, behavioral and social science, and system design. Learning outcomes: Understand and be able to carry out the steps in the design of information systems for organizations: planning, analysis, design, project management, and implementation. Understand the tradeoffs between traditional development models and more agile techniques. Be able to choose a development model and be able to complete a project using that model. Understand and be able to program traditional SQL-based relational database systems. Be aware of modern trends in the design of large scale storage systems. Understand standard text-based techniques for small-scale data storage. Understand human computer interaction from multiple perspectives: the psychology of the user, the needs of the organization, and the technical issues of implementation. Be able to weigh issues of ease of use against concerns for security. Be able to apply statistical techniques to perform research on systems about to be deployed or already in the field. Know how to collect and analyze data about the end user experience and data about system performance and throughput.