Department of Environmental Science & Management

The Department of Environmental Studies (DES) as a multi-disciplinary program was established in Spring 1994. Recently, upon UGC’s approval the name of DES has been changed as the Department of Environmental Science and Management (DESM). Instead of the earlier degrees of B.A and B.Sc, DESM now offers the degree of BS either in Environmental Science or in Environmental Management. The syllabus also has been changed to reflect the changing curricula in the field over the last decade. However, the total requirement for the degree program - 125 credits - remains the same.

The Environmental program is designed to train students in all major environmental areas. The program uses a state of the art curriculum that incorporates issues related to soil, air and water pollution, environmental health, integrated management of natural resources, environmental economics, impact assessment, gender issues, sustainable development, corporate environmental management and global environmental issues and politics. The program also offers practical training on environmental chemistry, microbiology and GIS.

The department is growing continuously in terms of student enrollment, faculty hiring and setting up of support facilities. Currently, there are 120 undergraduate students in the program pursuing BS in Environmental Science or Management degrees. Besides, several hundred students from other departments of NSU take some ENV courses as core or electives each semester. There are eight full time faculty members including two on study-leave in the USA, all educated in the USA, UK, Australia and Japan. Some of the courses offered by the department are taught by visiting faculty members from renowned national and international institutions. Recently, the department has expanded its environmental and geographical information system (GIS) laboratories. This has significantly added to the strength and diversity of the program.

The faculty members of this program are actively involved in research in addition to their teaching responsibilities. DESM faculty members have done pioneering works in Bangladesh on green accounting, environmental valuation and impact assessment, microinsurance, etc. Such real world contributions significantly benefit both the faculty members and the students of this program. As the pioneer in private sector education, DESM program is one of the best in Bangladesh and is committed to provide the leadership in this area in future.

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science or in Environmental Management offers a broad-based multi-disciplinary education in the field, with an emphasis on science, economics, management and policy. During the first two years, students fulfill their basic university general education (GEd) and lower level core and elective course requirements. In their last two years, students complete the upper level courses and concentration core requirements depending on their stream of either Environmental Science or Environmental Management. All students have to fulfill a core requirement of internship and they require to maintain a minimum CGPA in core courses in order to graduate. The students may substitute some of their requirements with similar courses taken at NSU or elsewhere, but such substitution has to be approved by the Department.

Revised Syllabus for BS in Environmental Science & Environment Management:

Core Courses for all students:

For BS in Environmental Management:

Management Concentration Core Courses (15 credits)

Management Concentration Elective Courses (15 credits from the courses listed below)

For BS in Environmental Science:

Science Concentration Core Courses (15 credits)

Science Concentration Elective Courses:
(15 credits, of which 6 credits must be from EITHER Group A, Group B Or Group C below)

Minor in Environmental Science or in Environmental Management :

The Department of Environmental Science and Management (DESM) offers a Minor in Environmental Science or in Environmental Management for students of other disciplines. The Minor program is designed to provide the students with an advanced exposure to the environmental issues. The students take a balanced load of science, economics, management and policy courses to develop a broad base in all the aspects of the DESM program. In addition, the students have the opportunity to select a few elective courses from the extensive list of environmental courses in order to pursue their specific fields of interest.

To achieve a Minor in DESM, a student has to take a total of 30 credits of core and elective courses from DESM curriculum. Courses requirements are listed below.

Core course requirements (21 Credits) :

Electives (9 Credits) :

The student may choose any three courses from the list contained in the Curriculum of the DESM.