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Earth & Soil Sciences
Earth and Soil Sciences majors study scientific principles and their applications to the earth's land and water resources. Students learn to identify and interpret soil properties for environmentally responsible land management. Graduates can find excellent opportunities for challenging careers within agriculture, forestry, urban development, range management, and related professions.

	Department Website:  http://earthsoils.calpoly.edu Department Chair:   Dr. Brent Hallock,  earthsoils@calpoly.edu Phone:   (805) 756-2261 Fax:   (805) 756-5412 College of Agriculture E-mail Address: cafes@calpoly.edu

The Soil Science program:

• Encompasses biology and ecology.
• Relates geology and geography.
• Utilizes chemistry, physics and mathematics, and integrates food, people, and the environment. 
• Focuses responsible use and improvement of land and water resources.

Earth Science
The Earth Science major provides a strong foundation for understanding and improving the use of land, water and atmospheric resources. The program emphasizes a wide range of disciplines in natural resources and in the cultures that use and modify them. The core of the Earth Sciences curriculum revolves around soil science, geography, and geology and is strengthened by a diverse array of related topical and technical specialties.

This is a program that: 

• Encompasses climatic change, food production, and population
  questions.
• Focuses on means of minimizing human impact on a fragile ecosystem that nurtures all human cultures.
• Demonstrates the interrelationships among geography, soil science, and geology.
• Applies insights gleaned both from the social and natural sciences. 
• Demonstrates the linkages among environment, resources, and people.

The Earth & Soil Sciences Department offers the following major degree programs:

• B.S. Soil Science
• B.S. Earth Sciences

Also offered is the following minor degree program and concentrations:

• Soil Sciences
• Concentrations
• Environmental Management
• Environmental Science and Technology
• Land Resources

For graduate students the Earth & Soil Sciences Department coordinates with the College of Agriculture to offer a Master of Science in Agriculture with a specialization in Soil Science.

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