This major provides students with a strong foundation in chemistry and in the environmental sciences. As an environmental chemist, you’ll monitor what is in the air, water, and soil to study the effects chemicals have on our environment. Environmental chemistry majors take courses in a variety of disciplines and are prepared to work in this rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field. The liberal arts education you'll receive at Thiel College ensures that you’ll possess the scientific literacy and problem-solving skills associated with all the main branches of chemistry.

The Bachelor of Science in Chemistry prepares you to pursue professional careers in the chemical industry, graduate work in chemistry, or other fields that require a strong chemistry background with a foundation in all five of the major subdisciplines of chemistry.

Chemistry is an exciting, diverse field. The discipline of working in chemistry gives you habits of mind that serve you well throughout your life.

Chemistry is often referred to as the central science. It interfaces with and illuminates numerous disciplines, including physics, biology, forestry, and geology. Sewanee's course in general chemistry serves future majors and students from such other disciplines by providing a solid foundation in the central organizational principles of chemistry.

The goals of the Gao research group are to understand the processes affecting the global atmospheric composition and its impact on climate change, biogeochemical cycles, and the quality of the human environment. Their research has spanned many regions, from the Asian coast to the US East Coast, and from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. They conduct field measurements, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling to characterize the properties of atmospheric substances, particularly atmospheric aerosols, toward a better understanding of the land-atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions. Current research in the Gao lab focuses on the near and far, from characterizing urban air particles and potential impact on human health around the metropolitan area (New York City and Newark in New Jersey) to studying the atmospheric dust particles and aeolian iron deposition to the Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Antarctica.

Chemistry is the fundamental makeup of the world around us. Chemistry at the University of St. Thomas prepares you for various careers after graduation with a rigorous American Chemical Society-certified curriculum.

Nearly all chemistry courses are sequential and have prerequisites. Careful planning is necessary if students take full advantage of other options available to them at a liberal arts college.

Chemistry is in and all around us. From the clothes we wear to the medicine we take, the food we eat, and the cells that make up our bodies, humans are part of a chemical universe.

Basic knowledge of – and appreciation for – chemistry is vital in today’s highly technical society. Humans, planet Earth, and the rest of the universe are chemical entities; to overlook this is to lose a very important perspective on the nature of humanity and its connection to the world around them.

Students will acquire important skills and methods for scientific research, analysis, and synthesis with this major.