Bachelor of Indigenous Environmental Science and Practice (BIESP)

Welcome to the Bachelor of Indigenous Environmental Science and Practice degree program! We are excited to welcome you to the University of Guelph.

As a BIESP student, for Semester 1 you will select four courses (2.50 credits). The courses you should select are listed below:

ENVS*1040 Natural History of the Great Lakes Region. This course is worth 1.00 credits and is therefore double weighted
IES*1010 Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Science and Practice
INDG*1100 Indigenous Language and Culture*
MATH*1080 Elements of Calculus I

For Semester 2 you will select five courses (2.50 credits). The courses you should select are listed below:

ACCT*1220 Introductory Financial Accounting
BIOL*1070 Discovering Biodiversity
CHEM*1040 General Chemistry I
IES*1020 Indigenous Knowledge for Environmental Science and Practice
One elective or restricted elective. An elective is a course of your choice from any subject area, as long as you have the pre-requisite and it is not a restricted course. A restricted elective is a course of your choice from the restricted electives list at the bottom of the Schedule of Studies for BIESP. If you need help deciding, please contact your BIESP Program Counsellor (contact information below).

Should you find that all sections of a required course are full, please check the OAC Program Counselling website for announcements and if there is no additional information posted, contact your Program Counsellor (contact information below).

Advising Notes:

There are no electives to take in Semester 1 *Note: Students who are not native speakers of an Indigenous language must take INDG*1100 in first semester. Students with alternate Indigenous language preparation may substitute an elective or restricted elective in place of INDG*1100.
Pick your courses as soon as possible. Desired sections may fill up quickly.
You will use WebAdvisor to pick your courses. Detailed instructions on using WebAdvisor are available in the WebAdvisor Tutorial.
As you make your class schedule, ensure there are no conflicts in your timetable. Our system does not prevent class conflicts.
The Department of Chemistry provides a resource to help students prepare for first year chemistry. You will receive an email from the CHEM*1040 Course Coordinator, Dr. Lori Jones, with information on how to access the “Get Ready for First-year CHEM” site. Students are encouraged to access this resource to help them prepare for success in first year chemistry.
If you are a transfer student with transfer credits, schedule an appointment to meet with your BIESP Program Counsellor.
For information about the Co-operative Education program, including requirements for students enrolled in Co-op and what to do if you're interested in applying for the program, visit the Co-operative Education page.
Co-op students will need to register for COOP*1100 Introduction to Co-operative Education for Fall semester of second year. Review the Schedule of Studies (the order in which you are advised to take courses). Go to the BIESP degree program section of the Undergraduate Calendar and click the requirements tab. Here you will find your schedule of studies laid out semester by semester, with listings of required courses and restricted elective course options.

Course Selection Tips:

Select courses that are more limiting first (e.g., courses which only have one lecture time) and then build the rest of your schedule around those times. Large courses like CHEM*1040 have lots of sections to choose from, scroll forward with the advancing arrows to see more options.

For additional information and program counselling please contact:

Carie Devitt
BIESP Program Counsellor
biesp@uoguelph.ca