Program Description
This minor is not admitting new students, as of 2025-2026, and will be discontinued.
Offered jointly by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Eligibility
All undergraduates except Environmental Engineering Majors.
For Civil Engineering majors, at least four of the six courses may not be used to fulfill both minor requirements and major-approved elective or design course requirements.
For Biological Engineering majors, at least 12 of the 15 credits used toward the focus area electives in the Biological Engineering major cannot also be used towards the Environmental Engineering minor.
Academic Standards
- At least C– in each course in the minor. GPA ≥ 2.0 for all courses in the minor.
Minor Requirements
At least six courses (≥ 18 credits), chosen as follows. Note: courses shown in brackets [ ] not offered in current year.
Students must select courses from the following group listings, with at least one (1) course from three of the four groups below.
Group A. Sustainable Energy
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| CEE 4880 | Applied Modeling and Simulation for Renewable Energy Systems (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 5420 | Energy Technologies and Subsurface Resources (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 5200 | Economics of the Energy Transition (Fall) | 3 |
| MAE 5010 | Future Energy Systems (Spring) | 3 |
| CHEME 6660 | Analysis of Sustainable Energy Systems (Fall) | 2 |
| CHEME 6661 | Bioenergy and Biofuels Module (Spring) | 1 |
| CHEME 6670 | Fossil Fuels Module (Spring) | 1 |
| CEE 4210 | Renewable Energy Systems (Fall) | 3 |
| MAE 4020 | Wind Power (Fall) | 3 |
| ENGRI 1165 | Climate Change and You, the Engineer (crosslisted) (fall) (may only count if taken before the junior year; only one ENGRI course may count toward the minor) | 3 |
Group B. Environmental Processes
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| BEE 4590 | Physical Design in Biological Engineering (Fall) | 3 |
| BEE 4800 | Atmospheric Chemistry: From Air Pollution to Global Change (Fall) | 3 |
| CEE 4510 | Microbiology for Environmental Engineering (Fall) | 3 |
| CEE 4530 | Laboratory Research in Environmental Engineering (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 4535 | Water Chemistry for Environmental Engineering (Fall) | 3 |
| CEE 4555 | (Fall) | 3 |
| CEE 4570 | Environmental Biological Processes (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 6585 | (Spring) | |
| CEE 6590 | Partitioning and Transformation of Organic Contaminants in Environmental Systems (Spring) | 3 |
| EAS 4570 | Atmospheric Air Pollution (Fall; Offered alternate years) | 3 |
| CEE 4565 | Waste Water Processes and Resources Recovery (Fall) | 3 |
| ENGRI 1130 | Sustainable Engineering of Energy, Water, Soil, and Air Resources (crosslisted) (may only count if taken before the junior year; only one ENGRI course may count toward the minor) | 3 |
Group C. Hydrology and Environmental Fluid Mechanics
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| BEE 3710 | Physical Hydrology for Ecosystems (Spring) | 3 |
| BEE 4270 | Water Measurement and Analysis Methods (Fall) | 3 |
| BEE 4710 | Introduction to Groundwater (Spring) | 3 |
| BEE 6740 | Ecohydrology (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 3410 | Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering (Fall) | 4 |
| CEE 4330 | Physical Hydrology in the Built and Natural Environments (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 4370 | Experimental Methods in Fluid Dynamics (Spring) | 4 |
| CEE 6370 | Experimental Methods in Fluid Dynamics (Spring) | 4 |
| CEE 6550 | Transport, Mixing, and Transformation in the Environment (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 4350 | Coastal Engineering (Spring) | 3 |
| BEE 4730 | Watershed Engineering (Fall) | 4 |
Group D. Sustainable Systems and Environmental Analytics
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| BEE 3299 | Sustainable Development (Spring) | 3 |
| BEE 4310 | Environmental Statistics and Learning (Fall) | 4 |
| CEE 4200 | Managing Water Resources in a Changing World (Fall) | 3 |
| CEE 4930 | Data Analytics (Fall) | 4 |
| CEE 5970 | Risk Analysis and Management (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 5980 | Decision Framing and Analytics (Spring) | 3 |
| PLSCI 4200 | Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Concepts and Application (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 4665 | Modeling and Optimization for Smart Infrastructure Systems (Fall) | 3 |
| CEE 4795 | Sensors for the Built and Natural Environments (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 4800 | Engineering Smart Cities (Fall) | 3 |
| BEE 4510 | Sustainable Water Resources System Design (Spring) | 3 |
| CEE 4640 | Sustainable Transportation Systems Design (Fall) | 3 |
Graduation Requirements for Engineering Minor Degree Programs
Requirements
Students may pursue minors in any department in any college that offers them, subject to limitations placed by the department offering the minor or by the students' major. Completed minors will appear on the student's transcript. Not all departments offer minors. Additional information on specific minors can be found above, in the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook, in the undergraduate major office of the department or school offering the minor, and in Engineering Advising.
An engineering minor recognizes formal study of a particular subject area in engineering normally outside the major. Students undertaking a minor are expected to complete the requirements during the time of their continuous undergraduate enrollment at Cornell. Completing the requirements for an engineering minor (along with a major) may require more than the traditional eight semesters at Cornell. However, courses that fulfill minor requirements may also satisfy other degree requirements (e.g., distribution courses, advisor-approved, or major-approved electives), and completion within eight semesters is possible.
An engineering minor requires:
- successful completion of all requirements for an undergraduate degree.
- enrollment in a major that approves participation in the minor.
- satisfactory completion of six courses (at least 18 credits) in a college-approved minor.
Students may apply for certification of a minor at any time after the required course work has been completed in accordance with published standards. An official notation of certification of a minor appears on the Cornell transcript following graduation.
