Environmental Sciences & Studies

IN THE NEWS...Students to assist with First-Ever Great Lakes Plastic Pollution Survey...

The Issue

Our current socio-economic system requires large quantities of natural resources- fossil fuels, metals, wood, water, plants, rocks and minerals. The extraction, refining, shipping and processing of these natural resources to meet our societal needs and create our consumer products, not to mention their use and disposal, often results in environmental degradation- whether understood or (often) unintended. As a result, there is an increasing demand for environmentally focused persons to address the environmental challenges we face in this century.

The Major

The Environmental Sciences (ESCI) major integrates the strengths of programs in Biology, Chemistry, and Geosciences to understand the Earth ecosystem as a whole. Somewhat unique to our program, students are also required to take at least one course in Geographic Information Systems, which provides an extremely useful tool for visualizing data.

As our socio-economic system is nested within this ecosystem, our students are also required to take environmental perspective courses in order to provide a more complete picture of the complexities of the problems we face as a society.

Many of the courses in this major have field components where students collect environmental samples, analyze them, and produce comprehensive interpretations of the data.

Students demonstrate their ability to conduct independent work in the environmental sciences through internships with local conservation departments, consulting firms or municipalities, or through research with a faculty member.

Possible careers after completion of this major include: environmental consulting, resource management, conservation scientist, aquatic and fishery research/management, wildlife management, conservation officer, and environmental and community planning. See more information about potential career options here.

The Minor

The Environmental Studies (ENVS) minor provides students with a broad interdisciplinary perspective on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Drawing equally on insights from the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences, the program prepares students to address key environmental and social challenges of the 21st Century.

The Environmental Studies minor is open to all students, and it is particularly useful for students who are thinking about environmentally focused careers in the areas of advocacy and public policy, communication, economics, history, journalism, law, or writing. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of the program provides a solid foundation in the multitude of perspectives from which to view the natural world, and the variety of independent but interconnected paths from which to build a career focused on sustainability.

The need for Environmentally Focused Majors is GROWING... do you want to be a part of it