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Environmental Science program strives to increase awareness and appreciation of human connections with the rest of nature and to stimulate advocacy for sustainable behaviors. The curriculum stresses sound interdisciplinary understanding of natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities disciplines in order to explore past, present, and potential ways of living on the earth. We are concerned with environmental issues at local, regional, national, and global levels, and we especially desire to help individuals and communities practice sustainable living by means of our research, teaching, and service. Faculty and students collaborate in active and critical learning through community discourse, personal inquiry, and experiential learning. We intend that our students develop a personal aesthetic awareness of the earth and that they engage in the inquiry, discovery, critical thinking, and debate that characterize the study of environmental issues.

The environmental programs offer majors in Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, and Sustainability and Business (offered jointly with the College of Business). All three (3) majors build upon a sound foundation in basic science, and both provide broad explorations of human interaction with the environment.

During the first two (2) years of the Environmental Science and Environmental Studies majors, course requirements are similar. The difference between the two (2) majors emerges during the final two (2) years in course selection: Environmental Science emphasizes scientific aspects of environmental questions, while Environmental Studies emphasizes humanistic, social, and political aspects. 

During the first year both majors take courses in Environmental Issues; Biology, Literature, Nature, and the Environment (or appropriate substitute); and Economics in Context (or appropriate substitute). This two (2)-semester program, called the Blue Green Learning Community (BGLC), provides an interdisciplinary framework to explore fundamental themes of environmental studies. Moreover, it develops academic, social, and affective skills necessary for successful college learning and collaborative professional work.

During the second year, students look more deeply into the nature of environmental issues by taking courses in Environment and Society; Conservation and Preservation; and Environmental Policy. In addition, the Field Methods in Conservation course teaches conservation field skills and data analysis and environmental communication arts. And, in the Environmental Sustainability Lab, students apply classroom learning as they propose, research, and bring about a sustainability project on the campus or the larger community. These interdisciplinary environmental issues courses ensure a broad understanding while preparing students for more advanced study.

In their third year, students in both majors take BIO 350 – Ecology. In their third and fourth years, aided by a faculty advisor, students choose advanced courses according to their interests and career plans. Environmental Science majors choose science electives in Environmental Science as well as in Environmental Studies, GIS, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Marine Biology, and Psychology. Environmental Studies majors in the third and fourth years choose advanced courses from the following distribution groups: Conservation, Preservation, and Restoration; Environmental Policy and Management; Arts, Humanities, and Values; Global Ecology and Social Justice.

In both majors, the advanced courses stress deeper understanding and involve problem-solving. Some courses examine the ways that human attitudes affect our environment, while other courses deal with hands-on tasks such as designing a conservation area, restoring a natural ecosystem, or considering technologies to reduce pollution. To ensure an intense direct experience of the natural world, the School of Marine and Environmental Programs offers a variety of field study courses. The curriculum culminates with the senior capstone in Sustainability in which students apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to an in-depth study of the concept.

Philosophy

Because the study of environmental issues requires knowledge from a wide range of subjects, the School of Marine and Environmental Programs maintains a firm commitment to interdisciplinary education in our curriculum. Core courses in the School of Marine and Environmental Programs utilize knowledge and concepts drawn from the basic sciences as well as from the humanities and social sciences. Upper-division courses investigate environmental questions through disciplines such as literature, anthropology, economics, biology, history, political science, geographic information systems, chemistry, physics, and ecology. Through all four years, our curriculum develops the skills necessary for dealing with environmental problems: writing, speaking, critical thinking, computing, research techniques, and media arts. The Environmental Studies Program prepares students to become informed citizens, competent professionals, and lifelong learners.

The Blue Green Learning Community

As mentioned above, all entering first-year environmental students participate in a year-long learning community focused on the fundamental themes of environmental studies. The Blue Green Learning Community includes courses as follows: eight (8) credits of biology, three (3) credits of literature (or an appropriate substitute), three (3) credits of economics, and three (3) credits of environmental issues for a total of seventeen (17) credits over two (2) semesters. This interdisciplinary approach enables students to understand more clearly the complexity of environmental issues and improve skills in critical thinking, writing, oral communication, research, and the use of computers at the same time. Experiential learning activities are central.

Internships and Careers

Internships provide students with opportunities to practice learned skills in an actual work environment with the guidance of an internship coordinator, who helps students match their interests with a work experience that might take place locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. Internships provide career exploration and can help establish professional networks that lead to career opportunities upon graduation. The interdisciplinary nature of Environmental Studies and Environmental Science is reflected in the wide variety of careers open to graduates, such as air and water resource management, ecological restoration, education, habitat conservation, park management, toxicology, field research, journalism, environmental advocacy, environm