Environmental Studies

The Environmental Studies major and minor examine the nature, causes, and consequences of human interactions with the environment. Students in Environmental Studies are equipped with the intellectual and methodological tools to understand and address the crucial environmental issues of our time: sustainability, health, climate change, food access, natural resource consumption, and environmental justice.

The Environmental Studies program is housed in the Department of Geography and Urban Studies. The major and minor focus on the department's four themes of globalization, sustainability, social justice, and geographic methods that are increasingly central to understanding the serious environmental challenges we face. Environmental Studies students learn geographic theory and methods that examine the complexity of human-environmental interactions; the increasing interconnectedness of the global economy, environment, culture, and politics; and the importance of place and context in people's daily lives.

Themes

The Department has identified several informal areas of concentration to assist students in making course selections. These do not constitute formal tracks but rather provide guidelines for developing a personalized curriculum. Students can focus on the following themes:

• Globalization
• Social Justice
• Urban Sustainability
• Geographic Methods

Career Preparation

Environmental Studies graduates are especially competitive in the job market because of their technical and critical thinking skills, a sense of the complexity of interactions between humans and the environment, and their ability to synthesize information at a variety of scales. Students have the opportunity to gain technical skills in spatial statistics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartographic production and design, and qualitative methods that are highly valued by employers. Our graduates find employment with nonprofits (domestic and international), planning or government agencies, consulting firms, and citizens' organizations. Many also go on to graduate programs in geography, planning, environmental studies, law, and other fields. The Department of Labor expects that employment for geographers, planners, and other geographic professions will grow at a rate of twenty percent or more for the next decade.

Programs Offered

We offer a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in Environmental Studies, and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Many of our students choose to complete a double major, a minor in a complementary discipline, and/or the GIS certificate.

Double-Counting Across Curricula

Many students elect to take a combination of the Environmental Studies major or minor and the Geography and Urban Studies major or minor, as they are complementary programs.

The ONLY courses that can double-count between the Environmental Studies and the Geography and Urban Studies majors are: ENST 3161 Spatial Statistics/GUS 3161 Spatial Statistics; ENST 2097 Research Design in Environmental Studies/GUS 2197 Research Design in Geography and Urban Studies; ENST 3062 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems/GUS 3062 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems. When used for the major in either program, these courses may not be used to fulfill the minor elective requirements of the other program. Note GUS 4198 Senior Seminar in Geography and Urban Studies and ENST 4198 Senior Research Seminar are NOT cross-listed seminars. Anyone pursuing a double major in Geography and Urban Studies and Environmental Studies must take both capstone courses.

Students are not permitted to combine a major or minor in Environmental Studies and a major or minor in Environmental Science in the College of Science and Technology.