Environmental Studies is, at it's core, the study of the environment and human's role within it.
An education in Environmental Studies provides students with an understanding of Earth's living and physical environment, processes that operate within the environment, as well as the nature and mitigation of human impact on the environment. Through the application of scientific tools and principles, environmental studies addresses a variety of issues related to our everyday needs and the environment in which we live from local to global scales.
Environmental Studies is unique amongst the sciences through its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on courses and expertise from over sixteen departments. The program is designed to equip students with the disciplinary rigor required to gain employment in the field, while at the same time providing them the broad perspective afforded by an interdisciplinary education.
As a major, students will learn the integration of science, policy, and values as applied to environmental issues and acquire an awareness of the complexity of factors relating to human interaction with the environment. Environmental problems have both anthropological and natural components, and students will come to understand the general principles of human-environmental interaction, global habitability, environmental change and sustainable human societies.
Students will take courses in the sciences, policy, ethics, economics, writing and math and an internship or field course and a capstone course. In addition, they will choose among three specializations: Climate and Energy, Natural Resources, Environmental Policy or Sustainable Development.
The Environmental Studies program and major is also considered one of the best in the world, ranking among the top programs by the Academic Rankings of World Universities report, U.S. News and World report, and by Nature Index, where it ranks #9 among all institutions in the world, for articles and books published, numbers of citations per article and grants, honors and awards received. And it's faculty, both those that call it home and those affiliated, are frequently recognized with awards and honors, including a Distinguished Research Lecturer, a recipient for the Governor's Award for Research Impact, two Aldo Leopold Leadership fellows, multiple Fulbright recipients and numerous fellows for places like the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union.