WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

  • Ways that systems thinking can address environmental problems
  • How individual and collective decisions interact with the environment
  • Social, political, and economic contexts for decisions on environmental issues
  • Using geochemistry to investigate environmental questions
  • Interpreting the structural, magmatic, and tectonic evolution of the Pacific Northwest
  • Connecting and communicate an understanding of Earth science to other science and nonscience disciplines

WHAT YOU COULD BE

  • Fisheries research technician
  • Global Ocean Refuge System fellow
  • Activist at an environmental NGO
  • Environmental compliance expert
  • Conservation biologist
  • Environmental educator
  • Earth science technician
  • Outdoor specialist
  • Research scientist (government agency, academic institution, or nonprofit)

OVERVIEW

Environmental Studies & Sciences equips students to explore the complex and evolving issues of environmental studies through an interdisciplinary approach combining natural sciences, social sciences, visual and performing arts, and humanities. Through innovative coursework and high-impact community engagement, students gain methodologies and frameworks to understand and promote environmental justice, sustainability, and awareness in this pivotal moment for our planet.

Majors/Minors

  • Environmental Policy & Decision Making: A unique offering among four-year institutions, students with a major or minor in EPMD are challenged to explore how policy intersects with environmental issues and emphasizes building relationships in the community to better understand local issues.
  • Earth & Environmental Sciences: This major offers an interdisciplinary, science-based curriculum, training students as scientists with the necessary skills to connect human impacts to policy and management.
  • Environmental Arts & Humanities: Go beyond data collection and analysis to address the impact of climate change on human populations, using storytelling, the arts, cultural perspectives, and creativity to imagine alternative futures and promote ethical engagement with environmental issues.
Sample Courses

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Some examples of student internships and summer research grants:

  • Mount Rainier National Park Imminent Threats Program Internship
  • Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Center
  • Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fish and Wildlife Program
  • American Rivers
  • Sierra Club
  • Alex Barnes ’20, "The Role of Atmospheric Nitrogen Fixation by Log Mat Biofilm in the Spirit Lake Ecosystem," Mount St. Helens
  • Amanda Foster ’20, "The Influence of Beaver Dam-building on Sediment Processes in a Post-wildfire Ecosystem"
  • Mandy Ausman '24, "Remediation of the Church Rock Uranium Spill of 1979: The Response of the 1980 Superfund and its Environmental Justice Efforts"

JOBS

Where our graduates work: 

  • Iowa State University (assistant professor)
  • Northwest Outward Bound School (instructor)
  • United States Geological Survey (research geologist)
  • Pacific Groundwater Group (senior hydrologist)
  • NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
  • Marine Conservation Institute
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • International Water Management Institute

CONTINUE STUDYING

Where our students continue their studies:

  • Humboldt State University
  • Cornell University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Northeastern University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • University of Colorado, Boulder (Ph.D.)
  • Oregon State University (M.S., geology)
  • Duke University
  • University of California, Santa Cruz