Environmental Studies

What it’s about:

Environmental studies integrates insights and tools from natural and engineering sciences, social sciences, and humanities to explore the effects of human activities on the natural world. In this major, you identify environmental problem, analyse their causes, and learn how to develop a range of solutions.

What the study of this major is like:

The rapidly growing interest in environmental studies as an undergraduate major results from an increasing awareness of the human impact on the environment. Environmental studies differs from environmental science and environmental engineering in its greater emphasis on the social sciences and humanities. As an environmental studies major, you enroll in a number of academic subjects to examine the causes of and possible solutions to, environmental problems.

Programs can differ greatly from college to college. Typically, you begin by taking introductory courses in the natural sciences and the social sciences, with at least half your courses in biology, chemistry, and geology. If you have a strong interest in natural science, you might combine a concentration in science with courses in environmental studies.

Many programs offer courses and projects that allow you to integrate, or combine, what you learn from different fields. Some may focus on the natural sciences, while others offer advanced courses in the social sciences, environmental economics, and environmental history. Economic analysis is often the basis of solutions to problems such as pollution and resource depletion(overuse). Classes in environmental politics will help you understand the context in which policies and programs are created and carried out. Some programs also cover environmental issues in foreign countries-for example, the erosion of beaches in the Caribbean islands-and global concerns like the greenhouse effect. In programs that include humanities, you are encouraged do take courses in environmental philosophy and ethics as well as in art, religion, and literature, as a way of examining the link between human activity and the environment.

Programs in environmental studies tend to argue that human society is undermining the ecological foundations of life and that we must fundamentally change behaviour if we are to prosper as a species-we must go beyond recycling or planting trees in order to tackle looming environmental threats. For some student, this claim can be unsettling. Most programs value your ability to think critically about problems and to develop innovative solutions, but a problem-solving emphasis is likely to make certain demands on you. Instead of learning facts about specific environmental problems, you are encouraged to analyze them, because the environmental challenges we will face in twenty years will probably differ significantly from the ones that confront us today.

In environmental studies, your course work is often rewarding and eye-opening. You can get hands-on experience in responding to environmental threats through fieldwork, service-learning programs, and internships. However, careers in the field increasingly require technical training at advanced in environmental studies does not replace specialized training, but it provides excellent preparation for such training.

Career options and trends:

Environmental consultant*; environmental lobbyist; environmental engineer, park naturalist; specialist in environmental communications; specialist in regulations compliance; environmental educator.

As environmental problems are becoming more of a concern throughout the world, the job market is expanding Career opportunities exist in toxic waste disposal, management of environmental organizations, journalism, community recycling and energy conservation, and environmental and economic development in nonindustrial countries. With appropriate graduate work, you can pursue a career in air or water quality planning, solid waste planning, land use planning, fisheries and wildlife management, policy analysis, environmental law, laboratory research, or resource economics.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors