The environmental studies major prepares students for meaningful lifetime engagement with the major environmental challenges facing society. Students pursue an interdisciplinary curriculum that combines course work in ecology and the social sciences. The program emphasizes the integration of ecological knowledge with an understanding of social institutions and policies in ways that support the conservation of biodiversity, the practice of sustainable agriculture, and the careful management of other ecological and environmental systems.

Possible Careers

Environmental consulting
Environmental impact assessment
Sustainable development
Environmental law
Environmental policy/research
Government
Journalism
Environmental/science education
Natural resource ecology/conservation
Parks/natural reserve management
Land use research/ management
Science education
Restoration ecology
Conservation biology research
Agroecology
Integrated pest management
Environmental advocacy
Sustainable agriculture

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Weixin Cheng secured a major research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build a continuous isotopic labeling facility for deciphering the complex processes occurring at the root-soil interface, or rhizosphere.

Professor of Environmental Studies Alan Richards recently presented his views and research on terrorism and U.S. policy on a number of occasions, including invited testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Erika Zavaleta received a prestigious grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to investigate the ecological impacts of the loss of plant species in California ecosystems.

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Brent Haddad directs a $2.6 million project to help communities assess the viability of desalinizing ocean water in California.

Associate Professor Jeff Bury recently received a $1.1 million grant to study the effect of climate change on human communities in the Peruvian Andes.