Environmental Studies Program

WELCOME TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

The Environmental Studies Program at CWU was established over 30 years ago to provide an interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental issues. The program features team-taught courses including two high-enrollment General Education courses that are currently taught by faculty from the Biology, Geography, and Geology departments. In 2008, the Environmental Studies Program began offering a new Bachelors of Science (B.S.) degree in Environmental Studies in addition to the previously existing Environmental Studies minor. As of Fall 2011 the Environmental Studies Program also assimilated the Energy Studies minor.

There are currently 5 specialization options for the B.S. degree in Environmental Studies:

The Environmental Studies Program has the following learning outcomes:

Students will possess fundamental understanding of current environmental issues;
Students can describe the various perspectives that different constituencies bring to environmental issues;
Students can make informed decisions (e.g., voting and other life choices) that take into account relevant environmental issues;
Students will develop critical thinking skills necessary to carry out scientific research and assess and develop policy choices;
Students are conversant in techniques and vocabularies of diverse environmental disciplines and can integrate knowledge from different perspectives;
Students possess good oral and written communication skills; and
Students have depth of knowledge in an area of specialization.

Faculty at CWU are involved in a broad array of environmental research in fields such as biology, resource management, atmospheric chemistry, and watershed studies.