ENST Program

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 will begin offering a new Bachelors of Science (B.S.) degree in Environmental Studies in addition to the existing Environmental Studies minor. Currently, there are 5 specialization options for the B.S. degree in Environmental Studies: Environmental Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Geology, Physical Geography, and Air and Water Quality. Additional specializations with a social science emphasis are under development.

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.

The Environmental Studies Program is part of CWU's Center for the Environment