Environmental Studies

The Environmental Studies specialization provides graduate students a broad, interdisciplinary environmental perspective through coursework in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, allowing graduate students an opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the multiple dimensions of today’s environmental problems. Students will develop a broad, interdisciplinary environmental perspective through the courses in the Environmental Studies specialization.

The purpose of this specialization is to provide the student the ability to improve their abilities to work across disciplinary boundaries and to integrate the knowledge and understanding of the earth and ecological systems, the built and engineered environment, or human dimension disciplines (socioeconomic, legal, and/or political) into their graduate work. Coursework, tools, and methods from a variety of disciplines are offered to analyze and construct arguments about complex environmental challenges.

A specialization in Environmental Studies is available within the following degree programs:

• MS in Agricultural & Biological Systems Engineering
• MS in Agronomy
• PhD in Agronomy and Horticulture
• MA in Anthropology
• PhD in Biological Engineering
• MS or PhD in Chemistry
• MCRP in Community and Regional Planning
• MS or PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• MS in Horticulture
• MS in Leadership Education
• MA or MS or PhD in Mathematics
• MA or PhD in Political Science
• MA or PhD in Sociology

A specialization in Environmental Studies is available to any student pursuing a degree in one of the participating master's or doctoral programs.

Interdisciplinary areas

To achieve this specialization's interdisciplinary intent, each student's plan of study will include courses from outside their primary department or area, chosen in consultation with their committee and the director of Environmental Studies.

A student's specialization coursework is chosen from one of the following three areas:

• Human dimensions (socioeconomic, legal, and/or political)
• Science (earth systems, ecological systems)
• Built and engineered environment

Requirements

At the master's level, each student is required to complete:

• A master's degree in one of the participating programs.
• Nine credit hours of environmentally-related courses outside the student's major department.
• When Option I (thesis) is available in the student's program, a thesis that deals with an environmentally-relevant issue and includes knowledge from their interdisciplinary area.

At the doctoral level, each student is required to complete:

• A doctoral degree in one of the participating programs.
• Fifteen credit hours of environmentally-related courses outside the student's major department. Courses completed for an Environmental Studies specialization at the master's level may be counted toward an Environmental Studies specialization at the PhD level.
• A dissertation that deals with an environmentally-relevant issue and includes knowledge from their interdisciplinary area.