环境与社会学系 & 可持续发展的使命

The mission of the 环境与社会学系, and 可持续性 is to provide students with an integrated learning experience encompassing the major social-environmental problems of our planet.  独特的, we approach such problems-including the climate crisis, 生物多样性丧失, 土地系统利用的变化, and rising social inequality and conflict-through the natural and social sciences as well as considerations of justice and ethics.  The interdisciplinary nature of the department offers students a strong foundation in the physical sciences; broad training in geospatial technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 全球定位系统(GPS), and remote sensing; and environmental policy applications through experiential, 协作, 实验室, 场, 顶石, 以及研讨会学习的机会.  We offer students the opportunity to examine the human-natural relationship at multiple scales: the local and regional explorations of human and natural diversity, the planet-scale impacts of human civilization on the biophysical systems that maintain life on Earth, and Earth as part of the solar system and the universe.  此外, we offer students the ability to integrate physical and natural aspects of the world with the social, 文化, 经济, and political aspects of the world to recognize and redress issues related to environmental racism and climate justice.  Program graduates will be positioned for professional employment in governmental agencies, 私营企业, 非营利组织, 咨询公司.  Program graduates are also positioned to pursue graduate studies in a variety of 场s including earth science, 环境科学, 保护生物学, 资源管理, 环境规划, 环境工程, 环境法律, 以及环境教育.  Through faculty trained in multiple disciplines, 从城市规划到地质学, from astronomy to geographical information systems, from physics and engineering to human 文化 diversity and environmental justice, our programs offer a rich integrative experience to students that matches the transdisciplinary nature of the world’s most challenging problems.